War Funding is Not a Faith-Based Initiative

War Funding is Not a Faith-Based Initiative
By Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA)

War funding should not be a faith-based initiative. It requires tough questions and honest answers. Our soldiers on the ground and taxpayers at home deserve both.

As beltway battle lines are drawn over the President's request to Congress for an additional $87 billion to finance the war, lawmakers and administration officials would be wise to provide details and answers to questions about how the money would be spent. Accountability and fiscal discipline cannot be replaced by the partisan din of an endless election.

It is little secret that some Congressional Democrats are busy pouring through the $20 billion reconstruction request in hopes of identifying which of the President's corporate friends will profit from the war's financial spoils. And it is no surprise that some Congressional Republicans have already defined those who dare to question the size and scope of this funding request as "terrorist coddlers."

Earth to Congress: If you are a soldier pinned down by enemy fire, you don't care who gets the contract to pave the road or turn on the water. Nor do you care which political party wears the most flag lapel pins. You want fast help and honest answers. Fast help to allow you to finish your job alive and honest answers that will define what victory will mean and when can you go home.

Though taxpayers have repeatedly demonstrated their sacrifice and support for our soldiers in harms way, they also deserve accountability and fiscal discipline from their elected leaders. It would be shortsighted for Congress to reject additional money our troops may need to stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan before they leave. It would be equally disastrous for Congress to abrogate its oversight authority by rolling over and signing a blank check with no requirements for accountability.

Too many questions have been left unanswered by this administration to blindly sign the largest emergency military funding request since World War II. More of our soldiers have been killed since the end of major military fighting was declared than during the war, experts confirm there are more terrorists in Iraq today than before we invaded and divisions with our allies are still preventing the international support we need to keep this region from completely unraveling.

Arrogance and deception have driven previous official predictions of cost. Those who continue to fight and those who continue to pay deserve to know exactly how this new request will be spent and how we plan to stem the daily loss of American lives. To date, the White House has only provided details on how it would spend $1.2 billion of the $51 billion it is requesting for military operations in Iraq. American taxpayers deserve to know why they are largely alone in paying a total of $166 billion for this war and if they will continue to be alone when the White House calls for another massive check. They also deserve to be told when sovereignty will be transferred to the Iraqi people and what our government is doing to gain international support.

Legislation will be introduced in the House next week that will provide accountability and fiscal discipline to supplemental war spending by limiting it to $20 billion increments. My bill would require the President to submit a detailed report to Congress before each increment could be released. The report would require line item descriptions of program allocations, the extent to which other nations will assist in the cost including the names of countries and details on reconstruction bidding contracts.

Administration officials have already signaled that they will be asking for more war funding in the near future. Soldiers and taxpayers should not have to wait for Congress to find its oversight voice. Incremental checks and balances are the way our government was designed to work. Faith may be a virtue, but it is no replacement for accountability in government