Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Iraq and Afghanistan Security and Reconstruction

EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN SECURITY AND RECONSTRUCTION ACT, 2004

AFGHAN WOMEN'S PROGRAMS

Mrs. MURRAY. I ask the Chairman, as you know, late last night a very important amendment regarding funding for Afghan women's programs previously authorized by the Afghanistan Freedom Act of 2002 was accepted in the House version of this bill. The amendment was introduced by Congresswoman CAROLYN MALONEY of New York.

I know you share my concerns about the treatment of women in Afghanistan. And as we discussed earlier today, I have agreed not to offer my amendment, which was similar to the one accepted in the House bill, with the understanding that you will support this issue in conference.

Mr. STEVENS. I am aware of the House amendment. I appreciate your interests in this area and will work with my colleagues in conference to support funding for women's programs in Afghanistan.

Mr. BYRD. I would like to echo Chairman STEVENS' remarks and thank the Senator from Washington, Mrs. MURRAY, for bringing this issue before the Senate.

Mrs. MURRAY. I thank the Chairman and Senator BYRD.

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, it has been a year since the full Senate debated military action in Iraq, and now the President is asking Congress for $87 billion.

It is time to assess where things stand, to look at the reality facing our troops, and to see if we are on the right track in Iraq.

Unfortunately, it is clear to me that today we are not where we need to be in protecting our troops, gaining international support, or even having a plan to win the peace.

As the daughter of a disabled World War II veteran and the representative for hundreds of thousands of Washington State veterans and military families, I will fight for every dollar our troops need to protect themselves, and to complete their mission successfully, and I am deeply troubled that the President still does not have a plan for success in Iraq.

I have invested a lot of time examining the President's $87 billion request.

I am taking a close look at what is needed and who will foot the bill.

I have attended hearings and briefings where I have questioned administration officials, from Defense Secretary Rumsfeld to
Ambassador Bremer. And I have heard a great deal from the citizens I represent in Washington State.

Everywhere I go at home, I am approached by people who have a family member who is now serving or a family member who is going to be called up.

As we speak, 3,500 soldiers with the Army's 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Lewis are being deployed to Iraq.
About 2,100 Washington reservists are serving in Iraq today. About 300 Washington National Guard are already serving in Iraq and another 3,300 are on "ready alert."

Like their families, I am very concerned about what they—and all of our troops—will encounter overseas.

Each day in Iraq, our American soldiers face vicious attacks from snipers, car bombs, roadside explosives, and rocket-propelled grenades. These attacks are taking a deadly toll. We learned this morning that four more soldiers were killed in Iraq. Our hearts and prayers go out to their families as we continue to support all of the men and women who are still there.

Five months ago, President Bush stood on an aircraft carrier—under a sign that read "Mission Accomplished"—and told us that major combat operations had ended. Since that day, however, more than 180 American soldiers have been killed, including four from Washington State. Their families will never be the same. Their communities will never be the same.
They—and all of our troops—deserve our thanks and our gratitude. But they deserve much more.

They deserve a plan that will help them complete their mission successfully and return home safely. So far, there is no plan.

Many of the questions I asked on the Senate floor a year ago still have not been answered, but today we must focus on the reality on the ground.

We have about 130,000 troops in Iraq, according to the Defense Department. They are working hard in dire circumstances, and they are facing deadly attacks every day. There is still no plan for winning the peace. There is still no real international support, either in troops or treasure.

Anyone who asks a legitimate question or who talks about what is really happening is criticized. And now the administration wants $87 billion without accountability.

The way to fix this is for the White House to "swallow some pride," face reality, be accountable, and offer a credible plan.

But instead of a plan, the administration is offering a public relations campaign.

Today we have complaints about media filters and a lively policy debate within the administration, but we still have no plan.

So as I assess where things stand in Iraq, I see no real international support; no tolerance for important questions; no consistent policy—even within the administration; no accountability as to how money is spent in Iraq; no plan for success; and a PR campaign to "paper-over" the failures.

With all due respect, that is not a formula that will help bring our troops home.

We have to deal with the situation as it is and figure out how to make it better.

Sound bites and speeches are not going to help our troops finish their mission and come home. A credible plan, accountability, and international support will. We do not need a PR campaign to make it look like things are going well. We need a plan that will actually help our troops succeed, and the American people are losing patience. That is the context in which we are having this debate.

Now I wish to turn to the specifics of the President's $87 billion request.

Most of it—about $65 billion—would go to military operations. I absolutely support that. Without question, we must provide our military men and women with the resources they need to complete their missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and every corner of the global war on terrorism.

About one-quarter of the $87 billion is being proposed to rebuild Iraq. I am concerned with how the burden for Iraq's
reconstruction is being shared with the rest of the world.

The Bush administration is proposing to spend more than $20 billion in Iraq, while the rest of the international community has currently pledged only $3 billion—$20 billion from American taxpayers and $3 billion from the rest of the world. This is far different than the 1991 gulf war.

In 1991, the first President Bush put together a coalition of countries to liberate Kuwait. The cost of that operation was $60 billion. Because that President had won the support of our allies and had secured the support of NATO and the United Nations, America's allies paid 90 percent of the cost of that war. The U.S. paid only $6 billion.

I am also troubled, both as a citizen who cares about my country and as a Senator who will cast a vote on this bill, that Americans were told a lot of things about Iraq before the war which have turned out to be false.

