Crossroads in Iraq

CROSSROADS IN IRAQ

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Mr. LARSEN of Washington. I rise today as we reexamine why Congress and the administration diverted attention from our fight against terrorists and terrorism in order to invade Iraq.

The current administration has gotten too many things wrong in Iraq and has totally misinterpreted the lessons of the post-9/11 world. It is up to Democrats to get things right in Iraq so we can refocus our military efforts to fighting terrorists around the world who want to harm us.

Today I ask my colleagues: Will we realistically confront terrorists and terrorism with all the elements of our national power, or will we continue to ignore a proven approach to follow a shop-worn, idealistic approach that drains our military of its resources and America of its good will with the very partners that we need to fight terrorism? That is the choice our country faces.

The administration has made countless mistakes since the start of the war in Iraq. As Congress looks to clean up the mistakes that have been made, Democrats must speak out against this administration's tendency to overlook problems and instead push for a policy that centers on oversight of U.S. taxpayer dollars. We must respond to the public's frustrations by creating a secure future for our military and reestablish a foundation for American efforts to fight terrorists and terrorism around the globe.

We can only do that by confronting and repairing the waste, fraud, and abuse that plagues our efforts in Iraq. We need to emphasize that our commitment to U.S. taxpayers is equally as important as the commitment we have made to the Iraqi people.

I ask the American people to consider the legacy this administration has handed us in the defense budget as we spend billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars without the tools and ability to track these dollars. Will we tolerate the squeeze that will force choices between weapons and warriors because of a lack of administration foresight and lack of congressional oversight? I believe the answer is no.

We must consider the legacy of waste, fraud, and abuse in Iraq. Why are we not getting results for our taxpayer dollars? We do not know because the institution endowed by the Constitution that is responsible for protecting your taxpayer dollars is practicing overlook instead of oversight. Parents who are monitoring their children on the Internet are providing more oversight than the United States Congress.

We learn of events and stories through the media once the waste, fraud, or abuses have reached comic proportions. We know that Halliburton has overcharged both the U.S. Government and the Development Fund for Iraq by over $260 million. The Department of Justice brought criminal indictments against a former CPA contracting official and a contractor for a series of frauds costing taxpayers $13 million, and the CPA lost control of $19.6 billion in Iraqi oil funds.

As Congress overlooks expenditures of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars in Iraq, it ignores responsibility to provide a secure future for our military.

Just in closing, I join my colleagues in commending our U.S. military working in conjunction with Iraqi security and Iraqis themselves for locating and eliminating Abu Musad al-Zarqawi. His terrorist violence is gone. But we have learned in Iraq that fighting a ``classic guerrilla-type war'' means that a victory like killing Zarqawi cannot be celebrated too long. Much remains to be done in Iraq, and Democrats have to make right where the administration has gone wrong. Our obligations compel us to ask the tough questions that are currently ignored.

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