Statement of Robert F. Hale, Assistant Director for National Security Division, Congressional Budget Office
Abstract
Mr. Chairman, and members of the Committee, I appreciate the opportunity to testify today regarding defense burdensharing. My testimony presents quantitative indicators that compare the defense efforts of the United States with those of our allies. Many of these indicators are taken from the March 1987 version of an annual Department of Defense (DoD) publication, titled "Report on Allied Contributions to the Common Defense." Measures in my testimony generally show that, relative to its economic strength, the United States is doing more to contribute to the common defense than almost any of its allies. While the allies vary widely in economic measures of burdensharing, none of them is devoting a larger portion of its resources to defense than the United States. Measures of military capability -- such as counts of personnel or of aircraft -- sometimes show substantial allied contributions. But, again, most of these measures show the United States contributing more in military capability than its share of total allied resources. By themselves, these quantitative measures are not an adequate basis for judging what degree of burdensharing would be fair. That judgment is a political one that must weigh not only the contributions to allied defense, which is what I can measure for you, but also the benefits realized by the United States and its allies, which cannot be reliably quantified. For this reason, I will leave to others the task of judging. Instead, I will review and explain the available quantitative indicators, beginning with economic measures.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA529876
Entities
People
- Robert F. Hale
Organizations
- Congressional Budget Office