[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 114 (Friday, July 30, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1505-E1506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 27, 2010

  Mr. HOLT. Madam Speaker, this bill has not improved since the House 
voted on it earlier this year. This bill spends money on training 
police in Afghanistan as communities in New Jersey lay off police 
officers because of budget shortfalls. Our first responsibility to our 
citizens is to help keep them safe in their homes and their 
communities. This bill does the opposite: It allocates billions more 
for a war that cannot be won militarily while allowing our own 
communities to become much easier targets of crime and violence. 
Moreover, this bill is paid for by borrowing more money from countries 
like China, and it violates President

[[Page E1506]]

Obama's pledge that the funding for our actions in Iraq and Afghanistan 
would be done through the usual appropriations process. By passing this 
unfunded bill, we will be adding tens of billions of dollars in new 
debt. I cannot support such reckless policy.
  Further, the bill does not include funding that is essential to stop 
massive layoffs among teachers and other public servants we count on. 
The recession that began in 2008--the worst economic crisis since the 
Great Depression--has hit our communities hard, forcing school 
districts to layoff teachers and cut services. Previously, the American 
Recovery and Reinvestment Act made several sound investments in public 
education to keep teachers in the classroom and help school districts 
avoid painful cuts.
  Most, if not all, of this emergency funding has been spent.
  I cannot in good conscience vote for a bill that is so at odds with 
the most basic of our values, and I urge my colleagues to join me in 
voting against it.

                          ____________________