Press Releases
Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami
202-226-7616
03/05/2007
Pelosi on Walter Reed Hearings: Democrats Restoring Long Overdue Oversight of Bush Administration
Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement following a hearing this morning by the Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the care of wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Other committees will hold hearings later this week:
“This week’s Congressional oversight hearings on conditions for our veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center are shining a bright light on how our government has failed those who have sacrificed the most.
“Unfortunately, the problems at Walter Reed seem to be a pattern of neglect. Americans have seen it time and again: the Bush Administration sending our troops to Iraq without proper equipment and training, delays and inaction for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, and now revelations of an appalling gap between rhetoric and reality in how we take care of our troops and their families at home.
“Along with the long overdue oversight the 110th Congress is now providing on a number of issues, we have a real opportunity this month in our budget resolution to restore fiscal responsibility in Washington. The House will put forward a road map. Our budget will make new or expanded investments in shared national priorities – from preparing our children for success to honoring our veterans with services worthy of their sacrifice — within the context of fiscal reality and reforms that will help ensure taxpayer dollars are wisely spent.
“We are moving the country in a new direction on a host of issues; restoring accountability is the first step.”