Tom Carper, U.S. Senator for Delaware

Over the last decade our country has faced down terrorism, waged two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and kept in check rogue nations that seek to build and proliferate nuclear weapons. Over the past few years, America faced all these same problems as well as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The road ahead will not be easy. The collapse of the credit market, rising unemployment numbers, and the accompanying decline in federal revenues have left our nation in a position where we simply no longer have as many resources to devote to national security as we once had. Therefore, we must take two steps to ensure that our nation's economic problems do not compromise our nation's security.

Invest in Our Troops

Victories in the war on terrorism have and will continue to be won on the backs of the men and women of our armed forces, rather than through the use of any single weapon system or technological achievement. We must, therefore, put our defense dollars towards strengthening our fighting force so that our troops have the skills needed to fight, and win, 21st century wars. This includes providing more training in counterinsurgency and antiterrorism tactics. In addition, I will continue to seek out bipartisan ways to support our troops and promote the health and stability of our armed forces, as I have done in the past by securing better medical care for our military personnel who have suffered Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and by supporting initiatives like the Post 9/11 GI Bill.

Make Smart Investments in Weapons Systems 

Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its annual assessment of the Department of Defense's major weapon systems. The GAO report revealed that the cost overruns of the military’s 98 largest programs amounted to $402 billion more than their original program estimates, putting the sum total of these costs at $1.7 trillion.

If our nation is to successfully fight two wars while navigating an economic crisis, we must curb this inefficient use of defense dollars. A few specific areas of focus include ending no-bid defense contracts, improving the weapons acquisition process so that our weapons are developed in a cost-effective way and incentivizing defense contractors and the military to deliver weapon systems on time and under budget. The Department of Defense should also improve its finance and accounting systems in order to effectively manage its money and finally be able to pass an independent audit, something that almost all federal agencies and private companies can do. These reforms would save millions of taxpayer dollars.

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