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Washington • Rep. Rob Bishop, a Utah Republican and member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Friday that Congress will scrutinize proposed Defense Department budget cuts that he says could hinder the modernization of the nation's military fleet.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this week he would look to slash $150 billion from his department's budget over the next five years by cutting overhead costs, tweaking business practices and ending troubled programs.
"While America is at war and confronts a range of future security threats, it is important to not repeat the mistakes of the past by making drastic and ill-conceived cuts to the overall defense budget," Gates said Thursday. "At the same time, it is imperative for this department to eliminate wasteful, excessive, and unneeded spending."
Bishop says he wants to know specifically where Gates wants to cut and for the secretary to justify every one.
"In the last four years, to be honest, the only area where Congress has decided to cut was Defense," Bishop, 59, said on C-SPAN's Washington Journal Friday morning. "We have some significant issues, especially with infrastructure. When we are still flying tankers that were originally designed and built when I was in the first grade, we have an infrastructure problem."
Bishop also defended the Republicans' demand that tax cut extensions be granted to all taxpayers — even those making more than $250,000 — because he said raising taxes in a depressed economy is not a good idea.
One C-SPAN caller, however, took a shot at Bishop that may have missed the mark. The caller noted that members of Congress make $173,000 a year and are "off five months" during that time, so why did Congress think it had to "give tax breaks to you millionaires?"
Bishop ranks 410th of the 435 members of the House in personal net worth, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. His net worth, not counting the value of his home or personal vehicles, ranges from $1,000 to $16,000 (after deducting liabilities).
"Be careful calling me a millionaire because I'm a school teacher with less disposable income ... now than when I was a school teacher," Bishop responded to the caller Friday.
Bishop retired as a high school teacher before joining Congress.