Barney Frank: “This is a bill that illustrates an old saying: Adding insult to injury. The insult is the terms under which we are…”

“This is a bill that illustrates an old saying: Adding insult to injury. The insult is the terms under which we are debating this vast commitment of taxpayer dollars to the most important issue we have--defense. People will be debating at 11 o'clock tonight, in 5 minutes on a side, very significant issues. We had a few minutes to debate the question of Afghanistan. My colleague, Ms. Lee, and some Republicans will join to try to bring this budget number down to where it should be--$8 billion at least, back to the number of the agreement. And they will have 5 minutes in which to do it. That's outrageous. Also, it's important to note if this bill goes through, it is a statement that efforts to improve the quality of life at home will be sacrificed to foreign adventures that are ill-fated in many cases. I read a letter from the chairman of the committee to the Secretary of Defense. He said, Mr. Secretary, if we increase spending here, it won't come out of other national security accounts. Of course not. It will come out of Medicare. It will come out of Medicaid. It will come out of efforts to protect the environment. It will come out of police on our streets. There is an excess of money here. Afghanistan is a good example. A commitment of 68,000 troops. The gentleman from California complained about what the gentleman from Washington said. It sounded the same to me. They put down 68,000 troops, dictating to the Commander in Chief-- or trying to--what it should be.…”