Louis Stokes: “The rule that we are proceeding under today really points out the real hypocrisy of what we now see in terms of this…”

“The rule that we are proceeding under today really points out the real hypocrisy of what we now see in terms of this amendment. As was stated by the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey], at the full Committee on Appropriations I offered the amendment which would have restored the full $206 million to the Veterans account. Just as he stated, the vote in the full committee was 29-22 defeating my amendment, strictly along party lines. All the Republicans voted against restoring the money to the Veterans account. All of the Democrats voted for it. Yesterday I appeared before the Committee on Rules. I once again asked for permission to make my amendment in order. The gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey] appeared there, also asked the Committee on Rules to make my amendment in order to be able to restore all the funds to the Veterans account. We presented a budget-neutral amendment, and yet that amendment was not made in order. It is interesting that we come to the floor now and the Republicans now want to restore this funding.”