Pelosi Congress Ends; Bachmann Reacts to Final Vote
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (MN-06) issued the following statement upon the concluding vote of the 111th Congress:
“I am pleased that the 111th Congress has finally come to an end. Now we can halt the era of bailouts and big government spending. The last vote taken by this Congress offered a sad commentary on the abysmal lame duck session that was run by the Democrat majority. Almost 40 percent of House members were not even present for the vote on the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. Additionally, Members of Congress have a responsibility to review bills before they vote, but Speaker Pelosi hurried this bill through, disregarding normal House procedure. The heroes who responded on 9/11 deserve to be made whole, but the measure which passed the House today falls short, and that’s why I voted against it.
“This bill will create an expensive new federal program without proper oversight to ensure that taxpayer funds are spent correctly. It also extends and expands the Victims Compensation Fund (VCF), which was established by Congress just eight days after the tragic September 11th attacks. Through 2004, the VCF made thousands of death and injury claims which totaled more than $7 billion. But this measure will permit claimants to seek compensation through the VCF even if they have settled lawsuits against the $1 billion taxpayer-funded World Trade Center Captive Insurance Company. It also includes protections for trial lawyers, including the ability to receive taxpayer-funded compensation.
“At a time when government spending is out-of-control this Congress should not have pushed a bill with more than $4 billion in new spending through this lame duck session.”
“I am pleased that the 111th Congress has finally come to an end. Now we can halt the era of bailouts and big government spending. The last vote taken by this Congress offered a sad commentary on the abysmal lame duck session that was run by the Democrat majority. Almost 40 percent of House members were not even present for the vote on the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. Additionally, Members of Congress have a responsibility to review bills before they vote, but Speaker Pelosi hurried this bill through, disregarding normal House procedure. The heroes who responded on 9/11 deserve to be made whole, but the measure which passed the House today falls short, and that’s why I voted against it.
“This bill will create an expensive new federal program without proper oversight to ensure that taxpayer funds are spent correctly. It also extends and expands the Victims Compensation Fund (VCF), which was established by Congress just eight days after the tragic September 11th attacks. Through 2004, the VCF made thousands of death and injury claims which totaled more than $7 billion. But this measure will permit claimants to seek compensation through the VCF even if they have settled lawsuits against the $1 billion taxpayer-funded World Trade Center Captive Insurance Company. It also includes protections for trial lawyers, including the ability to receive taxpayer-funded compensation.
“At a time when government spending is out-of-control this Congress should not have pushed a bill with more than $4 billion in new spending through this lame duck session.”
###