Jerry Lewis: “I doubt that I will take the entire 10 minutes at this moment; but it is very important, I think, for the Members of the…”

“I doubt that I will take the entire 10 minutes at this moment; but it is very important, I think, for the Members of the House to join together and recognize the long-term impact that we may be about effecting today as we consider this very important supplemental. In anybody's book, $87 billion is a lot of money. Indeed, it was not very long ago, 2 weeks ago, the President signed into law the appropriations for the 2004 national defense funding. Those dollars pay for the fiscal year that is ahead of us, for the expenses of housing, of training, of providing food and forage for the men and women who make up our forces. The moneys also involve paying for the assets that they use whether they be airplanes, ships at sea, or arms that they must carry. Those dollars also pay for the research and development that allow us to stay on the cutting edge for the wars that we may have to fight somewhere over the horizon. All of that is a piece of national security or the national defense, a total in that package in excess of $370 billion. There is just not any question that defending America, being the strongest country in the world, is an expensive process.”