Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, our amendment, the Lee-Pocan No. 14, reverses egregious Pentagon budget increases added during the committee markup. This is mind-boggling. Our amendment trims back the total level of the fiscal year 2023 NDAA to no more than the amount requested by President Biden. We have numerous, glaring examples of waste, fraud, and abuse within our defense establishment. Yet, some of our colleagues insist on piling more money into the Pentagon than our military leaders--our President even--asks for, despite the DOD routinely returning unspent balances to the Treasury. Enough is enough. Americans are demanding that Congress rebalance our priorities and invest in the biggest challenges which we face. This $37 billion could be better spent--that is how much over the President requested--to extend the child and earned income tax credit, improve healthcare access, and pay for Medicare hearing benefits for seniors. Mr. Speaker, $37 billion could hire 300,000 nurses to alleviate the nursing shortage or fund free, quality childcare for more than 800,000 children to help caregivers get back to work. While I personally support much larger cuts, we need to draw the line somewhere. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.”