During a recent House hearing, Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), asked John Tenaglia the principal director of the Department of Defense what was the annual spending cost of Viagra within the military.
Tenaglia was a bit thrown off by the question and said he didn’t possess information regarding that expenditure.
Rep. Lee however did have the military’s budget on Viagra and revealed the DoD as a whole spent about $41.6 million a year on Viagra.
Watch the moment she said it:
Me: How much does the military spend on Viagra each year?
Director of Defense Contracts: I don’t have that figured out.Me: about $41.6 million.
Do you know how many bridges in my District of Pittsburgh could be repaired with that amount? pic.twitter.com/H489U7Kpz7— Congresswoman Summer Lee (@RepSummerLee) July 13, 2023
Here’s what Oann reported:
Democrat Representative Summer Lee has questioned the Department of Defense over the military’s high allocation of funds towards seemingly frivolous expenses, especially Viagra.
This comes as in recent years, there has been an ongoing debate about the exorbitant military budget of the United States.
During a hearing in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Rep. Lee directed a pointed question at John Tenaglia, a principal director at the Department of Defense. She asked about the average annual expenditure on Viagra within the military.
Tenaglia answered that he did not possess that information to which Lee quickly responded, revealing the figure to be approximately $41.6 million.
Lee drew a sharp contrast between this expenditure and the urgent infrastructural needs in her district, pointing out that the recent collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh could be rebuilt with a fraction of the funds spent on Viagra, which amounted to $25.3 million.
Critics argue that this extravagant spending on Viagra is indicative of a broader pattern of misplaced priorities within the Department of Defense, and that redirecting a portion of these funds towards urgent domestic needs could yield significant benefits for society. They argue that allocating such vast sums to non-essential items undermines the funding necessary for vital infrastructure projects, education, healthcare, and other pressing needs of the American people.
Rep. Summer Lee compared the high prices of items and projects the U.S. military spends money on, like Viagra and Alaskan king crab, to the cost of infrastructure, student loan debt and more during a House oversight hearing Thursday. pic.twitter.com/awWm3SVM4V
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) July 13, 2023
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.”
