Tom Coburn: “I concur with the Senator's desire to reestablish the site there. That is not what this is about. I am told the Senate…”

“I concur with the Senator's desire to reestablish the site there. That is not what this is about. I am told the Senate Armed Services Committee is not for this because it only gets us halfway there, which bothers me greatly because instead of $221 million, we are going to spend $442 million, which ends up being about $800,000 per bed. The point I make is this: If you throw money out there, they are going to build where they expend the money. How about us having a plan within a certain amount of money and living with it, rather than saying we are going over or we are not going over? How about taking the average of the last couple that have been built where there have been any facilities similar to it and using that as a guideline? My problem is it is not $176 million; it is $176 million plus $44 million, and other people are going to authorize another $200 million, so we are going to be talking about a half a billion dollars, and that is my problem with it. I ask unanimous consent at this time to withdraw this amendment. I appreciate the courtesies extended to me during the debate. I know the desire is right. I think the money that is out there is extraordinarily too much, especially when we have documented estimates to repair the present facilities between $50 million and $60 million and to build new ones between $120 million and $150 million. So anything above that is fluff at this time, which we can't afford.…”