The U.S. Senate may wrap up debate early next week on a massive bill that outlines next year’s spending plan for the Pentagon. Republican Senator Joni Ernst says congress has an “obligation” to stop “hollowing out” the U.S. military.

“Inaction, obstruction or partial commitments are not options,” Ernst said Thursday. Four-hundred amendments have been offered on the bill and many deal with policy issues, like whether transgender troops will be allowed to serve in the military. During remarks on the Senate floor, though, Ernst focused on the nearly 700 BILLION dollars in spending items in the bill.

“Sadly, for the first time in decades, we are forced to confront not one but multiple threats to the American way of life,” Ernst said. “An aggressive Russia, expanding China, nuclear North Korea, nefarious Iran and relentless global terror networks put our lives and the lives of future generations at risk. America is once again in crisis.” Ernst is chairman of the Senate Armed Services SUBcommittee that examines emerging threats around the globe.

Ernst says it’s time to “increase cooperation with international partners” who work in the area of counter-terrorism. “And to reaffirm America’s support for our European friends by putting Russia on notice for its aggression in Ukraine and Crimea,” Ernst said. Ernst sponsored or co-sponsored nearly three dozen provisions that were added to the bill before it cleared the Senate Armed Services Committee. One would extend a suicide prevention program for soldiers in the National Guard and Reserve as well as their families. Another Ernst-backed proposal in the bill would let officials lease vacant buildings at the Rock Island Arsenal to private-sector businesses.

(Radio Iowa)