[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 95 (Tuesday, July 8, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H4879]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, on June 25, on rollcall No. 236, I 
inadvertently voted ``yes.'' I intended to vote ``no.''
   Mr. Speaker, on June 25, 1997, on rollcall vote 236 on H.R. 1119, 
the Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998, I inadvertently 
voted ``yea.'' It was my intention to vote ``no'' on the bill.
  I have consistently voted against increasing defense spending, 
especially since the end of the cold war, when our Nation faces its 
biggest threat, not from outside our shores, but from the impending 
fiscal disaster that awaits our country.
  H.R. 1119 was a $2.6 billion increase over last year and included 
items that we either do not need nor can not be justified by objective 
analysis.
  H.R. 1119 included $331 million for advanced procurement of 
additional B-2 bombers. The CBO estimates that the additional bombers 
would cost $27 billion over the next 20 years. This is for nine planes 
that neither the President, the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of 
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or the Secretary of the Air Force requested 
nor wants. I voted for an amendment to redirect this money for the use 
of the National Guard and Reserve, but it failed.
  The bill included other questionable weapons systems. It provides 
$661 million for the V-22 and $469 million for the joint strike 
fighter.
  While the House debated the Defense bill, our troops were still in 
Bosnia without any effective exit date. The House defeated an amendment 
to set the initial deadline for withdrawal by December 31, 1997. We 
need to bring our troops home from Bosnia and turn the mission over to 
our European allies.
  H.R. 1119 contained many of the same provisions of past bills that I 
have voted against.
   Mr. Speaker, please let the record reflect that I intended to vote 
``no'' on H.R. 1119.

                          ____________________