Jerry Lewis: “Like the gentleman from Florida, I wish that I were the author of this amendment for, indeed, if it were not for those…”

“Like the gentleman from Florida, I wish that I were the author of this amendment for, indeed, if it were not for those budget limitations that have been mentioned, there is little question that we would have bipartisan support by way of vote, as well as spirit. There is little question that one of the complications in this process is that under other circumstances, we might very well have exercised emergency provisions to be able to go by our budgetary cap. On the other hand, we face rather sensitive and complicated circumstances in the other body. If they should find themselves with difficulty, it would require 60 votes in the other body; and it could slow down this very, very important measure. Nevertheless, as the gentleman from Florida has indicated, there is not a Member in the House who is more concerned and dedicated to doing the work that is necessary for the men and women who make up our armed services than the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton). He is my colleague, the ranking member on the authorizing committee. He works very, very closely with us as we go about the appropriations process. I very enthusiastically support his intent here, but I must reserve my vote when the vote actually occurs.”