[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 189 (Tuesday, December 11, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H15218]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ``TECHNICALITIES''

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2007, the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) is 
recognized during morning-hour debate for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to respond to my 
colleagues' remarks from last week that ``technically, the troops are 
funded right now,'' as if the bottom line on the budget report is 
sufficient for some in this chamber to ensure that our war fighters 
have all the resources that they need.
  Well, war is a serious business, Mr. Speaker, and we are indeed a 
Nation at war. Our men and women in harm's way don't have time for our 
political games or ``technicalities.'' Clever word play isn't going to 
turn DOD ink from red to black. There is nothing ``technical'' about 
the risk our war fighters face every day. They are not fighting an 
enemy that ``technically'' wants to do us harm. Instead, they are 
fighting a lethal terrorist network actually bent on spreading real 
Islamist totalitarianism in Iraq and across the globe.
  Mr. Speaker, the success of the surge strategy in Iraq is not making 
things ``technically'' better. We are seeing actual results and real 
improvement on the ground. Even the most liberal newspapers admit that 
the improvement is real. IED attacks are not ``technically'' down; they 
are actually fewer in number, fewer bombs being placed to attack our 
troops and Iraqi allies. Casualties rates are not ``technically'' down. 
We are actually losing fewer Americans as the security conditions 
improve.
  These improving conditions are not ``technically'' creating 
reconciliation. Iraqis across the country are really beginning to 
bridge age-old divides as they unite to secure their future. By playing 
political games with vital war funding, we are not ``technically'' 
sending a message to our war fighters in harm's way, we are actually 
putting all of the progress that they have made in very real jeopardy. 
Mr. Speaker, is that a message we choose to send?
  My own constituents, civilian and soldiers alike, work at Fort 
Campbell, home of the 101st Airborne. This holiday season, two brigades 
of the 101st are serving in Afghanistan and two more in Iraq. They are 
supported by the men and women at Fort Campbell, and their families are 
embraced by the citizens of Clarksville and Montgomery County, 
Tennessee.
  This Christmas, if we don't actually provide DOD the funding they 
need, my constituents will begin to get furlough letters in the mail. 
There is nothing ``technical'' about being laid off. There is nothing 
``technical'' about being told that in 60 days you won't get a 
paycheck. It is very real.
  Before this Chamber actually adjourns so that we can spend happy and 
comfortable holidays with our families, I would ask my colleagues to 
please remember these constituents of Clarksville, Tennessee, who are 
actually in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan and who are actually 
worried about being laid off next year.
  I urge my colleagues not to return home until we actually give the 
troops the very real funding that they need. Our men and women are not 
``technicalities,'' they are indeed our sons, our daughters, our 
neighbors, our constituents. They are the bravest among us. They need 
our support and they deserve a Congress who will honor their service 
and who will do our job.

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