Kerry’s Floor Statement on Inserting ANWR Drilling into Defense Bill

John Kerry’s Floor Statement on Inserting ANWR Drilling into Defense Appropriations Bill
December 19th, 2005

I just finished watching 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.

MORE - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1455

McCain got that right.

:kick:

moments since the dawn of our country and I am sure the people have been complaining since day one but this group has it's head so far ups it's ass. There seems to be so few voices of common sense and almost no real desire to do what is right. When did doing what is right become the least exercised option for our elected bodies. We need to hold these clowns responsible!

what I think about them too, only I couldn't say it as well as Kerry.

ago was that Bush and Cheney were arguing in favor of torture.

and say hey, John McCain agrees with me. Anyway, kudos to Kerry for speaking up. It is disgusting.

More so than anyone else, anyway.

The biggest thing Kerry and other Democrats have to fear is that the Republicans clearly attempt to use the "not supporting the military" line they use continuously. (While I believe Kerry cares more about the soldiers and vets - just from the tone of his voice and the look on his face when he's fought for them in the Senate, the Republicans were able to do this in 2004 - decorated vet or not. (even his protesting was specifically as a vet with vets.)

If he doesn’t, I fear we’re going to be here for quite a while. I intend to spend a lot of time talking about this. And if people want to call it a filibuster, that’s fine.

:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:
:kick: :kick: :kick:

KG, do you know if there is a link to the full text? I think he started by replying to Kyl re the Patriot Act, but I missed part. I'm pretty sure it was unplanned.
He looked pretty pissed throughout.
Thanks for posting.

Kicked and recommended. How can the Repugs not be ashamed at this?

Text of John Kerry’s statement in the press conference:

KERRY: In the 21 years that I’ve been here, I’ve seen the Senate occasionally try to break rules but never, I think, as egregiously as this.

There is a question on everybody’s mind, which is, what are we doing here, five days before Christmas Eve, six days before Christmas — what are we doing, when there have been weeks of vacations, days off? And here we are in the last-moment crunch, confronting a bill that could have been passed months ago.

The Republican leadership itself has said what they’re doing is wrong. Those are their own words.

Well, we’re going to stand up against what is wrong and we’re going to do what’s right, both for the Senate, for the Congress, for our government and for our troops.

There are a lot of options along the way which the Senate could choose to do the right thing, the most important of which will be for our colleagues to stand up and vote against this change.

Let’s be very clear about what’s happening here. Republicans, Senator Stevens in particular, are putting oil companies ahead of our troops.

We could have passed the Defense bill three months ago, but first the president held it up because they were advocating torture.

Now Senator Stevens is holding it up to advocate drilling for oil, which will have almost zero impact on the oil supplies and independence of our country.

For all the talk about supporting our troops, this is a really strange way to support them.

Not long ago, Senator Stevens took the floor to defend what some have called his bridge to nowhere. He spoke about the importance of respecting the legislative process. And many of us voted with him to support that process. We listened to his words when he urged us to not disrespect any individual senator or their rights here.

We would ask him to go back and reread those words and heed them and reconsider his decision to hold up this important bill for our troops.

What’s going on here is just simply not right. Sometimes there is a clear line between right and wrong in everything that is done, and particularly what we do here. This is not right.

We may disagree on the merits of drilling for oil in the refuge. I’ve been fighting that for 21 years that I’ve been here. But this is not just about the oil, it’s not about just the Arctic. This is about keeping faith with our troops and getting the help and support that they need as fast as possible, and it’s about preserving the integrity of the legislative process.

The fact is that five retired generals are imploring the Senate to take ANWR out of the Defense bill, saying, quote, “It is not helpful and only invites delay for our troops.”

So the bottom line is that this bill should not become a last-minute vehicle that derails its fundamental purpose.

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

The Military Reserve Officers Association has said, “We’re concerned that insertion of any divisive, nondefense-related issues at the last minute could further delay enactment of this crucial legislation.”

Make no mistake: It is the insertion of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge drilling, it is the breaking of the rules by the Republicans, that is delaying the effort to get this bill passed for our troops.

This practice, in my judgment, does a disservice to the troops and does a disservice to the rules of the United States Senate.

We’re on the brink of a new ethic here. We’ve heard it with the nuclear option. This is a mini-nuclear option, where, on any given issue, some are willing to use any means to justify the ends of absolute victory over whoever and whatever stands in the way.

And the new view says, “If you don’t like the facts, just change them; if you can’t win by the rules, then change them.” The new view says it’s OK to just ignore the overwhelming public interest.

And what this amounts to, in my judgment, is a breach of the honor of the Senate and of the tradition and history of the United States Senate.

http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1461

when I listen only.

for shutting down the government in '95.

Once again the rethuglicans have taken an unwise gamble that will come back to bite them in the behind. It didn't work for Newtie and it isn't going to work this time.

Thanks for the alert, KG!

MP3 of statement (4:47)/128 kbps stereo/4.2MB