Charles Skelton: “a number of years ago the famous author Barbara Tuchman wrote a book, ``March of Folly,'' wherein she set forth a good…”

“a number of years ago the famous author Barbara Tuchman wrote a book, ``March of Folly,'' wherein she set forth a good number of examples where governments made actions and decisions contrary to their own best interests. It is my intent today to keep that from happening. We in this Congress, this great deliberative body in which I am thrilled to be a Member, we should not, number one, send a signal not just our troops, but to the world, that we wish to cut off funds, but we should not gamble with this matter at all. I fully intend to seek the President's offering of a supplemental to us. He told me he would. He also told me he would do it in a timely fashion. I certainly hope that comes to pass. Even if he does, it is a very timely request for a supplemental. What happens if there is a long holiday or it gets hung up in the Senate, or there is a disagreement over putting another supplemental together with it? What happens if we run out of time on September 30? Congress will be the laughing stock of the world, and we would all have very embarrassed faces. We do not want that to happen. We do not want that to happen at all. So, with that in mind, I would certainly hope that my amendment would be adopted, that we can get on with our business. And, Mr. Chairman, the sad problem is, the real sad analogy is that this is a great bill, the best one I have seen, the best one I have seen since early 1980s. It really helps the young people in uniform.…”