Conference Report on H.R. 1268, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief Act, 2005

CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 1268, EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT FOR DEFENSE, THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR, AND TSUNAMI RELIEF ACT, 2005 -- (Extensions of Remarks - May 16, 2005)

SPEECH OF
HON. BETTY McCOLLUM
OF MINNESOTA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2005

Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, every member of this House supports providing our troops, their families and the veterans who have returned from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. The on-going wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other active military and intelligence operations in other countries require planning, budgeting and congressional oversight to ensure the best and most effective use of taxpayer dollars in order to keep our troops and all Americans safe and protected.

Unfortunately, the Conference Agreement on the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriation, H.R. 1268, is a testament to poor planning, the complete absence of competent budgeting and, worst of all, the exploitation by this Congress of the needs of our troops to pass a grab bag of political pork and exploitive public policy. To add insult to injury, every dollar in this $82 billion bill is borrowed and will be added to our nation's debt-eventually paid for by future generations.

My vote against this bill is a reflection of the inept, incompetent and deliberately misleading policies of the Bush Administration and the Republican controlled Congress. At every point in this war in Iraq, from pre-emptive war to the on-going occupation, there has been a shameless disregard for honesty and a complete failure of meaningful, constructive congressional oversight. With, almost 1,700 lives lost, thousands wounded, some $212 billion spent in Iraq and at least $65 billion spent in Afghanistan to date, Americans should expect Congress to be engaged and conducting vigorous oversight, not playing political games.

Where is the courage, or at least the outrage, among members of this House to stand up and say enough is enough. Let us pass an appropriations bill to provide the courageous U.S. servicemen and women risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan with the tools to protect themselves, achieve their mission and come home safely. Let us have the courage and discipline to dump the extraneous billions and the excessively extraneous policy add-ons. Instead, Congress has passed a pork-barrel bill that, for example, restores $592 million in funding to construct a new U.S. embassy in Baghdad that is not an emergency, could not be constructed during the on-going insecurity and was previously defeated in a vote in the House by a wide margin.

Our nation is now in its third year with almost 160,000 troops occupying both Iraq and Afghanistan. Why was the $78 billion for military operations included in this emergency supplemental appropriation not included in the regular $400 billion FY2005 defense budget passed only months ago. That would have raised defense spending to almost $500 billion, but at least it would have honestly met our obligations to our troops. But foresight and proper planning are not the strengths of this White House and by budgeting properly it would have stripped the Republicans in Congress of a convenient legislative vehicle, a "must pass" bill as they refer to it, by which to supporting our troops is cover for attaching pork projects and politically motivated policies.

This bill, regardless of the margin by which it has passed Congress, is a shameful example of politicians exploiting the needs of a nation at war and the warriors who are fighting this war to advance a narrow, ideological and exclusive political agenda. Since there is no money for Iraq in the 2006 federal budget we can expect another "emergency wartime supplemental" again in the near future and with it the same abusive process.

Among the most egregious and offensive provisions of this bill is the attachment of disgraceful provision call the "REAL ID." The provision adds a de facto national identification card to be paid for by state and local taxpayers. It is another multi-billion dollar unfunded mandate on taxpayers, as well as another example of Republican excess and complete disregard for competent policy making. The REAL ID will make it easier for the immigration officials to send persons fleeing political or religious persecution back to their persecutors and it builds a wall along portions of the U.S.-Mexico border with complete disregard for all laws, including environmental regulations. Furthermore, because the legislation calls for national driver license standards to be implemented by states, it all but guarantees that more untrained and tested drivers will be driving on our streets, roads and freeways. This is not an anti-terrorism provision, it is simply more political grandstanding at the expense of the American taxpayer and hard working families.

There are some good aspects of this bill which I do support strongly. In addition to the needed funding for our troops, there is critical foreign assistance which I support. This includes funds for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami, humanitarian assistance to the victims of the genocide in Darfur, funds to support the African Union peacekeeping operation in Sudan, economic development for the Palestinian people, international food aid and other bilateral assistance to critical allies. These are proper and needed uses of America's wealth to create stability, security and save lives around the world.

We are at a critical time in our nation's history. The current levels of deficit spending to sustain the wars, occupations and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, almost $300 billion to date, plus the long-term needs of veterans, is not sustainable and is fiscally dangerous.

My strong and unwavering support for America's fighting men and women, as well as for our veterans remains steadfast. My opposition to this legislation is a demonstration of my lack of confidence in the Iraq policy and my disgust with the irresponsible fiscal policies of this White House and Republican controlled Congress. The needs and priorities of the American people must come before the shortsighted political advantages of the majority party. The priorities in Washington must change and I will continue to fight to put our troops and our families first, not use them as a political excuse.

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