A Democratic senator urged President Obama on Tuesday to include the military budget in his proposed spending freeze.

“Defense represents a significant part of our discretionary spending in this country. The defense establishment needs to be under fiscal discipline, as do all of our agencies.” Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) told reporters in the Capitol. “I don’t think defense should be exempt. If there are extraordinary things that occur that require us to respond for national security, we always will be prepared to do that. But to exempt the normal military spending just because it’s military, to me, is wrong.”