Lynn C. Woolsey: “the defense spending in this budget is much, much, much higher than I would like. But I rise today in support of this…”

“the defense spending in this budget is much, much, much higher than I would like. But I rise today in support of this conference report and the very good work of Chairman Spratt, of his committee, and his staff. Thanks go to Chairman Spratt and the conferees for including my language in this bill to steer more defense dollars to military personnel for their health care, including Walter Reed and TRICARE, and away from outdated, misguided, and unneeded weapons systems that are still being built to fight the threat of the Soviet Union, to protect against the Cold War. This budget also takes on waste at the Pentagon, insisting that DOD presses ahead in implementing over 1,300 unaddressed suggestions from the GAO to reduce waste, fraud and abuse. Mr. Speaker, whenever any Member of this Congress has to stand on the floor and defend what they did in years past, you know it's pretty sure that they made some big mistakes. This budget is a big step in correcting the fiscal mess that the Democratic majority inherited, and I urge my colleagues to support its passage.”