Rep. Wilson Angry about Senator’s ‘Free Lunch’ Comment
Schumer Should Apologize to the Troops
Albuquerque, NM – Congresswoman Heather Wilson today called on Sen. Chuck Schumer to apologize for equating military funding for our troops to a “free lunch.” Schumer’s comment was reported today in an Associated Press article about the military funding bill that the House and Senate are currently debating.
“Senator Schumer only wants to fund pay, body armor and chow for the troops if he can put conditions on the money so that they cannot do the mission they have been ordered to do,” said Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-NM). “Chuck Schumer’s comments about a "free lunch" were offensive, and he should apologize to our men and women in the military.”
The House passed a military spending bill on Tuesday that Wilson opposed. Wilson voted against the bill because House Democrats again chose to withhold crucial funding for our military by putting conditions on the money so that it can only be used if a withdrawal of troops is ordered.
The bill passed in the House, and the President has promised to veto any bill that places conditions that “slow bleed” our troops.
“The Democratic leadership in the House missed yet another opportunity for serious, substantive discussion of what our vital interests are in the Middle East and how we can secure those interests,” Wilson said. “Now, in the Senate, we have Democratic Senators like Chuck Schumer calling funding for our troops a ‘free lunch’. That’s spoken like a guy who never stood in a chow line. Maybe if he had, he would have a different view of what ‘free’ really means.”
Associated Press, 11/16/07:
“The days of a free lunch are over,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that unless Congress passes funding for the war within days, he will direct the Army and Marine Corps to begin developing plans to lay off employees and terminate contracts early next year.
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