July 10, 2009
Buyer ‘Mystified’ by Striking Similarities in Filner Amendment
For more information, contact: Brian Lawrence, 202-225-3527
Washington, D.C. – Today, Ranking Member Steve Buyer, in expressing his support for an amendment to increase funding for the VA-US Paralympic Sports Program for disabled veterans, facetiously noted the presence of “magic and mystery” in the amendment process.
Buyer, a long-standing advocate for utilizing sports therapy in the rehabilitative process for disabled veterans, tried to amend H.R. 3082, the 2010 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act to expand participation in paralympic events. He was astonished that, while his proposal was blocked by the Rules Committee, an identical Democrat amendment was approved for consideration and adopted.
“I provided a draft of my amendment to Chairman Filner in hopes that we could collaborate in a bipartisan effort,” Buyer said. “I also offered to cosponsor any similar amendment that he wanted to offer, but the Chairman declined. Unfortunately, the draft amendment he prepared was flawed and he was forced to revise it. And magically, his revised amendment that appeared was an exact copy of mine down to the punctuation. Then, the Rules Committee approved his and rejected mine.”
“Now everyone knows that the workings of the Rules Committee are steeped in mystery. Merlin the Magician would be proud of their legislative legerdemain: my amendment vanished then reappeared on the House floor with Chairman Filner’s name on it.”
“But in the end, veterans won out. By supporting the amendment, we have ensured that disabled veterans will have increased access to adaptive sports programs from the grass roots to elite levels of competition, and that is what is really important. I am not concerned about garnering credit as long as the right thing occurs for them, and I am ultimately pleased that members supported increased funding for the VA-US Paralympic Sports Program.”
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