| WASHINGTON, DC
– House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the
following statement on Democrats’ attempts to attach a $108 billion
global bailout onto the FY 2010 supplemental appropriations bill
initially intended to fund troops in Iraq and Afghanistan: “Let’s
be clear: The troop funding bill would be law right now if Democrats
stopped playing politics with it. A bipartisan majority in the House
and Senate supported a clean troop funding bill last month, and that
coalition still exists today. “Unfortunately,
Democratic leaders decided the bailouts here in America weren’t
enough. They’ve insisted on including a $108 billion global bailout in
a bill that is supposed to fund the troops. That’s $30 billion more
than we’re spending for our troops – in a bill that’s intended to be
about troop funding. What does a $108 billion global bailout have to
do with protecting our troops and giving them the tools they need for
victory? Families are struggling as it is today’s economy, and they
shouldn’t be asked to bail out foreign countries as well. “Also
troubling is that this legislation eliminates language passed by the
House and Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support to further
protect our troops. The language would have barred the release of
detainee photos that would serve as further fuel for our enemies, but
it was taken out by House Democratic leaders to satisfy the left-wing
fringe of their party. Generals Petraeus and Odierno have warned that
the release of these photos would put our troops at greater risk. Is
that really what we want in a bill that’s purportedly meant to help our
troops? Republicans don’t think so, and the majority of Americans
don’t believe so either. “Our men and women in
uniform deserve far, far better than to be treated like this.
Republicans supported a troop funding bill last month, and we are
prepared to do so once again. But this is a politically-motivated
stunt that uses troop funding as bait for a global bailout that should
be judged on its own merits in its own legislation. Let’s give our
troops the resources they need for victory in a real troop funding bill
free of a costly global bailout.” | 
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