the gentleman from Kentucky says that he resents the fact that I have raised some of these shortcomings on the House floor. I am sorry he takes so many things personally. We all recognize that his committee has added $800 million to the administration budget; and as far as it goes, that is fine. But that does not mean that we are meeting the needs of this country. He likes to talk about things that people do not know, ``classified information.'' Rather than hiding behind that classified information, I would simply say I will tell you what is not classified: the fact that we have fewer air marshals today patrolling the skies than the President and the Congress promised in 2001. I will tell you what is not classified: the fact that the President of the United States himself said that 40 percent of people who are in this country illegally have overstayed their visas, and yet that backlog of cases has grown by 40,000 a year. I will tell you something else that is not classified: the gentleman says we need to be fiscally responsible.
David Obey: “the gentleman from Kentucky says that he resents the fact that I have raised some of these shortcomings on the House…”
Editor's note · Context
Discussing shortcomings in homeland security funding and air marshal presence.
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