KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
Dems narrowly vote through passage of supplement.
Santa Clarita's Congressman Buck McKeon opened up today about the war supplement that was just voted through the House of Representatives.
“Every year the President sends a request to the hill and asks for funding for the war, and each time we have provided him with money for the troops,” said McKeon.
Now, however, the Democrats are in charge and the bill they brought to the floor was riddled with things the Republicans didn’t like.
McKeon said that he voted no for several reasons. Number one; he doesn’t like the restrictions the bill puts on the President.
“I don’t think there should be 435 Commander and Chiefs. We voted to give the President the authority to go to war against terror. I think the Commander and Chief has that obligation and responsibility.”
Second, McKeon did not like the 20 billion dollars in non-military spending that was attached to the bill. They include a $25 million bail out for spinach producers, $60 million for the salmon fishing industry, $5 million for aquaculture.
“You know, those kind of things should be dealt with, and should go through the regular process, but should not be included in a bill that gives money to the troops,” said McKeon.
There was also the “micro managing” that McKeon said was in the bill. In that, funding was stripped from various armed forces divisions. It would remove $155.5 million from the military effort to disarm and demobilize violent militias, $14M from the Special Operations Command, and $13.25M for Warlock electronic jammers. $27.63 million for the Army’s Soldier Support and Survivability System, counter IED measures, and $31.5M for unmanned aerial vehicles would also be cut.
The bill also requires President Bush to precipitously withdraw all U.S. troops by March 1, 2008, and it requires that he withdraw U.S. troops by October 1, 2007, unless the President certifies that the Iraqi government has enacted a hydrocarbon law, reformed the de-Ba’athification law, and amended the constitution.
