[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 21]
[House]
[Page 29357]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL

  (Mr. MEEHAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, the Republican leadership is trying to add 
to the Defense authorization bill a controversial piece of legislation 
by Mr. Pence that would blow the lid off the Campaign Finance Reform 
Act that Republicans and Democrats joined together to support and pass 
into law and that President Bush signed into law.
  Mr. Speaker, this country is at war. We need a Defense authorization 
bill to assist the men and women who are serving our Armed Forces. We 
have reached an agreement on that bill to help our troops; and now, at 
the last minute, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee wants to 
take a controversial piece of campaign finance reform legislation and 
insert it into that bill.
  He was exposed by the other Chamber. The chairman of the Senate Armed 
Services Committee took the floor and condemned it; and now he still 
wants to add this legislation, controversial legislation, against the 
public interest. He wants to attach it to a Defense bill at a time when 
this country is at war.
  Surely we can do better on this holiday weekend. It is despicable, 
and I hope this leadership stands up to this. This is one of the worst 
things I have ever seen this Republican leadership do, A piece of 
controversial legislation to a Defense bill at a time of war.

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