Skip to main content

STATEMENT: Rep. Khanna personal explanation on H.R. 6157 vote

June 28, 2018

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Ro Khanna clarified his vote on H.R. 6157, the fiscal year 2019 (FY19) Department of Defense Appropriations Act, in the Congressional Record. His statement follows below:

Personal Explanation by

The Honorable Ro Khanna

June 28, 2018

Mr. Speaker,

I rise to clarify my vote earlier this afternoon on H.R. 6157, the fiscal year 2019 (FY19) Department of Defense Appropriations Act. I inadvertently voted "aye" on rollcall vote 313 in the House today (Thursday, June 28th). I had every intention of voting "nay," and I would like the record to reflect that fact.

While it is important to fund our military, and support our troops deployed oversees, my consistent position has been that our level of military spending is far beyond what we need to ensure our nation's defense. The Republicans increased this year's budget by $20 billion over last years' enacted level. Of that amount, almost half goes to the military industrial complex that President Eisenhower decried, undercutting the pay and benefits that our men and women in uniform deserve.

Instead of giveaways to defense contractors, we should instead be helping the American people secure quality jobs, healthcare, housing, childcare, and education. As the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. warned us in his "Beyond Vietnam" speech at the Riverside Church, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." I will continue to fight here in Congress so that our nation can live up to Dr. King's vision.

###

About the Office

Congressman Khanna represents the 17th District of California, which covers communities in Silicon Valley. Visit his website at khanna.house.gov. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter @RepRoKhanna.

Press Office: 202-225-2631