House Conference Secretary John Carter (TX-31) today issued the following statement after House Republicans successfully prevented the Democrat Majority from using American soldiers as a vehicle for additional spending and a surrender date.

“Once again the Democrats are trying to use our men and women in uniform as political blackmail for billions in wasteful government spending and a surrender date for the War on Terror.  Fortunately, Republicans stopped them from doing this.

“Included in this attempt was the new G.I. bill, of which I am a co-sponsor and proud supporter.  Unfortunately, I could not vote for this program because it was tied to billions in wasteful government spending.  Should the Democrats give this bill a fair shot of becoming law, I will be more than willing to support this bill. 

“Now that the political games are over, we need to get these funds approved and we need to do it quickly.  Our troops have waited over 450 days for these critical funds, and the only way to get funds to them is to work together in a bipartisan way.  Our troops deserve everything we can give them and we must stop playing politics with their resources and help them succeed and return home safely.”