House Proceeding 06-16-09 on Jun 16th, 2009 :: 0:03:20 to 0:09:20
Total video length: 1 hours 32 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

Note: MetaVid video transcripts may contain inaccuracies, help us build a more perfect archive

Views:22 Duration: 0:06:00 Discussion

Previous speech:

Next speech:

0:03:17 to 0:03:38( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: everybody understands what's in this bill. the soon we get on with it, the sooner we get on with this ar i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. lewis: i yield myself so much time as i m the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lewis: i have --

0:03:20 to 0:09:20( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Jerry Lewis

0:03:39 to 0:03:59( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: mr. obey: the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: members, please takeour conversations off the floor. the gentleman from california. mr. lewis: thank you, mr. speaker, i'm very pleased that we appear to be returning to

0:04:00 to 0:04:21( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: regular order on preapingses bills as we deal with th emergency supplemental that's before us. however, i must confess to being disappointed at the tu this final product has taken in recent days as compared to where we began with our original house-passed bill. the majority has chosen to go to the high dollar level for every

0:04:22 to 0:04:46( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: account in this conference report except as it relates to the primary purpose of the legislation, theritical troop funding in the department of defense and military construction accounts. my understanding of the final conference agreement is that it cuts the house level for d.o.d.

0:04:47 to 0:05:07( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: and milcon by $4.6 billion. more disconcerting, the final package includes $5 billion for i.m.f. funding that was not part of the original house package. this $5 billion for foreign aid will secure a whopping $10 billion in loans.

0:05:08 to 0:05:28( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: in essence, the i.m.f. is funded at a level almost $30 billion -- mr. obey: the house is still not in order on the democratic side the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. members on t please take your conversations off the floor. the gentleman from california. mr. lewis: i thank the speaker.

0:05:29 to 0:05:50( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: i must say this is such an important message, piece of legislation, i think it's important that our constituents as well as our colleagues pay careful attention to this debate. in essence, in this package, the i.m.f. is funded at a level almost30 billion more than what is provided for our troops,

0:05:51 to 0:06:13( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: which supposedly was what this bill was all about. what began as a troop funding bill has become a means of fulfilling the president's promise to provide more i.m.f. funding or foreign aid for international bailouts. if that isn't bad enough, the conference agreement also includes $1 billion in emergency

0:06:14 to 0:06:35( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: spending for the cash for clunkers program that was not a part of either the house or the senate package, nor was it requested by the president. i understand the conferees have dropped the graham-leiberman-mccain language regarding the release of detainee photos.

0:06:36 to 0:06:56( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: the conferees have what occurred down language relating to the release or transfer of detainees at guantanamo bay. this is an issue that is and will continue to be of great concern to many of us as well as the american people. just last week, the president approved having a guantanamo

0:06:57 to 0:07:19( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: detainee transferred to new york city and ordered the release and transfer of four uighurs to bermuda. the president appears to be racing to move these detainees to their new homes before congress can act substantively on the issue of closing guantanamo. during last week's conference

0:07:20 to 0:07:41( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: meeting, mr. young, ms. granger and i offered several amendments. the first offered by ms. granger sought approval of the senate provision prohibiting the release of detainee photos. the second motion offered by mr. young insisted upon the higher house funding level for d.o.d. and milcon spending in this

0:07:42 to 0:08:04( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: conference agreement. and the third motion, which i offered, insisted upon agreeing to section 202a and section 315 of the senate bill prohibiting the transferor release of guantanamo detainees. all three amendments were defeated in a party-line vote by the house conferees.

0:08:05 to 0:08:25( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: as i prepare to close, let me make one additional point. much has been made about the total cost of this emergency supplemental. i note for the record that the final conference agreement is $106 billion, which is $14 billn more than the president's request, $9 billion more than the house-passed bill

0:08:26 to 0:08:47( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: and $15 billion more than the senate-passed level. again, we have increased funding for everything in this bill except for the troops. arguments have maintaining some level of fiscal responsibility certainly ring hollow when we lard up the troop funding people to support aid for hostile

0:08:48 to 0:09:08( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: governments and cash for cars past their prime. this is a troubling pattern that is being repeated in many of our funding bills this year. in closingmr. speaker, it's a shame that a process that began in a spirit of bipartisanship has concluded in such a partisan manner. house seeking to support our

0:09:09 to 0:09:20( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: troops, but have ended this process by members who oppose this emergency funding in the first place. i strongly support our troops, but cannot and will not support