Mike Conaway: “I would like to add one aspect that hasn't been discussed. We hate to engage in too much speculation, but let us assume…”

“I would like to add one aspect that hasn't been discussed. We hate to engage in too much speculation, but let us assume that this thing passes and the President vetoes it or let us assume that cooler heads prevail and this thing fails this week on the floor. What next? What is this Congress going to do to actually continue to provide the funds needed, this $99 billion that is needed right now, this year, this fiscal year to fight this fight? What will be the next step? How will we, in effect, bring this about? What kind of a scramble will go on that is totally unnecessary? Instead of dealing with the problem now in a rational, thoughtful manner, this Democratic majority sees fit to play a giant game of chicken, it seems like, to run at this thing in what I believe is an irresponsible manner with loading another $21.8 billion of funding on it, getting away from what the true nature of it is, trying to incite a veto by the President, trying to flex muscle and see who is the strongest as opposed to what do we need to do to deal with the troops' needs and then separate that from the broader discussion of where we should be. So I think we are on a collision course that has the potential for being very disruptive and very harmful to the men and women who fight this fight on our behalf.”