Neil Abercrombie: “But the fact that it has to be passed, the fact that the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) has to take the lead as the…”

“But the fact that it has to be passed, the fact that the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) has to take the lead as the appropriations chair to right this wrong is indicative of the fact that the administration has failed to understand what is at stake here. Surely something like this could be rescinded by an Executive Order. We are apparently able to go to war without the slightest recourse to the Congress for approval; one would think that the administration could rescind this tax on food for wounded veterans in our Nation's military hospitals. So I think the Congress has the obligation to get involved in this oversight in a way beyond that which is the ordinary passage of bills and the ordinary scope of legislation that we go through in the quotidian details of legislative life here in Washington. This is a perfect example of it. In some respects, it is almost shameful that the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations has to resort to a legislative bill to right this wrong, which is obvious to anyone who would objectively look at the situation.”