[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 23]
[Senate]
[Pages 31860-31861]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        EXPLANATION OF OBJECTION

  Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, I will take a few short minutes because I 
know others want to honor Senator Byrd, and there is some other 
business to discuss. The bill I objected to today comes before us 
because we have some questions. The chairman of the committee, Senator 
Kerry from Massachusetts, and Senator Snowe, the ranking

[[Page 31861]]

member, have it right, wanting to help our veterans and to make sure 
they have great opportunities as they return. But I remind my 
colleagues that this last year, in the SBA, we stole $26 million worth 
of their salaries to run that, to do directed earmarks. So we have this 
great new leader at the SBA, Steven Preston. Yet we have handcuffed him 
in his ability to do what he needs to do at the SBA.
  We noticed in the paper yesterday a tremendous, large number of loans 
where things have been faked. The SBA hadn't had the capability of 
managing the SBA properly. So our purpose in doing this is not to go 
against the veterans we see. Nobody stands as a greater supporter than 
I in terms of protecting their privacy, their second-amendment rights, 
and honoring them.
  We do want to do this. The offset that is in this bill comes out of a 
microloan that is also designed to help veterans. So we are taking 
money from one area and not the other at the same time we are stealing 
money from the SBA's operational money to do earmarks that don't do 
anything to help veterans.
  My pledge to both Senator Kerry and Snowe is to look at this and see 
if we can't come to some resolution about our concerns over the 
intervening time between now and the time we come back and make a 
commitment to try to do that.
  But most important is, what we want to do is preserve freedom. An 
ever-encroaching Federal Government does not preserve the very freedom 
that those veterans fought for.
  I yield.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from West Virginia is 
recognized.

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