Kendrick Meek: “You know, Mr. Ryan, it's interesting. You mentioned Chairman Murtha. Chairman Murtha was fine with the administration as…”

“You know, Mr. Ryan, it's interesting. You mentioned Chairman Murtha. Chairman Murtha was fine with the administration as long as he was voting with the administration in the minority, being the ranking member on Defense Appropriations. They didn't have a problem with him. As a matter of fact, he was held up as a hero, decorated veteran, longstanding member of the Defense Appropriations Committee in the House, ally, called to the White House for his advice. As soon as Mr. Murtha figured out that, not only was the intelligence that the Congress was given was inaccurate, and as soon as he figured out that we could not win 'war militarily,' and he went through a long assessment in figuring this out, and talking with professionals and talking with generals, talking with those that are still enlisted, going into theater, that's what you're supposed to do as an appropriator, making sure the American taxpayer dollars are being spent appropriately; making sure that what they're telling you here on Capitol Hill is actually reality, is the actual reality out in the field. A lot of folks look to the Middle East when they think of the war. Well, the effects of the war are felt right here in this country. You go to the military bases and you talk to these families. It's hard to go to many of these military bases because you see the children, you see the husband or the wife that's left behind.”