Congresswoman Barbara Lee Opposes FY22 Defense Budget

Representative Barbara Lee (CA-13), Co-Chair of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, today voted against the FY22 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Rep. Lee and Rep. Mark Pocan proposed an amendment to the FY22 NDAA to cut the Defense Budget by ten percent. She also proposed an amendment with Rep. Pocan and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to cut the FY22 Pentagon budget by at least $25 billion--the amount increase approved by Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee. Both amendments failed in votes on the House floor. She released the following statement:

"This year's NDAA continues our legacy of wasteful military spending and investing in war rather than peace. President Biden's FY22 request is the largest in our nation's history, yet Republican proposals seek to increase the budget even more, by over $25 billion. I am disappointed that the House today voted to pass a bloated defense budget that is unauditable, unaccountable and does little to answer the biggest threats to the safety and welfare of our people. For years, the United States has exceeded the total defense spending of the next eleven countries combined. At some point, we must draw the line and stop pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into the military industrial complex while neglecting our needs here at home, like our healthcare system, schools, and infrastructure. As we build back from this pandemic and economic crisis, we need to shift our spending away from the Pentagon and toward addressing the imminent threats we face on our own soil. It's past time we rebalance our priorities to build a safer, more prosperous world--at home and abroad."

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