Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Alexa Gitler
Talk Radio News Service

House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) showed strong opposition towards the Pentagon's current and future budget proposal during a briefing Friday with the Sustainable Defense Task Force.

“Nobody here is for cutting back on America’s national security, what we object to is the equation of the current and projected Pentagon budget with national security,” Frank said.

Frank, along with Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Representatives Walter Jones (R-NC) and Ron Paul (R-TX), proposed a plan that would match America’s military spending to the country’s genuine military needs. This plan also includes being supportive of friendly nations that genuinely face external threats, while simultaneously reducing their overall dependency on American relief.

“It is our intention to circulate a letter to our colleagues pledging that we would not vote for any deficit reduction package that does not include substantial reductions in the planned level of military expenditures going forward,” Frank said.

In addition, Frank announced that they have reached out to groups of experts from across the political spectrum to provide suggestions on how to achieve cost reduction while still meeting America’s legitimate security needs.

“I do not believe after this [proposed plan] is circulated that people will be able to dismiss the argument that you can responsibly, and at no cost to America’s genuine security, make reductions of over a trillion dollars for what has been proposed for the military budget,” he said.