1. Set Focus
Frame the inquiry with these essential questions: How big must a nation’s military be to successfully protect that nation?
2. Read and Discuss
Have students read the debate and then answer the following questions:
- What is the issue being debated? How does it relate to current events? (The issue is whether the U.S. spends more on its military than is needed to maintain national security. As the Biden administration looks to increase spending on infrastructure and social programs, the debate over whether to spend less on the military has heated up.)
- Evaluate why these two authors might be interested in and qualified to comment on this issue. (As members of Congress, both Barbara Lee and James Inhofe propose, debate, and vote on bills that set the budgets for the U.S. military and set other government spending.)