Lucille Roybal-Allard: “I do not in any way question the patriotism of my Republican colleagues. Nor should they question mine. And I most…”

“I do not in any way question the patriotism of my Republican colleagues. Nor should they question mine. And I most certainly have the greatest respect for Chairman Young who worked with the minority and reported out of committee a bipartisan bill that provides needed funding to support our military and our Nation's fight against terrorism. It is for this reason that I am absolutely baffled that my Republican colleagues are allowing their leadership to muddy up this bill so critical to the safety of our troops and our Nation's security. It is unconscionable that the Republican leadership has made it necessary to delay passage of this bill because of their addition of ill-conceived and irresponsible provisions that have nothing to do with supporting our troops or defending our country's security. I therefore implore my Republican colleagues to insist that the national interests of this country are put before the political interests of their leadership. Help us strip the bill of this underhanded attempt to burden America's taxpayers and increase the national debt limit by 750 billion dollars . . . which in effect is a 750 billion dollar overdraft of our Nation's checking account. What makes the actions of the Republican leadership even worse is that we are already in deficit due to the earlier irresponsible economic policies of the majority.”