Political Quotes

“Madam Chairman, on January 31, according to a letter we just received, the President suddenly decided he needed a supplemental appropriation of $1.2 billion. I think there is some coincidence with the fact that there was a supplemental emergency then going forward. Someone probably suggested that to him. They are not stupid. They said, ``We can get $1.2 billion right on to the earthquake,'' so they sent it in. It includes, for instance, a request for $478 million to compensate them for all the money we have spent on Haiti. Madam Chairman, we have simply got a request here from the Defense Department and their allies in the House, who are entitled to do this, to increase the budget for the year. It lists Somalia, Bosnia, Iraq, and Haiti. That is every operation they engaged in. If we adopt the bill as it now is and defeat my amendment, we are accepting the precedent that the military budget is simply for maintenance, and that any time the military actually has to be called into action, no matter how small, as unfortunately it was in Haiti, they get extra money. It will either add to the deficit, and the National Taxpayer's Union supports this amendment, or it will come at the expense of other programs and perhaps both.”