The Senate's bipartisan two-year budget has come under fire by several Republicans, but Sen. Lindsey Graham, an Armed Services Committee member, said Thursday that the bill is a welcome development for the military.
"This is the best news for the military since 2011," the South Carolina Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom," explaining that people who think the government should be protecting the country from its enemies would consider the bill a good one.
Graham added that in January, Defense Secretary James Mattis said that nothing has damaged the readiness of the military more than the combined impact of the Budget Control Act and defense spending caps that have been made worse by repeated continuing resolutions.
"This fixes that," said Graham. "What the general is saying is no enemy we're facing has done more damage to the military than the congress. So to all my friends in Congress who believe this is not a good deal, you should be listening to Gen. Mattis."
House Freedom Caucus Founder Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has said his group will not support the law, comparing it to former President Barack Obama's stimulus "boondoggle."
"Go tell people in the military the maintenance backlog is a mile long," said Graham. "Sixty-eight percent of the F-18s in the Navy can't fly because we don't have the spare parts. Tell that to the men and women who have done multiple tours because we don't have enough soldiers in the Army."
Graham said he believes the bill will go through because most people will listen to Mattis, not people like House MInority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who opposed the bill on Wednesday with an hours-long filibuster-like speech on the House floor.
"To Nancy Pelosi, I will put my credentials up against anyone, including you when it comes to immigration reform," he said. "The dreamers are important but nobody is more important to me than the men and women who are fighting this war."
He also called Trump's call for a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million "generous," but hopes the nation can still rebuild the military.
"There is no good reason to vote no if you really care about the military," said Graham.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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