Jack Kingston: “I wanted to speak on the subject of the supplemental budget. Eighty-seven billion dollars is indeed a lot of money. Yet…”

“I wanted to speak on the subject of the supplemental budget. Eighty-seven billion dollars is indeed a lot of money. Yet, building democracy in the Middle East, building an ally in the Middle East, another ally, would be very, very helpful to United States interests and to the big picture of world peace. I hear from a lot of my Democrat friends that, well, I'm going to support the troops and cleverly just support that portion of the budget which goes directly to the troops, which would be about two-thirds of it, some 60-plus billion dollars. How can you support the troops and then not let them complete their task by trying to rebuild the country and the infrastructure? It does not make sense. If you are going to support the troops, you have to support their mission. I would love any of my colleagues who have such doubts about the importance of what we are doing to come down to the Third Infantry Division in Hinesville-Fort Stewart, Georgia, and talk to some of the troops who have been there, who have spent 6 to 8 months of their lives there in the last year and look them in the eye and say, you know what, I do not like what you are doing. And you know what, I am going to support your expense, your room and board, but I am not going to help you rebuild this nation that you lost your friends over. I just want to say, that is an open invitation to any Democrat or Republican if you want to come down and talk to people who have been on the ground.”