Fund the military so U.S. dominates, Cotton tells peers

WASHINGTON -- In his first official speech on the Senate floor Monday, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton called for dramatic increases in defense spending, saying budget cuts over the past few years have left the United States military unprepared.

"Our enemies and allies alike must know that aggressors will pay an unspeakable price for challenging the United States," he said. "The best way to impose that price is global military dominance. When it comes to war, narrow margins are not enough, for they are nothing more than an invitation to war. We must have such hegemonic strength that no sane adversary would ever imagine challenging the United States. Good enough is not and will never be good enough."

In his recently released budget, President Barack Obama recommended ending spending caps known as sequestration that both the president and Congress agreed to in 2013. The cap limited defense spending. In the past two years defense and war spending has dropped nearly $200 billion from it's 2008 peak of $760 billion.

Obama has proposed spending $561 billion on defense next year, a $38 billion increase over the amount mandated by the cap. Additionally, the military would receive $51 billion in war funding.

In a statement released before the speech, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., suggested $577 billion in defense spending for the next fiscal year. If spending remains low, "it will put Americans' lives at risk," he said.

Cotton said the country needs to go further. At minimum, Congress should follow a recommendation from the National Defense Panel, which said the country should follow former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' 2012 recommendation of at least $611 billion," the Republican said.

Cotton said that since Gates made his recommendation, "Islamic terrorism, Iranian aggression, Russian revisionism, and Chinese adventurism have all worsened, to say nothing of other challenges. $611 billion is necessary, but it's not sufficient."

Cotton, a former Army captain who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was sworn into the Senate in January and is a member of the Armed Services Committee and the Intelligence Committee. About a dozen Republicans and Senators remained in the chamber after the last vote of the day to watch him speak.

On the Senate floor Cotton laid out threats from the Islamic State, Iran and Russia, and how America's allies have built up their own defenses in response to waning U.S. willingness to engage. Cotton also explained how each branch of the military had to reduce forces or cut back on equipment because of the military spending caps.

Several senators, including U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., shook Cotton's hand as he walked off the floor, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the speech "extraordinary." The Kentucky Republican said Cotton "laid out the national security requirement of our country quite effectively."

Freshmen senators often use their maiden floor speech to detail the issues they hope to tackle in Congress.

Boozman focused on the economy in his first floor speech in March 2011. Last week, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., used her first floor speech to talk about infrastructure improvements, health care programs for veterans and children and energy policies. In January, U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, each used their maiden speech to comment on legislation to create the KeystoneXL oil pipeline.

Cotton made similar speeches on foreign policy over the past few months and last week drew broad national attention for authoring a letter to Iranian officials regarding it's negotiations over nuclear power with the Obama administration.

After Monday's speech, Cotton said increasing defense spending is a priority for him.

"As a veteran and as a member of the Armed Services Committee, it's become increasingly apparent to me that we are dramatically underfunding our defense in a way that's encouraging our adversaries around the world, undermining our allies and threatening our long-term national security," Cotton said.

Walking back to his Russell Building office in the waning moments of sunlight, Cotton said he spent much of the weekend writing the speech but has been thinking about the effects of the sequestration levels for some time.

"Being on the Armed Services Committee and going to all of the hearings for the last three months have been pretty ominous preparation when you hear from generals and admirals telling you that their soldiers are going to be at greater risk of death because of these budget cuts," he said, referring to the spending caps.

Metro on 03/17/2015