Joe Cunningham: “again I thank the gentleman from New York (Chairman Walsh). I know what a difficult time he has had. We happen to…”

“again I thank the gentleman from New York (Chairman Walsh). I know what a difficult time he has had. We happen to disagree on this issue; not only myself, but take a look at the supporters we have on this particular amendment. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs disagreed with the last speaker. The Secretary of Defense disagrees strongly with the last speaker, as does the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spence), chairman of the defense authorization committee, and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis), chairman of the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on Appropriations. The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha), ranking member on the Subcommittee on Defense, opposes it. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, opposes, which is very difficult, opposes his subcommittee chairman on this particular issue; not the bill, but on this particular issue. Also, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer), chairman of the Subcommittee on Military Personnel; the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran), the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ortiz), and the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Meek) opposes, and I could go right on down the line with the bipartisan support. This is a controversial issue. This is the first time this has been debated. My colleague, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul) has a full right to believe like he does.…”