Political Quotes

“I want to once again thank Mr. Rogers and Ranking Member Dicks and my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee for their hard work on this bill. Let me also thank my colleagues who are joining Representative Jones and me on this bipartisan amendment: Representatives Woolsey, Olver, Honda, Grijalva and Paul. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer the Lee-Jones amendment to redirect the $5 billion of the Overseas Contingency Operations Transfer Fund into a deficit reduction account. This amendment does nothing to undermine the efforts that our servicemen and -women have performed with incredible courage and with extreme commitment in Afghanistan, Iraq and around the world. They have done everything asked of them. And as the daughter of a military veteran, I take any matters that affect our troops very, very seriously. But supporting our troops does not mean giving a blank check to the Pentagon. I have consistently said that we cannot afford to give any more blank checks to the Defense Department. This amendment is about eliminating a giant $5 billion check with a blank memo to fight the global war on terror anywhere, at any time, without any accountability. The Department of Defense just has to notify Congress that these funds are being transferred. This $5 billion giveaway, which is what it is, it's like a slush fund, it's like a war slush fund, another giveaway to the Pentagon. It's a $5 billion check to use as it pleases with little or no congressional oversight.…”