Jeff Neal: Let’s not play political games with military funding hanging in balance

Sep. 21--In the past few years, military leaders have asked lawmakers to finalize spending bills for defense prior to the start of the fiscal year -- which is coming up on Oct. 1.

Their plea certainly makes sense, as they want to avoid disruptions in weapons purchases, new program starts and a host of other Pentagon operations.

I think everyone -- or anyone who has a realistic world view, anyway -- would agree that our defense is a priority.

But after several years of bickering and posturing, two words still divide policy-makers neatly along party lines -- The Wall.

Senate Democrats earlier this week blocked Republican plans to advance an appropriations package including $693 billion in defense spending for fiscal 2020.

The reason? Because $3.6 billion in defense spending will be shifted away from military projects to the controversial southern border wall, per President Trump.

Fortunately, Somerset's Congressman Hal Rogers and his House colleagues voted on Thursday for a stopgap funding bill to ensure the continuance of military operations and other critical government programs as Oct. 1 rapidly approaches. Rogers said with a divided Congress, more time is necessary to finalize funding priorities for 2020.

The bill, which now moves on to Senate for approval, continues current funding levels through Nov. 21.

"This bill continues critical funding for our U.S. Armed Forces, national security operations, public health resources, and extends pro-life protections," said Congressman Rogers, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. "Short-term funding bills are not ideal, but as we continue advocating for adequate resources in 2020 for programs that are vital to Kentucky and the rest of the country, Congress needs more time to get the job done right."

So lawmakers have eight weeks to get the job done -- and it seems Republicans and Democrats are miles apart.

Kentucky's Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, angrily blamed Democrats for widening the divide. He claims Democrats are more concerned with thumbing their noses at Trump than working through a military budget -- which would include pay raises for our men and women in the military.

"I don't think the American people will have much patience for the notion that Democrats' first responsibility is irritating the White House and funding the Department of Defense comes second." McConnell said Thursday on the Senate Floor. "So I hope we can reboot this process and move forward or the sake of our Senate process, for the sake of stable funding for the federal government, and for the sake of our nation's security."

McConnell's Democratic counterpart in Senate, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, was incensed by that notion.

"Somehow in the wake of all this, the Republican leader has been accusing Democrats of threatening to block military funding," said Schumer. "That is an absurd statement if there ever was one.

"We're simply trying to stop Republicans from stealing the money from our military and putting it into the wall which [Trump] said Mexico would pay for."

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- I don't know how much a southern wall would protect us from the scourge of Mexican drugs. It certainly might help in controlling illegal immigration, which Trump has made a priority in his administration.

Love him or hate him, Trump is not the first U.S. President who has wanted to control illegal entry into the U.S. Yes, his verbiage on the subject has been less than diplomatic, and at times inflammatory -- but the notion is similar to what we've seen in the past. He wants to secure our borders.

Certainly I think detainees along the border should be treated with compassion -- particularly the children caught between our goal of keeping America safe and their parents' goal of trying to reach the U.S. for a better life, at whatever cost. I hope that funding toward border security would also assure that these people would be treated with dignity, respect and compassion.

But securing borders isn't something Trump dreamed up overnight. This isn't new policy.

And shifting money to ensure the President's vision of border security isn't an issue worth crippling our military budget over.

I know politicians need leverage to strike compromise. I get that.

But let's not dink around with the defense of our nation to do it.

JEFF NEAL is the Editor of the Commonwealth Journal. Reach him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @jnealCJ.

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