Richard Gephardt: “this debate today should not be about politics; it should be about people. The substitute offered by the gentleman from…”

“this debate today should not be about politics; it should be about people. The substitute offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) I believe is a better way to go about dealing with the problems that we face. We need to support the troops in the field. However my colleagues feel about the action that is taking place, I think by now we have all come to the conclusion that we got our young people out there. We need to support them. The President asked us for $6 million to support our young men and women in the field. The pay, which the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) puts into his alternative is obviously needed and sends a strong message to our young people that we intend to try to retain people in the service and get people that we are trying to recruit. Mr. Chairman, I think that makes sense, and that is why he put it in the bill. There are a lot of other needs in the military. I do not think the place to address those needs is in this bill. I do not deny that those needs ought to be looked at. Many of them ought to be fulfilled. I simply believe that in an emergency bill that we are trying to get through here in a expeditious manner, it does not do well to raise a lot of issues that are properly raised in the appropriation process. So I think the Obey amendment deals with the military needs that we have got right now in Kosovo in the best way.”