[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9425]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    OVERSEAS CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS

  (Ms. DUCKWORTH asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. Speaker, this year's Defense Appropriations bill 
relies on adding an additional $38 billion into the overseas 
contingency operations account, the OCO account. This budgeting gimmick 
is an end around to sequestration. It avoids the hard work that is 
required to reach a budget agreement and repeal sequestration once and 
for all. OCO funds are supposed to be used for war operations, and 
their use in the legislation misleads the American people.
  The sequester cuts continue to have devastating impact on our 
schools, our Nation's infrastructure, and our investments in scientific 
research. Now is the time to fix this sequester, not deceive the 
American people about defense spending.
  Our servicemembers and their families deserve to know their future 
more than just 1 year at a time. As a nation, we need to base our 
military strategy on an appropriate, long-term defense spending plan, 
not a budgetary gimmick.
  Mr. Speaker, I voted for this legislation because we cannot leave our 
troops who are currently in harm's way without funding. As the 
appropriations process moves forward, I urge my colleagues from both 
sides of the aisle to provide our military with the long-term support 
it needs and the American people with the transparency that they 
deserve.

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