One repeated assertion was that Iraq's vast oil reserves could pay for its own reconstruction. In fact, the Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said:

There's a lot of money to pay for this that doesn't have to be U.S. taxpayer money. We're dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon.

Just a few months later, it is clear that the bill to reconstruct Iraq is massive, and that bill is being handed to every American family.

As my Republican colleague, Senator Lindsey Graham, said last night:

It's very hard for me to go home and explain how you give $20 billion to a country that is sitting on $1 trillion worth of oil.

The American people were told that Iraq's oil reserves would finance its reconstruction but now we are getting stuck with the bill and I believe the American people deserve an explanation. We all agree that we must help Iraq and Afghanistan get back on their feet quickly, but we should not carry the burden alone while our own schools, hospitals, and communities are in need.

We all understand the importance of helping the Iraqi people, but it need not come at the expense of our needs here at home. Even though the administration says that Iraq should be able to produce $35 billion in oil revenues in a few years, the American taxpayer is still getting stuck with the bill.

Let's remember, there is no guarantee that President Bush will not come back to ask U.S. taxpayers to provide even more money for Iraq's reconstruction. The World Bank says Iraq's reconstruction will cost at least $60 billion.

Today our families and communities are being asked to do more with less. Americans everywhere are sacrificing to make up the difference. American families will feel this $20 billion impact in crowded classrooms, delayed transportation improvements, and less access to health care. One of the reasons American taxpayers are so upset is because we need those kinds of investments here at home. This administration's priorities are wrong.

The people I represent want to see that level of effort and resources put back into our own country. After all, we will only be strong abroad if we are strong here at home.

Let's not forget no matter how much we are sacrificing at home, the burden is always far higher on our soldiers overseas.
That is why, while they are fighting for us, we must continue to fight for them. We have to make sure they come back to a country that has jobs that can support them, health care they can count on, retirement they can look forward to, and education and opportunity for their children.

Before we reach for our wallets again, the American people deserve to know how this money will help bring our troops home as soon as possible. It is clear that our concerns and questions will not be fully addressed before we are forced to vote on this legislation. It is also clear that we cannot afford to fail in Iraq.

We have situations in Iraq and Afghanistan that can go either way. Both Iraq and Afghanistan could become either havens for terrorism or nations that can inch their way toward stability. We have to get it right. We cannot allow Iraq or Afghanistan to descend into chaos.

We have tried to make this proposal better through amendments. I voted to separate the military funding from the reconstruction funding. I voted to make the entire $20 billion a loan. I voted to require a long-term plan for the reconstruction. Unfortunately, those amendments failed, but I am very pleased that last night, the Senate took a positive step to improve the proposal.

The Senate passed an amendment that will ensure the burden of debt is shared and will give the Iraqi people a greater stake in their own reconstruction. The progress last night is a dramatic improvement over the President's proposal and is a good reason to support the modified funding request.

At the end of the day, we cannot afford to fail in Iraq. The reality is that we have got 130,000 troops over there. We cannot fail to give them what they need to protect themselves and complete their mission. Reluctantly, I will vote for this $87 billion request because we cannot deny our troops the resources they need even as we demand that the administration offer a real plan.

To illustrate just how badly our troops need resources and equipment, I want to read an email I received on Wednesday from David Willet of Bellingham, WA, about his son Ian Willett.

David writes:

My son, Specialist Ian Willet, a 2001 graduate of Sehome High School, was deployed to Iraq on September 5th, his 21st birthday.

Prior to him leaving he came to me to request money in order to help him buy combat gear he would need to take with him to Iraq. This is gear the Army either would not issue him or was as old and outdated as to be virtually useless. I, of course, bought the gear that he requested.

After talking with other men who have come home or are on their way to combat, I have become quite angry that our government has placed our sons and daughters in combat without the best equipment in the world. As an example, Ian spent $50.00 his grandfather gave him for his 21st birthday on knee pads. The Army-issue knee pads fall down around your ankles when you run with them on.

Now I read a quarter of the combat troops in Iraq don't have the right body armor. I am outraged that it has taken over four years to get this ceramic body armor to our combat troops, and that our troops would even be sent into combat without this necessary technology. The reason front line troops don't have this body armor? Delays in funding, production and shipping. Small solace to family that has their loved one killed in combat for lack of the proper vest.

Other stories in the press talk about wounded soldiers being given bills for food they ate while in the hospital in the U.S. recovering from combat wounds. The Bush Administration wants us to focus on the good news coming out of Iraq.

It is outrageous that we are sending our soldiers to Iraq without the equipment they need, forcing their parents and grandparents to buy things that our government should be providing.

Ian is married and has two children. His family can't wait for him to return home, and the burden of protecting Ian should not fall on his family. It is the job of our Government. I am voting for this amendment so that soldiers like Ian won't have to ask their parents for the equipment they need to protect themselves.

Even as I support this funding, I want to be very clear that this is not over. I am going to watch this administration very closely. I am going to watch how they spend this money; how accountable they are; how our soldiers fare; and how much international support we get.

We will hold this administration's feet to the fire. I will continue to be an aggressive advocate for moving us in the right direction because there is too much at stake to just trust that the President has learned from his failures so far.

America is a strong nation, and Americans are a determined people. In our Nation's history, we have confronted adversity.
We have dealt with the challenges that have threatened our democracy. In each case, we had a clear vision and a plan to get there. There were bumps in the road, but at the times of our greatest need, America has come together with resolve and determination. Today is no different.

The American people are ready, and we are waiting for the President to face reality in Iraq and to give us a credible plan to win the war and win the peace.