Department Of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 - Resumed

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, listening to the debate and discussion tonight, I spent Thanksgiving with the troops from Wyoming who are serving our Nation overseas in Kuwait and in Iraq. These 700 men and women, driving in and out of Iraq on dangerous missions, have driven over 1 million miles. I went to three different bases in Kuwait to spend Thanksgiving with the troops, to pray with them, and tell them how the people of Wyoming are supportive of their efforts, tell them all of us at home are trying to do all we can to make sure their families know how much we care and that we want to do anything we can in our communities to help the families.

I held three townhall meetings on Thanksgiving day at different military bases in Kuwait. In those meetings, listening to the troops, they said they had what they needed in terms of the military supplies. But they said their biggest concern was jobs; what was going to happen to them when they got home. Would there be jobs in the energy field? Would they still be available? Do the people in Washington and in the Senate realize we have 10 percent unemployment in this country? They want to go back to their jobs. Do those people realize they are debating health care and that we have an economic crisis that the Senate ought to be focused on now? Do they realize all the discussions on health care are going to drive up the cost of care and cut Medicare and increase premiums for people and raise taxes? Do we care what is going to happen to our families? And we want to know about jobs.

They know, as many of them are small business people, that the National Federation of Independent Business estimates that if we pass this health care bill, it will cost our Nation 1.6 million jobs by 2013. That is what the men and women in the field, on Thanksgiving Day, from Wyoming, who are part of our communities, our brothers, sisters, and the firefighters, policemen in our communities and the teachers in our schools--that is their concern. That was the No. 1 concern in the military that I heard about in three different townhall meetings that day.

They want us to focus on the economy. They said: I want to make sure a job is there when I get back. I want to make sure health care is not going to be made worse by what will happen in this Senate between now and the end of the year. And don't cut Medicare for my parents or raise my taxes, and don't make things worse for me.

I heard from the men and women in the field that they have the same concerns the other American people have, which is the rating on the health care bill which is at an all-time low. Only 32 percent, one in three Americans support what the Senate is trying to jam through before the holidays with the health care bill. They have great concerns because they believe their own costs are going to go up and quality will go down and the cost of care for the Nation will increase if we proceed with the health care bill.

The other question they asked, of course, is, What is in the bill? Have you seen the bill? Have you read the bill? I had with me at these townhall meetings the first 400 pages of the bill so they could look at that, and we went through some of it. As I was working my way through--and this was at the Thanksgiving recess--they were astonished. Even as of today, when I had a townhall meeting by phone two nights ago, the people of Wyoming said: Do you know what is in the bill right now? I had to say no.

Mr. WICKER. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. BARRASSO. Yes.

Mr. WICKER. Isn't the Senator from Wyoming saying that the troops he spoke to, and the troops we are going to fund in the next day or so with this legislation, want a strong country to come back to, and they would be happy if we were standing firm today, this weekend, to prevent the ever-increasing deficits, to prevent this country from being burdened with larger and larger debt, to protect the programs that they will come back to, and to make sure Medicare is not cut even further?

Isn't the Senator saying these troops expect us to be standing for the financial strength of this country so they can have the same America to come back to that they volunteered to fight for?

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, that is exactly what I am saying. My colleague from Mississippi is so right. That is what the men and women from Wyoming who are serving right now in Iraq and Kuwait want. They want to come home to the same country they left, the place where they have jobs, where they have opportunities for their children, where they are focused on growth, economic development, opportunities for the children, for the next generation.

They are very concerned about the debt. They are very concerned about the amount of spending going on by this Congress. They are very concerned. As one said, the debt is the threat. It is astonishing to be with our men and women in the field, with their guns and with their ammunition, and what they want to talk about is the national debt in the United States right now as a result of the extensive amounts of spending that are going on in this country. They are saying do not make things worse. What is going to happen to our kids? Senator, aren't we still borrowing more and more money from China? Why are we doing that? How much money do we owe to the Chinese people? That is what I heard from Kuwait on Thanksgiving.

Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Will the Senator yield for a question?

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, how much time do I have remaining?

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator has used the time yielded to him.

Mr. BARRASSO. I thank the Chair.

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