Wendy Sherman: “we all want to vote to support the troops. This bill, however, contains provisions for $18 billion as gifts, and none as…”

“we all want to vote to support the troops. This bill, however, contains provisions for $18 billion as gifts, and none as loans, to Iraq. We ought to have a separate vote on that provision. But what they have done is link the two provisions in this rule, so that you cannot oppose the way they have structured the aid to Iraq without, in the view of some, ``voting against the troops.'' But that diabolical connection was insufficient, so they added one more; and while homes are burning by the hundreds in California, they decide to load into this bill additional money for FEMA: $500 million for FEMA at a time when FEMA needs the money. It is outrageous to try to take a bad policy towards aid to Iraq and use it as a pass on our natural concern for the thousands who have lost their homes in California. This is a martial law rule. So as the gentleman has pointed out, we do not get a chance to read the bill and understand it before we vote on it. Forty-seven Republicans voted for my amendment (on October 16), along with all Democrats, to say that we have to have competitive bidding on all the oil contracts in Iraq. As far as I know, that has been stripped out of this bill so we will not have competitive bidding.”