Some emerging threats to American national security are greater than any since George Washington crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night 1776. 

Surviving in the increasingly dangerous world requires that Congress adapt to this reality. 

Currently, the threats to America’s survival are growing faster than our national security bureaucracy’s ability to cope with them.

The system is crippled in part by irresponsible congressional infighting and maneuvering which makes it impossible to implement strategies in an orderly, predictable manner.

If we are serious about maintaining a margin of safety in dealing with Communist China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, and other hostile countries — as well as the worldwide radical Islamist movement that seeks to replace Western civilization — then we must get serious about appropriating the resources.

Congress has passed, and the President has signed, a bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act every year for 64 years. On the surface, that looks like a real commitment to defending America.

However, strong speeches and bipartisan NDAAs are useless if Congress doesn’t appropriate necessary money to implement strategies, acquire technologies, and train forces.  

Congress has gotten into the habit of failing to pass appropriations bills and instead adopting short-term continuing resolutions. Members grandstand about spending but focus on attaching various riders to advance ideological goals.

The result of this collapse of congressional responsibility has been a steady increase in the complexity and cost of national security.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Brown Jr., wrote a letter to the Congress asserting that “the single greatest thing that Congress can do to enable the Department to execute our strategy is to enact a full-year appropriation.”

The Pentagon is frustrated because 12 of the last 13 years have partly operated under continuing resolutions — which is clearly going to happen again this year.

Continuing resolutions limit the Department of Defense from contracting some projects and making certain commitments. The current fear is congressional gridlock could lead to a year-long continuing resolution, which has never happened before.

This threat is so great that Secretary Austin wrote: 

“The Department has never operated under a year-long CR in lieu of a Department of Defense Appropriations Act. A year-long CR would misalign billions of dollars, subject Service members and their families to unnecessary stress, damage our readiness, and impede our ability to react to emergent events.

“As you have heard me say, our budget is aligned to our strategy. A year-long CR would set us behind in meeting our pacing challenge highlighted in our National Defense Strategy — the People’s Republic of China. The PRC is the only global competitor with both the intent and capability to change the international order. Our ability to execute our strategy is contingent upon our ability to innovate and modernize to meet this challenge, which cannot happen under a CR.”

America had three years to prepare for our entry into World War II. Even with all the effort put into mobilization, we were still woefully unprepared when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. In many ways, America did not reach its full military potential until 1944. Thousands of young Americans died buying the time for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Arsenal of Democracy” to become a reality.

We don’t have the luxury of rearming and rebuilding while our allies hold the line. That happened in both World Wars.

Today, America must be prepared 365-days-a-year. We must be vigilant about potential surprise attacks 24-hours-a-day. We must be developing new weapons and doctrines every day to maintain a qualitative edge over our potential adversaries.

We also must have a stable enough cash flow that we can recruit young Americans willing to defend their country. We also must create an optimistic positive environment — with full support from the American people and the Congress — so these young people can decide that they want to stay in and make careers out of defending America.

As an Army brat whose father served 26 years in the Army — including the end of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War — I know how much the additional stress of financial uncertainty can affect the troops and their families.

Nothing helps the Chinese Communist Party general secretary, Xi Jinping, more than a Congress that can’t prioritize defending America. 

The time to make full annual appropriations for national security is now. Let your Congressional Representative and Senators know that America’s defense, safety, and survival should be their shared No. 1 goal.