February 4, 2008 – Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02), today issued the following statement regarding the President’s fiscal year 2009 budget proposal:

“The first purpose of our American government is to protect the lives, liberty, and security of the American people, and I was heartened to see that this critical priority was reflected in the President’s Budget today— from strengthening border security to fortifying our military and securing a pay raise for our men and women in the Armed Forces.  The Defense Department, if funded per his request, would receive a much-needed 7.5% increase over last year’s budget.

“The President also took steps toward increasing government transparency through earmark reform and to reduce needless federal spending by eliminating 151 unnecessary government programs.  He also strongly promoted the essential pro-growth tax policies designed to help prevent an all-out recession, including easing the tax and regulatory burden on businesses to preserve jobs and encourage investment.

“Investment goes down when individuals, businesses, and entrepreneurs are unsure about the security and economic stability of the nation.  While I do believe that the $3 trillion top-line figure could and should be reduced, it is important that Democrats refrain from their incessant attempts to subvert defense spending.  To that end, I have introduced a Joint Resolution that would fix our defense budget at 4% of our GDP, an initiative which has been strongly supported by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen.  The lives and security of our men and women in armed services should not be used as political pawns on Capitol Hill, and a 4% guarantee to our noble soldiers would also provide a much-needed assurance that their funding will never be the causality of political posturing.”