Kendrick Meek: “Mr. Speaker, in all seriousness, we have an awful lot of business that will be taking place in the next 24 hours. We are…”

“Mr. Speaker, in all seriousness, we have an awful lot of business that will be taking place in the next 24 hours. We are approaching Memorial Day, and there have been a lot of reports about the Iraq emergency supplemental. There has been a lot of discussion about lobbying reform. There has been a lot of discussion about the reauthorization of the agriculture bill. But I can tell you one thing, Mr. Speaker: Unlike previous Congresses, the work is being done here by those of us that are under the dome, doing what the people of America sent us up here to do. As we talk about the war, I think it is important to know that the issues in Iraq and Afghanistan are very, very serious to all of us here, to all of us in Washington, D.C., and Americans throughout the country, and especially the family members of those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. We always give this report. As of 10 a.m. this morning, the death toll in Iraq as it relates to the men and women in uniform is 3,424; wounded in action and returning to duty is 14,073; and wounded in action and not returning to duty is 11,476. I think it is very important that we pay very close attention to those numbers. The days of six supplementals passing off of this floor, half a trillion dollars spent and no strings attached to any of those appropriation dollars, those days are over.”