NORFOLK, VA — With more than 5,400 jubilant Marines and sailors cheering him on, President Bush landed on the deck of the U.S.S. Harry S Truman in a Navy jet Monday to preside over a historic veterans’-benefits-cutting ceremony.
“Your brave and selfless service to your country will not soon be forgotten,” Bush told the recently returned Operation Iraqi Freedom soldiers. “At least, not for another five or ten years.”
After congratulating the soldiers on their victory over Saddam Hussein, Bush announced that the new budget passed by the Senate includes a $14.6 billion reduction in veterans’ benefits. He then held aloft a pair of oversized scissors and snipped a ribbon bearing the words “Veteran’s Benefits.”
“No one knows the meaning of the word ‘sacrifice’ quite like our men and women in uniform,” Bush said. “Whether sacrificing their lives or their health coverage, these brave Americans are willing to do whatever it takes to help this nation, and for this I salute them.”
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