Give Our Military What They Need

Congressman Rob Bishop of Utah was a guest on Secure Freedom Radio with Frank Gaffney yesterday. Bishop is a member of the Readiness Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee.

Gaffney opened their conversation by asking Bishop about the National Defense Authorization Act and the preparedness of our military. Bishop responded:

“I think we have actually turned a corner and we have realized over the last decade, four major spending cuts and two reductions in personnel has left us in a very precarious situation. So with the bill that was passed last December that no one liked, one of the things that was a bright spot, and I think is one of the reasons that I did it, is because it finally recognized that we cannot keep cutting the military and then expect them to fly sorties in the Middle East every day since Bush One’s administration. I think the funding level is rational, it’s a step forward, but it’s a first step, we have a long way to go to rebuild the infrastructure we should have been building over the last ten years and a long way to rebuild our manpower needs.”

Gaffney then asked Bishop to elaborate on the government’s efforts to protect the Sage Grouse population, an issue which is in some cases interfering with military training because the bird lives on lands that are used by the military. Bishop explained that one of the problems with this issue is the lack of communication between government agencies but said the problem is at least finally being addressed. He also explained the impact:

“If you actually allow these kinds of encroachments to take place under the term environmentalism or endangered species, what you’re doing is minimizing how we can use these lands and that’s a negative for the readiness of this country and the military was right in saying, yeah there is a problem.”

Finally, Gaffney asked Bishop about Duncan Hunter’s amendment to draft women. Bishop explained that because it passed by a small margin and with bipartisan support, it will likely be revisited on the floor.

“If you were serious about it and we were really doing a draft that’s one thing but just having everyone go sign up when they’re 18, I don’t know if that is the best use of our time and efforts in manpower money, but to extend that to women just seems to be exacerbating what I think is kind of a fruitless task that we’re doing in the first place.”