[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 184 (Tuesday, December 4, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2466]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
   RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008--VETO MESSAGE FROM THE 
                     PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 15, 2007

  Ms. LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of overriding the 
President's veto of the L-HHS-Education conference report. I stand with 
Chairman Obey and greatly appreciate his support of funding programs 
that are essential to the growth and development of the communities I 
represent in Oakland, California.
  This bill includes funding for critical programs under the Department 
of Health and Human Services--programs like nurses education; the Ryan 
White CARE Act, and the Minority AIDS Initiative. These are all 
programs for which we should increase funding, as opposed to playing 
politics with the lives and well-being of the American people.
  We are in a fundamental struggle over war vs. peace. We now 
conclusively know where the President's priorities lie--they are with 
occupying Iraq, as opposed to funding critical labor, heath and 
education programs at home. In one stroke of a pen, the President 
signed the Defense funding bill, and yet in the next stroke he vetoed 
the LHHS funding bill.
  What is the President saying to the American people when he rejects 
legislation that funds education programs like 21st Century Community 
Learning Centers, TRIO, GEAR UP and programs that strengthen 
Historically Black Colleges and Universities? He is saying that he does 
not care about the programs that our people care about--programs that 
we need and want to see implemented to help our communities grow. He is 
more concerned with occupying Iraq.
  We are now spending $12 billion a month in Iraq and yet the President 
is asking us to approve another $200 billion. This is absurd! For the 
price of one month of our occupation of Iraq, we could be paying for 
1.5 million children to go to Head Start for a whole year; we could 
hire 200,000 new school teachers for a year; we could have even insured 
7 million of the 8.7 million children living in this country that do 
not have medical insurance--for a whole year.
  This is a fundamental question of where our priorities lie. Would you 
rather we continue to waste our American tax dollars on a war without 
an end, or would the American people rather spend their tax dollars on 
our children, our schools, and in our communities? Mr. Speaker, I hope 
to continue our fight for our funding priorities at home, as opposed to 
waging war abroad. I urge my colleagues to override the President's 
veto.

                          ____________________