Military weapons vs. benefits issue heats up at hearing

[The Straight Story]

Military weapons vs. benefits issue heats up at hearing

By Amy Klamper, CongressDaily
House Democrats took aim at Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., during a hearing Wednesday after he broached the touchy subject of military entitlement spending and its potential to crowd out funds for new weapons and other defense technologies.

During a House Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee hearing Wednesday, Kirk questioned Pentagon Comptroller Tina Jonas' ability to fund increased military health care benefits and other entitlement programs for dependents while simultaneously paying to modernize the military.

Jonas said striking the right balance is a continuing challenge, noting that the Pentagon plans to spend close to $130 billion of its $419.3 billion fiscal 2006 budget request on military personnel and health care.

But subcommittee Democrats seized on Kirk's assertion that military dependent and retiree spending has "no military value," charging that such programs are critical to military recruiting and retention. Subcommittee ranking member Chet Edwards, D-Texas, said potential recruits consider how the military treats active and retired service members before they join.

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