Mike Levin: “I join the Senator from Virginia in making a plea to our appropriators here, the managers on the bill, to understand the…”

“I join the Senator from Virginia in making a plea to our appropriators here, the managers on the bill, to understand the situation in which we find ourselves. That is, we had a bill in the Senate which the Republican leader decided for reasons which were very clear at the time that the bill would be pulled down. It was left in limbo. And the request is whether we will now have an opportunity to vote on a bill which does so much for the men and women in the military. We cannot think of any other way we can bring up the authorization except by offering it as an amendment to the appropriations bill, which is pending. It has met the threshold of germaneness, we are assured. The Senate will decide whether it is germane. But the Parliamentarian has advised the Senator from Virginia that it meets the threshold. So now with the provisions in this bill--the pay provisions, the special pay provisions, the bonuses, the death gratuity enhancement, the increased life insurance, the health care provisions, the TRICARE provisions--we could go on and on--there are critically important provisions in this bill to the men and women in the military. We have men and women in the military with their lives at risk in Iraq and Afghanistan and now we have an additional responsibility in the gulf. We have so much at stake. Usually appropriators and the authorizers have been able to work together. I hope that will continue now. Somehow or other I hope we will be able to figure out a way----”