(Another) Military Division Appropriations Bill

[The Duke]

Why I believe this is a worthwhile expenditure.

Most analysts believe the Army is too small.  IRL, Congressional Democrats have signed a petitition asking for an increase in the size of the Army.  Senator Kerry made it part of his campaign platform.  Conservatives, most louldy those at the Weekly Standard, have editorialized in favor of an enlarged force.  There is a broad spectrum of acknowledgement that in the modern world, with the US carrying out a wider range of missions around the world and recieving less allied help than it would like, a larger military is required.

The small size of the military has caused problems for us.  Longer tours of duty for soldiers and shorter stays stateside have hurt recruitment and retainment and led to the triggering of the ready reserve program, whereby enlisted personnel are held in service beyond their enlistment period and those who have left the military are called back to serve.  The National Guard has been hardest hit, with civilian soldiers unable to carry out both their military and civilian duties under such pressure.

In Atlasia, we have 13 Divisions in the Army, thats three more than IRL.  This has eased the strain significantly, but it is not enough.  In his last report as GM, Hughento points out that we have enough personnel in Iraq to hold the major urban areas, but not the rest of the country.  As a result, the insurgency still can move weapons across the Syrian and Iranian borders.

With the 10 Division Army I inherited, we did not have enough men to sustain a 130,000 strong force in Iraq.  Now, we do.  However, the force in Iraq is still not large enough to secure the entire country.  Adding another division would give us enough people to increase our presence on the Syrian border and stop weapons from flowing into the country.  If we tried to increase our presence there, we would be right back where we started in terms of over stretching the force.

A second reason for increasing the Army's size is contingency planning.  We have enough men to deal with iraq, but we have almost nothing in reserve if something goes wrong elsewhere inthe world.  There are a dozen hot spots like Haiti where we could be called on to stabilize a country or area with our own people until international forces can be assembled to do peacekeeping and we can leave.  We need a force alrge enough to handle such contingencies.

[The Duke]

Just so everyne is sure to read it, there will be some important stuff in my last Defense Department briefing tat Senators need be aware of.

[The Duke]

WAIT!  I want to amend this bill, give me second to get the language pasted on here.

I want to add the $80 billion supplemental and the troop pay increase to this so we can get three things done in one bill.  The floor is crowded with enough bills, we don't need 3 seperate bills for this.

[The Duke]

I didn't think it would change many votes, but just to consolidate and all.

Proposed Amendment:

§ 2. $80 billion shall be appropriated as a supplement to the 2005 Defense Budget to fund ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

§ 3. A $2,000 a year pay increase for all active duty military personnel and a $1,000 pay increase for all reserve and National Guard personnel shall take effect in the fiscal year 2005.  This measure shall cost $4 billion.

[The Duke]

I assume my second vote only counts if the amendment fails?

On Amendment: Yea
On UnAmended Bill: Yea
On Amended Bill: Yea

[The Duke]

Which section do you object to?

[The Duke]

I sign this into law:

President PBrunsel

And there's more money for the troops! Hurray!

Hopefully, they don't have to live on food stamps anymore.