Kay Bailey Hutchison: “This is a bipartisan bill which received the unanimous approval of the Committee on Appropriations. This is a bill that…”

“This is a bipartisan bill which received the unanimous approval of the Committee on Appropriations. This is a bill that does focus on quality of life for our troops because both Senator Feinstein and I believe it is very important at a time like this, when we are asking so much from our troops, that we do right by them. This bill provides $9.196 billion for military construction, military family housing, and base realignment and closure costs. This bill is $79 million above the President's budget request, but $1.5 billion below the amount appropriated last year. The budget constraints under which we all are laboring this year did force us to make difficult choices about our spending priorities, but I believe we have crafted a bill that attends both to the President's most pressing requirements and the concerns of Senators.”