WASHINGTON, March 20 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, today issued the following statement on a Republican plan to increase military spending without paying for it:

“Republicans have been telling us for years that because of high deficits we have to cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, nutrition and virtually every program that benefits working families. On the other hand, their concerns about deficits seem to disappear when it comes to war and defense spending. The Republicans took us into protracted wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – and ran up our national debt by trillions because they chose not to pay for those wars. Instead, they put the cost of those wars on our national credit card. Yesterday, Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee voted for an increase of $38 billion in defense spending – all added to the deficit.

“The Republican Party is going to have to end their hypocrisy with regard to deficits and the national debt. They are going to have to be honest with the American people. Wars are enormously expensive, not only in terms of human life and suffering, but in terms of the budget. If the Republicans want another war in the Middle East, they are going to have to tell the American people how much it will cost them and how it will be paid for. This is an issue that I and others intend to raise forcefully during this week’s debate on the Senate floor. I strongly expect that there will be amendments demanding that Republicans tell us how they will pay for another war.”