Congressman Davis Rejects Legislation That Shortchanges Our Troops To Fund A Global Bailout

Press Release

Congressman Davis Rejects Legislation That Shortchanges Our Troops To Fund A Global Bailout

Today, Congressman Geoff Davis voted against legislation that would siphon money from our servicemen and women in harm's way and use it to fund a massive bailout of foreign countries through a loan program operated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). H.R. 2346 passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 226 to 202.

Congressman Davis stated, "As is the case too often in Washington, a good bipartisan initiative was ruined by unrelated and controversial add-ons that should have been debated in separate legislation. The brave patriots who dedicate their lives to serving and protecting our country deserve to have all the resources they need in a timely and efficient manner. They do not deserve to have critical funding diverted for international bailouts.

"An emergency troop funding bill should be about funding for our troops, plain and simple. It should not be used as a way to bully the American people into supporting a taxpayer-funded bailout of foreign economies."

On May 14th, the House passed a clean troop funding bill with bipartisan support from 368 Members, including Congressman Davis (Roll Call Vote 265).

On June 11th, House Republicans offered a Motion to Instruct Conferees (MTI) requesting a clean supplemental funding bill focused on our providing for our troops without unrelated funding. The MTI received broad bipartisan support from 267 Members of Congress, including Congressman Davis (Roll Call Vote 329).

Despite that bipartisan vote, the conferees returned to the House with a bill that reduces funding for our troops to fund a global bailout through the IMF. The conference report on H.R. 2346 cuts funding for important defense and military programs by $4.6 billion while providing approximately the same amount of funding for the IMF. That funding will be used to secure $108 billion in loans, meaning that the total funding made available to the IMF through this bill is almost $30 billion more than what is provided for our men and women in uniform.

In addition to including a global bailout, the supplemental includes loopholes that could allow for the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to U.S. soil. The conferees also failed to include in the Senate-passed language introduced by Senators Joe Lieberman [I-CT] and Lindsey Graham [R-SC] to prohibit the release of detainee photographs.

Throughout his Congressional service, Congressman Davis has consistently supported legislation to provide the troops with the funding and equipment they need while opposing attempts to include extraneous provisions in vital national security legislation. He strongly supports passage of a clean supplemental troop funding bill for fiscal year 2009.

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