John Kerry's Floor Statement on Inserting ANWR Drilling into Defense Appropriations Bill

Earlier today I watched John Kerry on C-Span speaking on the attempt by Senator Ted Stevens to inset ANWR drilling into Defense Appropriations Bill. His passion on this issue, as always, went beyond the as prepared text below.

Text as Prepared for Delivery:

Mr. President, the shame of what’s happening with the Defense Appropriations Bill is that this entire debate in unnecessary. It’s a strong, bipartisan bill that could and should have passed months ago. Yet here we are, just hours before the end of session, and our armed forces still don’t have their funding. For all the talk about supporting our troops, they’re not getting that support from Washington.

Senator McCain got it right when he called this maneuver on arctic drilling “disgusting.”

Let’s be very clear about what’s going on here. Republicans are putting oil companies ahead of our troops. They could have passed the Defense Appropriations Bill months ago. But first the White House, and now the Republican Leadership, decided other interests come before our troops. Their priorities are incredibly misplaced.

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