Howard Berman: “Mr. Speaker, I rise in urging my colleagues to vote to sustain the President's veto of H.R. 1561. This is the third vote…”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in urging my colleagues to vote to sustain the President's veto of H.R. 1561. This is the third vote we have had on this bill. Last June, 192 Democrats voted against H.R. 1561. More recently in March, only nine Democrats supported the conference report. Only six Republicans voted against the conference report. There is no bipartisan support for this bill. As I said at the time the conference report was adopted, this was the first time in 13 years that I had the honor of serving in this body that a State Department authorization bill has been taken up in committee, on the floor, or out of a conference committee without bipartisan support. Why is this bill for the first time breaking with the tradition that this House and this Congress has had to pass this legislation on a bipartisan basis? It is because this bill is not about a bipartisan foreign policy. It is not about protecting America's national interests while rationally reforming Government. This is about tying another scalp to the Republicans' Contract With America belt.”