With his final spending proposal as House Budget Committee chairman, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan is attempting to move the Republican Party back to its Reagan roots as committed to investing in a strong defense even amid challenging budgetary conditions.

The Republicans had slowly abandoned the virtually unanimous position — established during President Ronald Reagan’s administration — as concern spiked about the unprecedented levels of debt incurred under President Obama. Even last year, when faced with allowing automatic, across-the-board defense cuts to kick in under the budget sequester, congressional Republicans chose the sequester.