Rep. Hillary Scholten always supports more funding for militarism than she does meeting the needs of people in the 3rd Congressional District

Last week, Rep. Scholten held a press conference to announce that she helped to secure $25 million in federal funding to upgrade the East Beltline bridge/overpass above highway 96.

The Congresswoman representing the 3rd District stated during her press conference: 

The East Beltline Bridge in Grand Rapids — once a rural roadway — is now a major thoroughfare that over 50K vehicles traverse every day. That’s why I was thrilled to announce a $25 million federal grant I helped secure that will help fund a much-needed replacement of the bridge over I-96. This investment is a game-changer for Grand Rapids to ensure our infrastructure is safer, more accessible, and built to last.

The Fox 17 news coverage didn’t include much other than Scholten’s announcement, with no other sources cited and no questions regarding how this will be a, “game changer for Grand Rapids.” 

Additionally, the WXMI 17 story doesn’t put this $25 million in context. For example, according to the National Priorities Project, $1.82 billion left the 3rd Congressional District to fund the US Military Budget for 2023 (which is the current data that they have).

It is likely that the amount that has left Rep. Scholten’s district in 2024 was higher, especially considering that the US military budget has increased every year since 2023, an increase that Rep. Scholten voted for in 2023 and 2024.

Another way of thinking about funding priorities is to look at how $1.8 billion in tax dollars leaving the 3rd Congressional District to pay for militarism are the possible trade-offs. Again, the National Priorities Project provides great example of how our taxes could be used to meet the needs of people locally, rather than going to fund war and militarism. For example, $1.8 billion that current goes towards the US military could fund: 

• 256,312 Public Housing Units for 1 Year, or
• 19,235 Elementary School Teachers for 1 Year, or
• 111,485 Military Veterans Receiving VA Medical Care for 1 Year, or 
• 31,873 Scholarships for University Students for 4 Years, or 
• 657,002 Children Receiving Low-Income Healthcare for 1 Year, or 
• 370,771 Adults Receiving Low-Income Healthcare for 1 Year

Surely, funding these basic community needs are more important, yet it is not part of the news coverage on Rep. Scholten’s announcement, nor the overall public discourse around the massive US military budget.

The irony is that two days after Rep. Scholten held her press conference on the funding for the Beltline bridge, she was part of a rally in support of the Ukraine on the 3rd anniversary of the Russian invasion. I did not attend that rally, but I would bet money that Rep. Scholten didn’t talk about her voting to provide the Ukraine government with US military aid since 2022. Scholten did not become a member of Congress until 2023, but since 2022, the US has provided $119.5 billion in military aid to the Ukraine.

Over 50 years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr., said of the United States in his crucial “Beyond Vietnam” speech that: “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” Rep. Scholten continues to prioritize military spending over the needs of people, thus contributing to the spiritual and actual death of people in her district.