On the recordMay 25, 2011
Thank you very much, Mr. McGovern. What the McGovern-Jones amendment seeks to do is begin that debate, to get us on course and to allow this House of Representatives to discuss what in the world should come next. I want to thank the gentleman for yielding, I thank you for your hard work, and just say that I think that it's about time now that we have a rule on such an important issue that allows for this body to engage in debate. Our troops deserve that, the American people deserve that, and certainly we need to begin to reflect public opinion on this because the public gets it. They know that $100 billion a year is no drop in the bucket in terms of our resources. We have a deficit, we have an economic crisis throughout the country, and we certainly need to find some balance between our national security interests and our economic security interest. Beginning to develop a plan to get out of Afghanistan warrants a full-fledged discussion.
