Norman D. Dicks: “I want to first of all again congratulate the gentleman from Florida (Chairman Young), the gentleman from California…”

“I want to first of all again congratulate the gentleman from Florida (Chairman Young), the gentleman from California (Chairman Lewis), and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) for the way they crafted this legislation. We have made the Defense Department be accountable for this money. But I must say, cutting $19 million out of this fund, or $19 billion, excuse me, is not going to help the troops. We are in the middle of a war. This money must be replenished. We have used 10,000 precision weapons very effectively. We have these troops in the field, and they need to have the resources in order to complete this task and get this job done. I do not mind people making their speeches and exhorting their position on the issues; but when it is going to hurt the people in the field, it is unacceptable. This will hurt the troops in the field. I urge the House to reject overwhelmingly the Kucinich amendment, which I will request a record vote on.”