Boehner: Congress Should Not Adjourn for Memorial Day Without a Clean Troop Funding Bill

Via email:

Republicans want to work with Democrats to send President Bush a clean troop funding bill he can sign into law by Memorial Day. But so far, Democratic leaders have worked in secret to craft legislation that chokes off and rations funding for our troops in harm’s way. And according to Congress Daily:

“House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said Tuesday that Congress may not clear a second version of Iraq war funding legislation before the Memorial Day recess as Democratic leaders had pledged to do earlier this month.”

Today marks the 100th day since President Bush first requested emergency funding to cover critical operations in the Global War on Terror. The question now is: how much longer do our troops have to wait? In a letter to Congressional leaders, Defense Secretary Gates explained the reason further delays are having serious negative impacts on the ability of our soldiers to effectively battle al Qaeda:

“This year the Department has experienced increases war-related expenditures. A greater number of forces are deployed and the operational tempo of those forces is higher than projected when the $70 billion war supplemental was approved last fall. Spending rates are higher and, therefore, the impact of a delayed spring supplemental is occurring earlier and is greater in magnitude.”

On the Lars Larson Show last night, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said that Congress should finish its work on a clean funding bill before adjourning for the Memorial Day district work period:

“I don’t think the Congress should adjourn for Memorial Day without funding troops that are in harm’s way. … (AUDIO)

“We want to make sure that this gets done next week because right now what we’re seeing is we’re seeing the Department of Defense moving money from all different kinds of accounts – closing down family support programs and everything else – to be able to fund what’s going on over in Iraq. … (AUDIO)

House Republicans are united in support of our men and women in uniform fighting the Global War on Terror and will oppose any measures which undercut our troops and undermine our national security. We need a clean troop funding bill that gives our troops the resources they need to be successful – no strings, no timelines, and no pork. Congress has a duty to pass a clean troop funding bill by Memorial Day.