Kendrick Meek: “Not at all. And not only has that information not been given to the Committee on Armed Services, but it has not been…”

“Not at all. And not only has that information not been given to the Committee on Armed Services, but it has not been given to the committee in question that they are asking the money from, that is the subcommittee, the Subcommittee on Defense and also the full Committee on Appropriations. That question has not been answered, neither in the House nor the Senate. I must add also that the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) hit on so many points. The real question is if we vote or vote against the $87 billion, are we supporting the troops or are we supporting the President with cowboy politics, with his cowboy politics? That is the question. So when folks say, I have to vote for it to support the troops, of course we want to support the troops, but the troops are not at the UN. The troops are not coming before Congress and saying, Ask no questions or we question your patriotism. The gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) came in here and said, What about the individuals that are right here? There are families right now watching us here on this House floor, and there are family members over in Iraq, meanwhile, they are behind in their house note. Meanwhile, the story cannot be read by mom or dad because they are in Iraq. So if we give the $87 billion plus, I have to add that, to this Bush administration, then we are saying that we condone the President going to the UN and not asking nicely for help.”