Vice President Chides Congress, Praises Troops in VFW-Hosted Event
Monday, December 10, 2007 at 05:10 PM
by michigan
KANSAS CITY, Mo., Dec. 7, 2007 -- Vice President Dick Cheney today, in a speech before Veterans of Foreign Wars members and Kansas City-area active-duty troops at the National World War I Memorial, touted the recent military successes in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as chided Congress for failing to end the budget debate for the wartime defense-spending bill.In a largely military audience, Cheney told the 250 invited guests that it is every American’s duty to recognize the sacrifices made by today’s military in defeating a “ruthless and determined” enemy. The vice president also spoke of the recent successes in Iraq’s Anwar Provence, which until recently, was a hotbed of terrorists activities.
Now, Cheney said, instead of Anwar leaders protecting the terrorists, tribal leaders are now working in conjunction with U.S. authorities to root out the terrorists and return a sense of normalcy and security back to the province.
Cheney, who said he was speaking more as a civilian than the vice president, also chided Congress for playing partisan politics by not passing a wartime defense-spending bill that is now in its 11th month of debate.
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"I don't believe the people of the nation want to use defense appropriations as a bargaining chip in some kind of political debate," he said. “People in the military should be given all the resources they need to do the job with the tools and equipment they need.”
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