Source: United States Senator for Oklahoma James Inhofe
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today released the following statement on the significant victories for national security in the fiscal year 2022 omnibus spending bill. The Senate is expected to vote on this measure soon.
“A year ago, with Democrats in unified control of the government, all we heard was how much the defense budget was going to get cut. Accordingly, President Biden sent us a 2022 budget request that cut military spending, even when inflation was assumed to be only 2.3 percent. I delivered a half-dozen floor speeches last year articulating the scope of the threats and the need to provide the 3-5 percent real growth to the defense budget as recommended by the 2018 National Defense Strategy Commission.
“A year later, this omnibus appropriations bill increases defense spending by $29 billion above the president’s request. This process was not easy. My colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee led the way by supporting my amendment to increase the budget by $25 billion in the National Defense Authorization Act almost unanimously, 25-1. Our House colleagues swiftly followed suit. It is rare that Congress acts so decisively on such a significant issue.
“Since last summer, Senator Shelby has held firm on increasing resources for the military despite opposition from a Democratic Leader, a Democratic Speaker, and a Democratic President. His work in his final year of service here in the Senate is a fitting capstone on the unwavering support for the military he’s shown for decades.
“Just like the NDAA, this isn’t the bill Republicans would have written on our own, but it’s not hard to imagine how much worse things could have looked for our military. This increase of $29 billion is infinitely preferable to a full-year continuing resolution or the Biden budget for the military. Every senior military leader I’ve spoken to has emphasized that fact. It will keep us from falling even further behind China and we will make significant progress in some areas because of it.
“What’s more, the security portion of the Ukraine supplemental will do more for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in just a few weeks than the Biden administration did all last year. The $3 billion in new weapons for Ukraine dwarfs previous U.S. efforts because it recognizes the scope and scale of what the Ukrainian Armed Forces actually need. This would not have happened without the leadership of Senator McConnell.
“I hope this supplemental is just the first step in bolstering our posture in Eastern Europe and sharpening the capabilities of our NATO allies. We’ve seen how crucial our European Deterrence Initiative investments are. We now need to do the same in the Western Pacific.
“The military may indeed end up losing buying power this year as a result of the historic inflation that President Biden has presided over. It will be absolutely crucial for our military that we not only achieve real growth in fiscal year 2023 to catch up with Beijing, but also backfill any loss of buying power experienced in the current year due to inflation, which has averaged 7.9 percent over the past year, and shows no signs of slowing down.
“From what we’ve heard about the Biden 2023 budget and with the historical inflation levels we’re seeing, we’ll have to do the same work here in Congress to increase the defense topline once again.”
Sen. Inhofe is not in the Senate for votes this week because he is continuing to experience mild COVID symptoms and was not cleared for travel.