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Biden is expected to announce his budget next week.
"As you prepare your fiscal year 2023 budget for submission to
Congress, we strongly encourage you to reject the approach you
took last year when you proposed to cut defense spending below
the rate of inflation," the lawmakers wrote in the letter, made
public on Wednesday.
In his first year in office, Biden submitted a budget keeping
Department of Defense spending basically flat, as he and many of
his fellow Democrats sought to rein in the Department of Defense
budget, which has risen to more than $750 billion.
"Unprecedented Chinese military modernization has left us behind
in key areas in the Western Pacific, and each day the Chinese
Communist Party more clearly shows us that its interests are
diametrically opposed to ours," the lawmakers said in the
letter.
"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin's aggression against Ukraine
has already left us and our NATO allies less secure, and his
appetite and erratic behavior is likely to grow," they said.
The letter's signatories were led by Representative Mike Rogers,
the top Republican on House Armed Services, and Senator Jim
Inhofe, the top Republican on Senate Armed Services.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
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