Marcy Kaptur: “tonight, Congress will pass the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2006. This comes not a moment…”

“tonight, Congress will pass the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2006. This comes not a moment too soon for our troops serving bravely overseas during this holiday season. Passage of this critical legislation will ensure that our servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan will receive much needed supplies, protective equipment and health benefits. While I wholeheartedly support the underlying bill, I vehemently oppose a last minute amendment that was added by Senate and House Republicans that will open up a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling. This controversial environmental matter should never be attached to a defense bill. Surely the Senate is acting in the mistrusted tradition the American people call Christmas tree bills. This ANWR ramrod fits the description perfectly. Seemingly not content to leave town before selling out to Big Oil one last time, Republican leaders in both chambers have decided to play politics with this must-pass bill and attach to it a provision that is soundly opposed by majorities in both the House and Senate, and, not insignificantly, by the American people. This ANWR ramrod is a mistake. It is a mistake procedurally. It is a mistake morally. And it is a mistake environmentally. Opening the refuge to oil exploration will disturb a delicate environmental balance and threaten a way of life for the native peoples whose livelihoods depend on that balance.…”