September 4, 2004 - It was just fifteen years ago that the Secretary of Defense came to Capitol Hill to complain to the House Armed Services Committee, ”The Army, as I indicated in my earlier testimony, recommended to me that we keep a robust Apache helicopter program going forward. AH-64 . . . forced the Army to make choices. I said, "You can't have all three. We don't have the money for all three." So I recommended that we cancel the AH-64 program two years out.”

It was just twelve years ago that the Secretary of Defense complained to the Senate Armed Services Committee, “Congress has let me cancel a few programs. But you've squabbled and sometimes bickered and horse-traded and ended up forcing me to spend money on weapons that don't fill a vital need in these times of tight budgets and new requirements . . . You've directed me to buy more M-1s, F-14s, and F-16s — all great systems . . . but we have enough of them.”

That was just ten days after the President’s State of the Union Address in which he said, “Two years ago, I began planning cuts in military spending that reflected the changes of the new era. But now, this year, with imperial communism gone, that process can be accelerated. Tonight I can tell you of dramatic changes in our strategic nuclear force. These are actions we are taking on our own because they are the right thing to do. After completing 20 planes for which we have begun procurement, we will shut down further production of the B-2 bombers. We will cancel the small ICBM program. We will cease production of new warheads for our sea-based ballistic missiles. We will stop all new production of the Peacekeeper missile. And we will not purchase any more advanced cruise missiles.”

The Republican charge that Senator John Kerry voted against specific weapons systems is grounded on his votes against Senate Bill 3189 in 1990; the conference committee version of HR 5803 in 1990; and the conference committee version of HR 2126 in 1995. All were omnibus Defense appropriations bills including the full range of military spending. The first two increased spending over that level recommended by the Bush I administration. The 1995 bill included spending added to the Defense Department’s request by the Newt Gingrich House. That is the Republican “evidence” that John Kerry is soft on the defense of America.

The President whose State of the Union Address is quoted above was George H. W. Bush. The testimony was from Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney. Is it reasonable to conclude from those snippets from the record that Cheney and the President’s father whose budgetary priorities Senator Kerry followed in his votes advocated gutting the Defense Department? Were they Soft on Defense?