UNIFIED SECURITY BUDGET FOR THE UNITED STATES 2006: Experts Say U.S. Budget Misses the Big Picture on Security

On the web: http://www.fpif.org/pdf/reports/USB.pdf

Hard copies available upon request – Please contact srobinson@cdi.org or 202-797-5287

Foreign Policy In Focus and the Center for Defense Information have released "A Unified Security Budget for the United States, 2006," a detailed report from a task force of 14 military and foreign policy experts. The report outlines an integrated approach to security budgeting that balances military and non-military security tools.

The Bush Administration's proposed 2006 security budget, which includes spending for the military, international affairs and homeland security, would allocate seven times as much to military programs as to all other security spending combined.

And, taking into account projected costs of U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, that ratio stands at nine-to-one. The report explains why a more balanced set of priorities would make Americans and the world safer.

The task force recommends cutting $53.1 billion from military spending and spending $40.5 billion more on international affairs and homeland security operations. It calls for a four-to-one ratio of spending on military programs to all other security spending.

Marcus Corbin, a senior analyst at Center for Defense Information and Miriam Pemberton, the Peace and Security editor at Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, co-authored the report and co-chaired the task force that endorsed it. They will discuss the report at an event on May 16 at the Center for American Progress (see below) and are available for interviews.

"Policymakers, experts and business leaders from across the political spectrum have called for more balanced approach to terrorism and global security," Pemberton said. "The Unified Security Budget provides the road map and budget specifics on how we make that happen."

The report recommends that the U.S.:

• Reduce or scrap several Cold War-era weapons and nuclear war fighting programs, including missile defense, F/A-22 fighter, DD(X) Destroyer and the Future Combat System 

• Spend more on counter-terrorism, homeland security, and peacekeeping operations as well as programs that stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction and support global non-proliferation 

• Increase funding for long-term international economic development  

Task Force members include: (organizational affiliations for identification purposes only):

Carl Conetta, Project on Defense Alternatives
P.J. Crowley, Center for American Progress
Lt. Gen. Robert Gard (Ret.)
John Gershman, Foreign Policy In Focus
William Hartung, World Policy Institute
Christopher Hellman, Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation
Lawrence Korb, Center for American Progress, Center for Defense Information
Don Kraus, Citizens for Global Solutions
Vice Adm. John J. Shanahan (Ret.)
Colonel Daniel Smith (ret.), Friends Committee on National Legislation
Cindy Williams, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
John Zavales, Cuny Center

UNIFIED SECURITY BUDGET EVENT - MONDAY, MAY 16

The Center for American Progress will host a discussion about the report and the issues it underscores with task force co-chairs Marcus Corbin and Miriam Pemberton. They will be joined by Thomas Donnelly, Research Fellow, American Enterprise Institute. Lawrence J. Korb, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress, and Senior Advisor, Center for Defense Information, will moderate the discussion.

Monday, May 16; 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Breakfast will be provided.

Register on line:  http://www.americanprogress.org/site/apps/nl/
content3.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=593305&ct=817499

Or call (202) 741-6388

Center for American Progress
1333 H Street N.W. , 10th Floor
Washington D.C. 20005
Metro: McPherson Square (Blue/Orange Lines) or Metro Center (Red Line)

UNIFIED SECURITY BUDGET TASK FORCE ORGANIZERS/SPONSORS

Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF) is a think tank for research, analysis, and action that brings together scholars, advocates, and activists who strive to make the United States a more responsible global partner.

The International Relations Center www.irc-online.org in Silver City, New Mexico and the Institute for Policy Studies www.ips-dc.org in Washington, DC have jointly managed FPIF since 1996.

http://www.fpif.org

Center for Defense Information, based in Washington, DC, is a non-partisan, non-profit security policy organization dedicated to strengthening security through international cooperation; reduced reliance on unilateral military power to resolve conflict; reduced reliance on nuclear weapons; a transformed and reformed military establishment; and prudent oversight of, and spending on, defense programs. To encourage the intellectual freedom of the staff, CDI does not hold organizational positions. The views expressed in CDI publications are those of the authors. http://www.cdi.org  

Security Policy Working Group (SPWG) is comprised of leading defense and security policy researchers, analysts and non-governmental organizations that seek to reshape and expand the public and policy discourse on what constitutes true security in a post 9-11 world.

Several of the report’s endorsers are SPWG members.

http://www.proteusfund.org/spwg