[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 21]
[House]
[Page 29776]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   SLIDING GREASY PORK THROUGH WASHINGTON IS THE WRONG THING FOR THE 
                         DEMOCRATS TO BE DOING

  (Mr. AKIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. AKIN. Madam Speaker, it's been 144 days since the House passed 
the Veterans Affairs appropriations bill. This is a bill which does 
research on prosthetic kinds of devices. It helps to rebuild veterans 
facilities. It helps to treat things like traumatic stress disorder. 
That's the purpose for the money that has been waiting now since we 
passed it 144 days ago.
  Unfortunately, that bill has been held up in order to connect it with 
other legislation ladened with pork on the HHS bill.
  Now, it's been many years since I was a combat engineer in the Army, 
but my son is freshly back from Fallujah, and to hold our veterans 
hostage in order to try to slide greasy pork through Washington is the 
wrong thing for the Democrats to be doing.
  They need to allow the bill to stand on its own base, let the people 
take a vote, and respect the veterans that we want to respect.

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