Deborah Koff Ross: “You mentioned something that really piqued my interest, and that is making sure that we are providing our soldiers with…”

“You mentioned something that really piqued my interest, and that is making sure that we are providing our soldiers with the best technology in armored vests. And I want to thank you for raising that this evening. I've got a constituent in my district whose son is getting ready to go back for the second time, Arkansas National Guard, 39th Brigade, being asked to go back for a second time. And when you sign up for the National Guard, you're supposed to spend 1 year out of 5, and now they were there in 2003 and 2004, they're being asked to go back again by Christmas of this year or early next year. And he raises a very important issue. This is a constituent from Garland County in Pearcy, Arkansas, near Hot Springs, and that is, he wants to ensure that our men and women in uniform, his son, has the best armored body gear and protection available. There are a lot of tests going on right now; there is a lot of debate going on. There have been hearings on this in the Congress. But 5 years into this war you would think, if our government, if this administration is sending $16 million an hour of your tax money to Iraq, the very least they could do is ensure that our brave men and women, our soldiers that do everything that is asked of them, have the very best in body gear and protection.”