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Rogers says the budget should be focused more on China, less on climate issues

Congressman Mike Rogers wrote an op-ed Tuesday in Defense News in which he criticized President Joe Biden’s budget priorities.

Alabama Republican Congressman Mike Rogers

Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers, R-Alabama, and Rep. Ken Calvert, R-California, wrote an op-ed Tuesday in Defense News in which they criticized President Joe Biden’s budget priorities. “Unfortunately, President Biden’s proposed FY2022 defense budget sends the wrong message to our allies and our adversaries,” the two Congressmen wrote.

“Since President Biden’s inauguration, we have seen what happens when America projects weakness rather than strength,” Rogers and Calvert wrote, citing spiking terrorism overseas, Hamas attacks on Israel, cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure, and Russia and China flexing their military might including Chinese threats on Taiwan.

“One of the ways America signals to the world that we will continue to be a global leader is by maintaining a strong national defense,” Rogers and Calvert wrote. “Unfortunately, President Biden’s proposed FY2022 defense budget sends the wrong message to our allies and our adversaries. By failing to keep pace with inflation, the President’s budget amounts to a cut of over $4 billion in defense spending. Meanwhile, his budget proposes to increase non-defense spending by a massive $104 billion or 16 percent.”

“Furthermore, within that reduced topline, the administration redirects nearly $650 million in critically needed military modernization and procurement funding to climate change and to monitor the social media accounts of our servicemembers,” Rogers and Calvert wrote. “These initiatives have nothing to do with ensuring we have a lethal force ready to “fight tonight”. When we dedicate scarce defense funding to global climate change, biofuels initiatives, and social engineering experiments with military personnel you can almost hear the cheers and laughter of our adversaries.”

“We need to grow our defense spending by three to five percent above inflation from 2022-2025,” Rogers and Calvert wrote. “This year’s defense budget should be above the rate of inflation and entirely focused on deterring the threats from near peer adversaries. Instead, this budget, should it pass in its current form, would cede our military superiority to China and return us to a hollow force, unable to respond to events around the world, whether it’s conflict or humanitarian missions.”

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, has expressed similar concerns.

“Our adversaries, including China and Russia, pose new and increasing threats that erode our traditional technological and battlefield advantages,” Shelby recently said. “They are making unprecedented investments in their capability and capacity, and China, specifically, has a stated objective of surpassing us by the middle of the Century.”

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Congressmen Mo Brooks, R-Alabama, and Jerry Carl, R-Alabama, have called for Biden to fully fund missile defense.

“U.S. Representative Jerry Carl and I were joined by 6 of our House Armed Services Committee Republicans colleagues in urging the Biden Admin to adequately fund America’s missile defense programs, which are among our nation’s most effective deterrents and are crucial to national security,” Brooks said.

Brooks is a candidate for Senate.

Rogers is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. Rogers is in his 10th term representing Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District.

Brandon Moseley is a former reporter at the Alabama Political Reporter.

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