As the super-committee begins to meet and Congress grapples over how to fund the government when the current fiscal year ends on September 30, there is continued pressure on lawmakers to find places to cut. One area that must be addressed is defense spending.
On Tuesday, Public Notice sponsored a panel discussion with leading defense experts from major Washington think tanks on the issue of the defense budget 10 years after 9/11.
The programs for attendees included our latest infographic – a snapshot of our defense spending since 9/11.
You can check it out yourself here.
Click here to see photographs from the event. 
Download the event’s factsheet here.
Below are some notable quotes from the discussion.
“Everything is on the table in this debate….It’s not the amount of money that is spent on our defense budget, it’s what’s in it.” – Janne Nolan, American Security Project
“The only way to cut our long-term defense obligations is to make tough choices.” – Josh Rogin, Foreign Policy
“Intelligence…is what allows us to save money on weapons and forces….We can’t sustain our current level of military expenditures.” – Loren Thompson, Lexington Institute
“The President needs a new security strategy given our financial situation.” – Larry Korb, Center for American Progress
One question we received from Twitter asked how the country can justify spending 43% of the world’s total defense expenditures. Below are excerpts from the panelist’s responses:
“We encountered a series of threats we didn’t expect to encounter…It’s because our economy stopped growing two years.” – Loren Thompson, Lexington Institute
“We have a series of commitments globally that we have to fulfill.” – Michael Breen, Truman National Security Project
“America has a role as the guarantor of global security – right or wrong.” – Josh Rogin, Foreign Policy
“That is a function of us spending bit too much, and the rest of the world spending a bit too little.” – Christopher Preble, Cato Institute
“The [defense budget] baseline goes up. As Admiral Mullen said, we don’t have to make any choices, we can have everything.” – Larry Korb, Center for American Progress
View the program of the event here.
View the moderator and panelists’ bios here.