President Barack Obama is playing "politics with defense" with his veto threat of the House-passed defense policy bill, jeopardizing the safety of military service members, Texas Republican Mac Thornberry warns.
Delivering the Weekly Republican Address ahead of Memorial Day, the House Armed Services Committee chairman scolded the president's objection to a host of provisions in the $612 billion bill passed May 15, including one that would make it harder for him to
close the military prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
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"We're always going to have our differences, but it's wrong for anyone to play politics with defense," Thornberry says. "The world is too dangerous and the men and women who serve are too precious for that."
"No one knows how to solve all the problems of the world," he adds. "But one thing we do know for sure – the world is a safer, better place when the United States is militarily strong. And a weakened America invites greater danger."
Thornberry notes the House bill "gives our troops a raise and updates their benefits… eases our warfighters’ transition to the VA and it makes sure we get the most value possible for the taxpayer dollars."
The Senate takes up its version next.
"The House bill authorized exactly the amount the president requested to keep America safe," Thornberry points out. "But he wants more money for domestic programs and has threatened to veto the defense bill unless he gets it. "
Democrats have
pushed back at spending ceilings in the bill, even as war funding gets an increase; the bill offers $523 billion to the Pentagon in base funds with another $96 billion designated for war funding.
"We carry a debt to those who have served, and especially to those who have fallen, to focus just on doing what’s right for the country and what’s right for our troops, and we honor them best by building on their sacrifice to pass along to the next generation a country even stronger, even more prosperous, and even freer than we’ve enjoyed," Thornberry urged.
Thornberry said former President Ronald Reagan said it best about our debt to the military when he remarked "the only way to meet [challenges] and maintain the peace is by staying strong."
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