Milcon-VA Appropriations Conference Report

Floor Speech

MILCON-VA APPROPRIATIONS CONFERENCE REPORT -- (House of Representatives - November 06, 2007)

(Ms. FOXX asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, we celebrate Veterans Day on November 11. Every day in this country should be Veterans Day, that is, we should highlight veterans and thank them for their service to our country.

Yet, it's been over 140 days since the House passed the MilCon-VA appropriations bill and 8 weeks since the Senate passed it. The bill has strong bipartisan support and the President is ready to sign it. Yet Democrats have delayed bringing this bill to the floor.

The Democrats finally announced they're bringing it to the floor this week, but instead of voting on a stand-alone bill which would ensure quick passage and provide funding for our troops and veterans, they're using it as a political tool by attaching it to the Labor-HHS bill.

The American people hate this kind of political posturing. They know that when bills are combined like that, that it's a political and cynical ploy. That's the only way the Democrats can get their pork-barrel spending passed is by attaching it to the military bill.

By using it as a political tool instead of an urgent spending priority, the Democratic leadership illustrates where their priorities are, and they aren't with our troops and veterans.

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