In the recent Fiscal
Year 2014 Defense Appropriations Bill, the House Appropriations Committee
violated the Budget Control Act agreement by approving $512.5 billion for the
Pentagon, or about $15 billion more than the deficit reduction law allows in FY
2014. The House Armed Services Committee went even further, approving a base
budget for the Pentagon of $526.6 billion. The House Appropriations Committee
also cuts $20.6 billion more than the law calls for in all the other programs
subject to the sequester cuts.
The Budget Control Act agreement of 2011 specifies that all sequester cuts must
be split equally between defense and non-defense spending, but many of these
appropriations come at a high cost to programs which provide for our brothers
and sisters in need. As people of faith, we find it unacceptable to restrict
aid for human needs in favor of bolstering the military-industrial complex.
To view the text of this bill, follow these links: http://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfiles/bills-113hr-fc-ap-fy2014-ap00-defense.pdf
and http://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hrpt-113-hr-fy2014-defense.pdf
We believe that as a nation we must shift our focus away from reacting to
issues and conflicts, and instead proactively invest in programs and policies
that promote true human security through peace building and the restoration of
communities both at home and abroad. The cuts to non-defense discretionary
spending take this country in the opposite direction, with the long-term impact
threatening to inflict unimaginable damage to programs and services that our
most vulnerable neighbors rely on.
We cannot afford to spare the Pentagon from cuts while placing further burden
on programs that provide for fundamental but less attended-to security needs of
our communities: investments in job creation, education, healthcare, the
environment, and non-military peace-building engagement with the world.
Please
urge your representatives to take steps to responsibly restrain Pentagon
spending as a move toward ensuring the true human security that we all
seek.
