Steny Hoyer: “our highest duty as Members of this Congress is to ensure our national security, to protect our homeland and to defend…”

“our highest duty as Members of this Congress is to ensure our national security, to protect our homeland and to defend our people. We must use every tool in our arsenal--including military force--to capture, kill or disrupt international terrorists who are intent on striking the United States and our interests overseas. We must do whatever it takes to prevent the unthinkable--a nuclear, biological or chemical attack--from occurring on American soil. We must ensure that the American military remains the finest fighting force in the history of the world. And, we must succeed in Iraq--for the sake of our own national security, the stability of Iraq and the Middle East region, and our global standing and credibility. This defense appropriations bill will help us accomplish most of our national security objectives, and I will vote for it. It provides $409 billion for defense functions for fiscal 2006, including $45.3 billion in so-called emergency spending for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan--bringing the total appropriation from this Congress for these two missions to $314 billion. However, even though I support this bill, I believe it is simply Orwellian to call this new funding for Iraq and Afghanistan an ``emergency.'' Emergencies are unforeseen events that are difficult, if not impossible, to plan for. The idea that this administration cannot predict and budget for the costs of our on-going military efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan is ludicrous.…”