Pence Supports Military Funding, Disaster Relief and GI Bill Reform

“Spending Should Be Offset by Reductions in Other Government Spending”

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence gave the following speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives today in support of the Emergency Military Supplemental Appropriations Bill.

“I strongly support the military funding portion of the Iraq/Afghanistan Supplemental Appropriations bill.  It will speed roughly $165 billion in emergency funds to our men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.  And it will do so without imposing artificial timelines and timetables for withdrawal.

“Far away from Washington D.C., our brave troops are focused on doing the job we’ve asked them to do: continuing our progress in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Earlier this week, the headline of The Indianapolis Star, the leading newspaper in my home state, simply read:  ‘Iraq may have reached turning point.’  In an Associated Press story, the following words were written:  ‘Signs are emerging that Iraq has reached a turning point.  Violence is down, armed extremists are in disarray, government confidence is rising and sectarian communities are gearing up for a battle at the polls, rather than slaughter in the streets.’

“The American people deserve to know these headlines would not be possible if most Democrats in Congress had had their way.  If they had passed any of the measures over the last year and a half that were brought to this floor again and again, which would have cut off funding to our troops and would have facilitated retreat and defeat in Iraq.

“And these headlines would not be possible if Republicans in Congress had not stood with our soldiers in the field, stood with our Commander in Chief, and supported the new strategy and the new tactics that have brought about what the Associated Press describes as a ‘turning point’ in Iraq.

“And so I strongly support the military supplemental funding in this bill and I commend the leadership – most especially my colleagues who have stood with our soldiers and our Commander in Chief – for bringing this clean military spending bill to the floor.

“Also, I was heartened that after weeks of some of the most devastating weather in Indiana history, that this legislation will include $2.65 billion in disaster relief funding to ensure that critical resources are available to respond to the tornadoes and flooding across the Midwest.

“I have spent a great deal of my time with Hoosiers who are hurting and my heart goes out to families across the Midwest and to those government agencies that are responding with such effectiveness.

“But I must say, that in these emergency spending bills, when we fund these emergencies, be they at home or abroad, we still need to do so in a fiscally responsible manner.

“I have said before and will say again that we must ensure that a catastrophe of nature does not become a catastrophe of debt for our children and grandchildren.

“I support this funding for true emergencies, but I still believe, as others have said before, that it should be offset by reductions in other government spending.

“Let me say emphatically:  military emergency funding bills ought to be for the military and emergencies.

“Our war funding is emergency military spending. The GI Bill improvements in this bill are meritorious.  Flooding in the Midwest is an emergency.

“But I say with respect:  What does $178 million for the Bureau of Prisons have to do with military and emergencies?  What is $210 million for the Census or $400 million for scientific research doing in an emergency military funding bill?

“I support this expansion of the GI Bill.  I support funding FEMA during a time of crisis.  And I certainly support our troops.

“But I do believe as we go forward with this funding bill, the American people deserve to know where the credit is deserved. Those who stood in this body for a clean war funding bill stood by our troops and stood by the surge.

“And they also deserve to know that despite all the promises to the contrary about putting our fiscal house in order, that here we are again with a massive amount of increased domestic spending with nary a thought of how we’re going to pay for it, passing the burden along to future generations of Americans.

“But I will not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.  I will support this bill because on balance I believe it funds urgent national needs in various respects.

“I rise as others have before to say that emergency funding bills for the military ought to be about military funding and emergencies, and supporting those aspects of this bill will bring me to floor for an ‘aye’ vote today.”

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