Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) called out the military’s annual multi-million dollar Viagra budget during a congressional hearing with the Department of Defense’s director of contracting Thursday.
During Thursday’s Oversight Hearing on Defense Spending, Lee asked Department of Defense Contracting Director John Tenaglia about the military’s expensive Viagra annual budget. Viagra which is a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction and can also be used to treat high blood pressure in the lungs.
Asked how much the military spends annually on Viagra, Tenaglia said he did not have the figure with him. In response, Lee said the military spends roughly $41.5 million per year on Viagra.
“Do you know how many bridges in my district of Pittsburgh could be repaired with that amount?” she asked. “About two. The rebuilding of the Fern Hollow Bridge, which of course, collapsed the day that President Biden happened to be coming to Pittsburg cost about $25.3 million to rebuild.”
According to BBC News, the majority of Viagra prescriptions are for older military retirees, not for active duty personnel. A previous study indicated that only 10% of Viagra prescriptions are filled for active members of the military.
In 2014, a study conducted by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch recorded 100,248 cases of diagnosed erectile dysfunction among active members of the military between 2004 and 2013. According to the study, almost half of the cases were attributed to psychological causes.
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Lee also grilled Tenaglia over other military spending, such as the amount of money the Department of Defense spent on Alaskan king crab and snow crab in 2018. According to the congresswoman, the military spent about $2.3 million on Alaskan king crab and snow crab in 2018.
Referencing a report by the Government Accountability Office, Lee said roughly $85 million worth of one million F-35 parts were ‘lost’ by the Department of Defense.
“I urge the Department to do better,” Lee told Tenaglia. “Your department accounts for 15% of our total budget. You need to be more mindful in not only how you spend American’s tax dollars but also how you account for it. Millions of dollars should not just be ‘lost’ and failing audits should not be the norm. That’s unacceptable.”
