Haley Stevens: “I am indeed sorry that the Senator did not discuss it with us further before he offered this amendment. There is $26…”

“I am indeed sorry that the Senator did not discuss it with us further before he offered this amendment. There is $26 billion in the 2004 bill the President signed the night before last for the Army. They could reprogram any money they need from the $26 billion. We asked them in and we identified the needs in the Army. We took $952 million from other services and moved it to the Army. And we covered specific items that they identified in terms of their priorities. What Senator Dodd's amendment does, though, is it adds money to accounts we have already plused up, and it takes it from money to bring the troops home. He has attacked the exact wrong part of the bill. I wish I had more than 5 minutes, but I do not want to inconvenience my colleagues and keep them here too long tonight. People are missing planes because of this vote. And it is a vote that is duplicitous. It really is designed to reduce the $20.3 billion in the other part of the account. We did get money for these people. We got money for every item that is on that list, and in the regular bill they have $26 billion. In addition to that, we added $952 million. Now, I have been overseas. I said the other day, I remember going overseas, and on the way I bought boots. I did not like my boots. I bought shirts. I did not like my shirts. I bought gloves I would rather wear. Kids are kids, and they are going to buy what they want.”