Boehner on Cavuto

Via email:

CAVUTO: Ahead of the house vote on Iraq tomorrow, picking apart the pork today. $283 Million bucks for dairy farmers. $74 million for peanut storage, $60 Million for salmon fisheries, $25 million for spinach crops and not a single dollar for (inaudible). Democrats want to shell out $21 billion in all on nonmilitary programs. And this is part of their war bill? House Minority Leader John Boehner says they' re using your tax money to buy votes. Strong charges, congressman.

BOEHNER: Neil, good afternoon. Unfortunately, they are true. They have loaded up this bill on the backs of our soldiers when this bill was intended to spend money for the war in Afghanistan in Iraq and some emergency spending for the victims of Katrina. That is what this bill should be limited to. On top of the $22 billion worth of excess spending that is unnecessary here, they have put the shackles on our generals and troops in the field and don' t really want them to win, want to bring them home. I don' t think we can afford to just walk away and lose in Iraq and we should not be spending this extra $22 billion.

CAVUTO: This wouldn’t be the first time though Congressman that pork has been laden to a package. I’m just wondering whether you know of any congress men or women that have been effectively bought by this and have now promised to vote for this measure?

BOEHNER: Well you can imagine that the members in the upper plains who had a drought up in their area are interested in those billions of dollars in drought relief. Then there are states that have overspent their SCHIP funds, their funds for children’s health programs. Those states want to recoup those funds and clearly, this $775 million in the bill to help recoup those funds for those states is a lure to more. Having said all of this, as we speak, the votes aren’t there to pass this massive bill that handcuffs the troops –

CAVUTO: But the votes are significant. It even if they don’t win Congressman, they would be sending a heck of a statement wouldn’t they?

BOEHNER: My goal is to make sure that we win in Iraq and I’m going to do everything that I can to make sure that our troops in harm’s way have the resources and the bullets they need to win. That is the most important thing for our kids and theirs and we ought to have enough guts to stand up and support them.

CAVUTO: I just wonder when you go back to a district Congressman and you know this process very well, whether you are a republican or democrat, and let us say that you do argue, I’ve got some drought relief here, or a new post office or a new salmon fishery, but I did it on the backs of soldiers. That’s got to be a weird pitch.

BOEHNER: I would think that it is and I think most Americans find this kind of Christmas tree, I think they find it disturbing. This bill is strictly for Afghanistan , Iraq , and the victims of Katrina. It ought to be limited to that. We shouldn’t prevent our soldiers and the generals in the field from running this war. They' re trying to put 535 members of congress in the middle of trying to micromanage the war. I don’t think that is what the American people want.

CAVUTO: But it is happening and if it’s not this measure I guarantee you Congressman and you know that place far better than I do, it will happen again in another measure in another vote. I am just beginning to wonder that whether for the next two years, this is going to be business as usual.

BOEHNER: Well, I hope not. I have offered to work with the majority leader, work with the Speaker, to put together a bipartisan bill that will support our troops in the field, take care of the victims of Katrina and not go through of all of the unrelated issues that we have involved in this bill today.

CAVUTO: Finally, if you say this does not pass, I understand there are other attempts right behind it. How real are they?

BOEHNER: I believe that we can stop this bill. We are going to do everything to stop it because I think is wrong. It will force the members to go back to committee and actually begin to rewrite the bill in a bipartisan way. There is a way to do what needs to be done in an emergency spending bill that can be done on a bipartisan basis and be done quickly.

CAVUTO: Congressman, very good seeing you again. Thank you very much.

BOEHNER: Thank you Neil.

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