Congressman Flake Votes Against War Supplemental Spending Bill

Press Release

Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, who represents Arizona's Sixth District, voted against the emergency supplemental appropriations bill, which contained funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as funding for other measures.

The bill was separated into two amendments - the first amendment contained funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and the second amendment contained funding for an expanded GI benefit, disaster relief, and other extraneous spending.

Congressman Flake voted against the first amendment because he objected to using an emergency supplemental bill to fund war operations. An emergency supplemental bill is not subject to the budget constraints and authorization that it would receive under the normal budget process.

"We're in the sixth year of this war," said Flake. "We knew last year that we'd need to fund the war this year, just as we know this year that we'll need to fund the war next year. There's no reason why this funding shouldn't go through the normal budget process. Designating it as ‘emergency spending' just isn't an honest way to spend money."

Congressman Flake also voted against the second amendment, which included numerous extraneous spending items not directly related to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The amendment appropriated over $21 billion and included funding for an expanded GI benefit, an extension of unemployment benefits, a moratorium on certain Medicaid regulations, disaster relief for floods and tornadoes in the Midwest, international disaster assistance, military construction projects, levees and housing vouchers in Louisiana, science research, Food and Drug Administration operations, Bureau of Prisons costs, and U.S. Census cost overruns.

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