[Free Beacon] Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) on Wednesday called for more Americans to serve in the military despite her support for military budget cuts.
Asked if the percentage of Americans serving in the military should be higher during the Democratic debate in Atlanta, Warren responded "yes." But the senator has promised to "take a sharp knife" to America's military budget as president, telling reporters in September, "if the question is, ’do I think we should cut the military budget,' the answer's yes."
Although Warren eventually mentioned inducing more people to "serve in our federal lands to help rebuild our national forests," the bulk of her answer centered around her brother's deployment to Vietnam, which has featured heavily in the Massachusetts senator's stump speech.
"I think the notion of shared service is important," Warren said. "It's how we help bring our nation together ... It's also about how families share that sacrifice."
"I remember what it was like when I was a little girl," Warren continued. "My brother, my oldest brother who served five and a half years off and on in combat in Vietnam, what it was like for my mother every day to check the mailbox."
Warren's Medicare for All proposal calls for $800 billion in revenue from cuts in military spending and commits to pulling out of "endless wars" in the Middle East. According to national security expert Giselle Donnelly, Warren's proposed spending cuts would be "crippling" for the nation's military and would "immediately handicap military readiness." |