The U.S. military is in rough shape. Only one-third of the Army brigades are combat ready. The Air Force is cannibalizing some F-16s to keep others flying. The Marines’ inventory of spare parts is so low, they’re filching parts from planes in museums. And the Navy keeps extending deployments because it has too few ships.

Congress, to its credit, seems to be paying attention. The House of Representatives recently passed a defense policy bill that would boost spending by $18 billion to start rebuilding the military. The Senate is now taking up its version, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., plans to offer an amendment that would add $17 billion to do things like increase maintenance and training, grow the size of the Army, and buy more ships and airplanes.