[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5412]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
  CALLING FOR RESOURCES, ATTENTION, AND ACCOUNTABILITY FROM GOVERNMENT

  (Mr. SARBANES asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. SARBANES. Madam Speaker, you cannot run America on the cheap.
  In the wake of Katrina, we learned that years of requests for 
investment in infrastructure and basic human needs had been ignored. 
After sending our troops into Iraq, we learned that they lacked basic 
protective equipment because this administration was looking to save 
pennies even as it was wasting billions of dollars on private contracts 
run amok.
  Now the scandal at Walter Reed Hospital is revealing that behind the 
curtain even our neediest veterans are not being spared the double 
whammy of inadequate resources and lax accountability.
  All Americans should be outraged at this and demand accountability. 
But we should also be outraged at the cynical agenda this 
administration has brought to all government functions. Resources are 
cut, making it impossible for the affected workforce to deliver high-
quality services. At the same time, critical functions are contracted 
out to the private sector without adequate oversight. Then the 
administration turns around and says, see, government doesn't work.
  Madam Speaker, it's time we reversed course and put adequate 
resources, attention, and accountability towards the needs of all our 
citizens but most especially our veterans.

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