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




                WE SHOULDN'T PLAY THESE POLITICAL GAMES

  (Mr. BOEHNER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, next Monday is Veterans Day, and I think 
all of us in America owe those who have fought for our country, given 
their lives, given their service to our country, we all owe them a 
great deal of gratitude.
  But how is this Congress today, this House, going to give and show 
our veterans our gratitude? We're going to pass a military quality of 
life veterans bill, and we're going to attach a pork-laden, overstuffed 
Labor-Health and Human Services bill on the backs of this bill.
  The Senate's not going to take this bill up in this form. They're 
going to split the two bills. The President's made clear he's not going 
to sign this bill combining these two appropriations bills. This is one 
of the most cynical and most political things I've seen in the 17 years 
that I've been here in Congress.
  To know that the President is not going to sign this bill, to know 
that the Senate is not going to allow this two-bill pile-up to be 
considered in the Senate, and yet we're going to force the Members of 
the House today in a position where they shouldn't be.
  We shouldn't play these political games on the backs of our veterans 
and our soldiers. I think that we should split this bill and do it the 
right way and show our veterans on Veterans Day that we really do 
appreciate their sacrifice and their service.

                          ____________________