November 8th Congressional Briefing on Costs of War
The $5.6 Trillion Price Tag of the Post-9/11 Wars and How We Are Paying for It
Wednesday, November 8, 2017 at 10:00am – 11:00am
Senate Armed Services Committee Room
236 Russell Senate Office Building
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) hosted a panel of speakers from the Costs of War Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International & Public Affairs. The event officially released a new report by Boston University political scientist Neta Crawford on the total budgetary costs of the post-9/11 wars: $5.6 trillion since 2001. Harvard public finance expert Linda Bilmes also talked about how the US is paying for post 9/11 war expenditures, in comparison to previous wars such as Korea and Vietnam. Speakers presented their findings, put these into current political context, and suggest some avenues for legislative action.