[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 162 (Wednesday, October 24, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H11939]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        DEMAND THAT HOUSE APPOINT CONFEREES ON VA APPROPRIATIONS

  (Mrs. BLACKBURN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, more than 4 months ago the House passed 
an appropriations bill designed to provide benefits for our soldiers 
and veterans. H.R. 2642 passed the House by an overwhelming 409-2 vote. 
A similar bill went through the Senate 92-1. But since then, nothing 
has happened.
  It has been 131 days since we passed the legislation, and still 
nothing has been sent to the President's desk for him to sign. The 
Senate appointed conferees to hammer out a compromise between the two 
bills 6 weeks ago. But the House leadership? Nothing has been done.
  The question is why. Why would the new majority play politics with 
the health care of our brave men and women in uniform? There is no 
reason, a month into this fiscal year, that the bill is unresolved.
  I ask all my colleagues, all 408 of them who voted for this bill, to 
demand that the House appoint conferees. Stop doing nothing. Do what 
needs to be done to meet the needs of our men and women in uniform.

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