By Joe Ragusa

NORMAL – U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis is pleased to see more emphasis on the military in the federal budget passed earlier this week with his support.

“We’ve got ISIS and Al-Qaeda breathing down our neck, wanting to kill Americans worldwide,” Davis said. “We cannot afford to have a military that is going backwards.”

The budget includes $80 billion for military and domestic programs.

The Obama administration confirmed today that a small amount of troops are in Syria helping local troops combat ISIS. Davis said Friday’s move highlights one of the reasons he voted for the budget this week and he wants the President to be more proactive against the terrorists.

“I hope he listens to our generals. I hope he listens to our military strategists and that he follows their lead in ensuring that we’re going to have a productive engagement in Syria rather than something that will fail like his previous plans have,” Davis said.

Davis said the budget, now on its way to the President’s desk after passing in the Senate Friday, includes key entitlement reforms, but he almost didn’t vote for it because the original proposal called for a $3 billion cut to the nation’s crop insurance program.

“It could have led to the demise of the entire crop insurance program in this country. I wasn’t going to stand for that,” Davis said.

Davis said he has been assured that the cut to crop insurance has been removed.

Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].