Nancy Pelosi: “When natural disaster strikes, the people of our country have a right to have a response from us, and a response that is…”

“When natural disaster strikes, the people of our country have a right to have a response from us, and a response that is quick and appropriate. That is why I hope that we can do that with this legislation, and why it is hard to understand why anyone would want to throw up an obstacle to the very quickest response to the needs of the American people. That obstacle is in the form, in this legislation, of having in order the Gekas amendment. President Clinton has rightfully said that if the Gekas amendment is included in this bill, that he would veto the bill. So I urge my colleagues, when it comes time to vote on the Gekas amendment, to vote against it. Who wins under the Gekas amendment? I think just the House Republicans, because this month's balanced budget agreement includes several new investments in education and other priorities for American families, but Republicans are hoping they can ignore those bipartisan commitments by ramming through this amendment, which would allow them to impose automatic $25 billion cuts in education and other priorities.”