The House rejected a plan to trim military funding used to sponsor sports like NASCAR, in order to attract recruits.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. on pit road before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, July 7, in Daytona Beach, Fla. Earnhardt is sponsored by the National Guard.
John Raoux/AP
EnlargeNASCAR and bass fishing can count on the?military?to keep the sponsorship money coming.
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The House voted Wednesday night to continue spending millions for the?military?to back?sports?to attract recruits for the all-volunteer force. On a vote of 216-202, the House rejected an amendment by Reps. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., and Betty McCollum, D-Minn., that would have trimmed $72.3 million for?sports?sponsorships from a $608 billion defense bill for fiscal 2013.
The measure had targeted the money the National Guard spends to sponsor Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR's most popular driver, as well as IndyCar Series driver JR Hildebrand. It also would have cut money the Army spends on the National Hot Rod Association drag racing, funds the Marine Corps uses for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and money spent on bass fishing.
Kingston and McCollum had challenged their colleagues' resolve to cut federal spending as the nation grapples with the trillion-plus deficit. House Republicans, their majority larger thanks to the 2010 class of tea party freshmen, have insisted on fiscal discipline and backed deep budget cuts in numerous domestic programs.
The House also rejected an effort by McCollum to reduce the budget for the?military's?140 bands and 5,000 full-time musicians from $388 million to $200 million. The congresswoman had questioned the need to spend nearly $4 billion over the next decade on?military?bands and musical performances.
The House spent most of the day and night debating the far-reaching defense legislation that provides money for war, troops and weapons next year. Yet talk of Earnhardt's No. 88, bass fishing and NASCAR dominated the discussion.
Kingston, a Georgian who says he hails from NASCAR and?military?country, insisted that the sponsorship money was ineffective, attracting few recruits, and made no sense as the Army shrinks from a peak of 570,000 to 490,000 and the Marine Corps drops by 20,000, to 182,000. The end of the Iraq war, the drawdown in Afghanistan and the nation's fiscal woes have reshaped the defense budget, which has nearly doubled in the last 10 years.
"If someone is going to sign away five or six years of their life, it's going to take more than an ad on an automobile," Kingston told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference prior to the floor debate.
He said the money should be spent on hiring more recruiters, not?military?sponsorships.
"We're in a fiscal crisis here," said Minnesota's McCollum. "Bass fishing is not national security."
But the two faced strong opposition from members of North Carolina's congressional delegation as well as lawmakers from Mississippi and Florida.
North Carolina is home to Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the base for most NASCAR teams. The NASCAR Hall of Fame is located in Charlotte adjacent to one of NASCAR's main offices. Its headquarters are in Daytona Beach, Fla.
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