Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2008 - Continued

Floor Speech

MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008--Continued -- (Senate - May 22, 2008)

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Washington for her leadership and especially to Senator Byrd from West Virginia, the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

What we are considering on the floor of the Senate is not normal business, this is emergency spending. President Bush has come to Congress and said: We have an emergency in Iraq. Set aside whatever you are doing and deal with this emergency. He said: I am not going to pay for this. It is such an emergency, we are going to add it to the debt of America--not the first time President Bush has come to us and asked for that. In the 5 years plus of this ongoing war, President Bush has now asked us for $660 billion to be spent on the war in Iraq and the reconstruction of that country, $660 billion this administration says is such an emergency that we do not pay for it, we are going to spend it, put it on the debt of America and leave it to our kids and grandchildren.

Well, some of us believe that, first, Iraq has a responsibility to pay its own bills; this country has a surplus. Iraq, with all of its oil, has a surplus of almost $30 billion. Why in the world are we taking billions of dollars out of our Treasury, the hard-earned paychecks of American families at a moment when we are facing a recession to send over and rebuild Iraq?

Why would not the Iraqis spend their own money from their own oil first? That is going to be part of this in a later amendment. But to put it in perspective, this President says no. He wants $180 billion for the war in Iraq. We met in the Appropriations Committee, on a bipartisan basis. We said, as important as the war in Iraq may be to the Bush administration, we believe a strong America begins at home.

If there is an emergency in Iraq, there is an emergency in America, and we need to address that emergency. No. 1, we include in this amendment the Webb GI bill. You know what happens when a Nation goes to war, when America invades a country as we did in Iraq? I can tell you. We love our soldiers when we send them to war. Our hearts go out to them and their families. We honor them while they are serving in that war, some unfortunately losing their lives and some coming back injured. We honor them with our speeches and all of our attention.

Senator Webb, with this GI bill asks the basic question: Will you honor these soldiers when they come home? Will you make sure they have the education they need to go on with their lives or will they join the ranks of the unemployed after serving our country?

We know a GI bill works. It worked after World War II. Millions of returning veterans, women and men, had an opportunity to go to college, and America enjoyed the greatest prosperity in our modern history because we put an investment in people in our future.

JIM WEBB, with this bipartisan amendment, does exactly the same thing. I tell my friends on the Republican side of the aisle, do not tell me how much you love the soldiers if you will not stand behind them when they come home. Do not tell me how much you honor our military if you will not honor them and their families by giving them a chance at a quality education.

Voting ``no'' on this GI bill will be remembered across America not only by soldiers but by many others. And that is not all. In this bill there is $437 million for VA polytrauma centers. Do you know why we need them? Because of traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorders, amputations. Our VA was not ready for this, all of these thousands of returning veterans with all of their problems. We put the money in to rebuild the VA so they can respond and help those veterans.

It also provides money for our communities and towns. In the city of Chicago, which I am proud to represent, we have had a painful year of gang violence. Over 20 schoolchildren have been killed outside of Chicago public schools by gang warfare.

We put money in this bill, $490 million, to give to police forces around America to fight the drug gangs, to fight the violence, to bring peace to our neighborhoods. I want peace in Baghdad, but I want peace in Chicago as well. We can spend some money on America if we can find $180 billion to spend in Iraq.

We also provide money for the Americans who are out of work. We are facing a recession. We have millions of Americans who cannot find a job. This bill provides them an extension of unemployment insurance so they can keep their families together. Is there a higher priority? Is there a higher family value?

Let me also tell you, this bill provides assistance which is essential for health care for the poorest people in America; families who are struggling to get by, many of them going to work with no health insurance whatsoever. This bill provides assistance through Medicaid and Medicare. So if you believe a strong America begins at home, if you believe we have to honor our soldiers not only when they are at war but when they return, there is only one vote that can be cast. It is a ``yes'' vote for the pending amendment.

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