“Republican leaders in Washington have a favorite game, and it is called ‘gotcha,’” said Miller. “The problem is, meeting America’s needs is not a game.

“Rather than legislating based on the public interest and honest principles, Washington’s leaders play politics with issues of national security, education and the environment. In the early hours this morning, before most Americans were even awake, the Republicans attached some of the most controversial and divisive policy issues of our time to a bill that is supposed to fund the war in Iraq and the Department of Defense. They hope that they can win their extreme and undemocratic agenda this way, because if anyone votes against the defense bill, Republicans will issue a press release or run a television ad that says, in essence, ‘Gotcha! You voted against defense!’

“A bill to give our troops the resources they need to do their jobs should not be politicized. And Congress should be doing its work in the open light of day, where it can be evaluated and fairly judged by the people who sent us here to represent them. Instead, at five o’clock in the morning, Republicans slipped last-minute items into unrelated bills in an effort to force lawmakers to vote for them. These practices hurt our democracy and undermine the public interest. Republican leaders should stop playing ‘gotcha’ politics entirely, but especially when it comes the defense of our nation.”

Specifically, there were two items added to the Defense bill that Miller strongly opposed, and that ultimately forced him to vote against the bill, which he otherwise supported:

First, the bill opens up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling. This has been one of the top priorities of Republicans in Washington for years, but because most Americans agree that we should not despoil our pristine environment but rather should improve our energy efficiency and energy independence, a majority of Americans oppose new Arctic oil drilling. Miller, along with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and other House Democrats, unveiled an “Innovation Agenda” in November that aims to, among other things, achieve real energy independence for the United States within 10 years by focusing on a greater variety of energy sources and energy efficiency.

Second, the bill would establish a divisive private school voucher program for schoolchildren who were displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, rather than simply using existing methods for delivering help to schools and children that need it. (Miller had proposed such a plan with other House Democrats more than two months ago, on October 11). The voucher program would allow for direct federal financing of private and religious schools, without holding those schools accountable the way public schools are. Vouchers undermine America’s public schools, Miller said.