Poughkeepsie Journal

I am writing this letter to express my appreciation to Rep. John Faso for voting for an amendment that recognizes climate change as a direct threat to the national security. I also appreciate that he rejected an Islamophobic proposal when National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) came to the Congress.

At the same time, I would like to respond to his weekly newsletter where he explained his reason for voting for the NDAA. He said, "Our military resources have dwindled over the last half decade, reducing readiness and weakening American leadership in the world.”

America spends more money on the military spending than any other country in the world: Three times more than China and 10 times more than Russia. America has more armored vehicles, more destroyers and more aircraft ready to fly into combat than China and Russia combined.

In 2015, the U.S. spent 37.5 percent of its national budget on current and past wars compared to 28 percent on health care and 14 percent on income assistance.

Misuse of Pentagon funds is so rampant that when it conducted an internal study in 2016, it identified $125 billion in potential waste over the next five years. In fact, the Pentagon is the only federal agency whose budget has not been audited for many years.

I urge Rep. Faso to vote against any more increase in the defense budget until there is a clean independent audit on the Pentagon budget. Giving more money to defense does not make us more secure or peaceful.

Hiangwoo Nam

Highland