(Ms. Foxx asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)
Ms. Foxx: Madam Speaker, the Democrats' Iraq supplemental bill is the wrong policy for America and the wrong signal to send our troops in harm's way.
The Democrats' attempt to micromanage the war accomplishes nothing of strategic value. Rather, by meddling in the decisions which are best left to our commanders on the ground, they merely succeeded in telegraphing our plans to the enemy.
Setting deadlines and tying the hands of our generals is not a plan for success and not a safe way to conduct this war. Congress, an inherent political body, should not be dictating military strategy. Rather than support a bill that leaves our troops in harm's way for a cause Democrats believe cannot be won, a bill the President has promised to veto, the Democratic leaders should be willing to vote up or down on a clean bill that supports funding the global war on terrorism.
Mrs. Maloney of New York: Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the conference report to H.R. 1591, the "U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act."
For far too long this administration, with no oversight from the previous Republican-led Congresses, has committed our precious resources to this war without a sufficient plan to win the peace. It sent our soldiers to war without adequate armor and equipment. It wasted billions of taxpayers' dollars in sole-source contracts and lost suitcases of cash.
This war also has severely hampered our readiness should a military operation become necessary somewhere else in the world. Top Army officials have acknowledged that the demands placed on the military mostly because of the war in Iraq have caused critical shortages in the number of available ground troops and equipment. With the President's surge of troops in Iraq, we are at a crisis point.
The mismanagement of this war must not continue. The false promises must end. The administration's free pass must be revoked.
H.R. 1591 provides critical funding for American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan while establishing a necessary timeline for the redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq. It also directs the president to certify that the Iraqi government is making progress in meeting certain benchmarks. While the timeline is not as strong as the one previously passed by this body, I believe that we are moving in the right direction.
The bill includes $2.1 billion more in funding than the president requested for military health care and $1.8 billion more than the President's request for veterans' health care. The Walter Reed scandal showed the potential for far more widespread problems across the military health care system if we do not act now to take better care of our war veterans. More troops are returning home injured than our government predicted or was prepared for, and the system runs the risk of being stretched thin. Taking care of the men and women who have battled with the stars and stripes on their shoulders is more than a feel-good issue, it is a moral issue.
When Americans enlist in the Armed Forces, they are assuming the responsibility of defending our country. They do so with the belief that their country will assume the responsibility of taking care of their injuries as attentively and humanely as possible. Today, we are taking steps to ensure that what happened at Walter Reed will not happen anywhere else.
I also want to commend the conferees for including $50 million for Ground Zero workers and responders who risked their lives and are now suffering devastating health effects because of their brave service following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
The Speaker pro tempore: Pursuant to the order of the House of January 4, 2007, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
Mr. DeFazio: Well, President Bush and Vice President Cheney have made much on the talk shows of the last 2 weeks saying the Congress--the Democrats--are trying change direction in Iraq and should listen to the military professionals. Now, if only this administration had taken its own advice. If they had listened to the military professionals and the intelligence professionals, we would never have gone to war in Iraq. The trail of this administration to the sad fourth anniversary of Mission Accomplished is littered with professional, military and intelligence advice that was either ignored, discarded or deliberately distorted.
There were no links to 9/11 and al Qaeda. That was recently declassified in a report on April 6 of this year.
There were no weapons of mass destruction, despite statements from the likes of Vice President Cheney. "We believe Saddam has in fact reconstituted nuclear weapons." 3/16/2003.
The war has drug on for 4 long years since the President--dressed as a fake fighter jock--landed on the deck of an aircraft carrier and declared Mission Accomplished. Since that day, more than two U.S. soldiers have died every day for 1,460 days. Three thousand three hundred forty-two have died, 3,205 since George Bush proclaimed mission accomplished.
Now, they have been so wrong all along with their inside advice, their made-up intelligence, their own neocon theories. They were wrong about, again, "We will, in fact, be greeted as liberators. I think it will go relatively quickly, weeks rather than months." Vice President Cheney. 3/16/2003.
"We're dealing with a country that can finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon." 3/27/2003, Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz, who was promoted to the World Bank so he could get his girlfriend a job. He was kind of wrong, too.
Now the scandals are unfolding about what little reconstruction has been done and how poorly it was done. But Halliburton has benefited tremendously--over $25 billion of no-bid contracts which has probably boosted Vice President Cheney's portfolio quite a bit. So there have been some successes in this effort.
Our troops have done everything that was asked, many of them now on their second and third tour of duty. They are mired in the midst of a 1,400-year-old sectarian conflict--a civil war. The Iraqi government has delivered on no promises to take meaningful steps to end that civil war. There is not a singular military solution to this conflict. There must be a political solution in Iraq. There must be diplomacy in the region. And yes to the President and the Vice President--we need a new direction.
And this Congress is listening to the professionals. Unfortunately, mostly we have to hear from the retired generals and the others because those who are still in uniform are being gagged by this administration from giving their true opinions about the changes that are necessary to extract our troops from the midst of that conflict.
This is a sad fourth anniversary. But it is the first anniversary of attempts by this Congress to stand up for its constitutional obligations and begin to try and change course, to end the stay-the- course, open-ended commitment of George Bush and Dick Cheney who have been wrong every step of the way.
Someone else needs to push for change in Iraq, because it will never come from this White House.
(Mr. Wilson of South Carolina asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. Wilson of South Carolina: Madam Speaker, just this morning we received reports that the al Qaeda leader in Iraq has been killed. Despite such signs that support for the terrorist group in Iraq is fading, Democrats in Congress continue to advocate retreat and defeat. Fortunately for American families and our troops in the battlefield, we have a Commander in Chief who understands that victory is essential. As the Washington Post has editorialized: "America's defeat will lead to catastrophic civilian deaths, the reestablishment of terrorist training camps, and possibly a regional war. We must face the terrorists overseas, or we will face them again in the streets of America."
Our Nation is at war. Our troops are bravely serving their country. We have a responsibility to provide for their well-being. I support President Bush's pending veto and look forward to passing a clean supplemental bill that fully funds our soldiers' mission of protecting American families.
In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget September 11.
(Mr. Larson of Connecticut asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. Larsen of Connecticut: Madam Speaker, 4 years ago, the President declared victory onboard the Abraham Lincoln.
Indeed, our troops have performed valiantly and achieved military victory. There is no question about that or their performance. But 4 years later, we find ourselves still in a quagmire, a quagmire that even the head of the CIA said was now all trumped up with misinformation, misled the country, sacrificing brave men and women and their lives in Iraq.
What we need is for the President to step up and recognize what the American people are calling for: a new direction. Refocus on Afghanistan, go after the terrorists where they are, go after Osama bin Laden, the people who actually took down the tower, and end this quagmire. And the only reason that we are there and continue to lose lives, because there is no mission other than arrogance and hubris that has led this President to stay this course in spite of the sacrifice by our brave troops and men, when 61 percent of the Iraqi people say it is okay to kill Americans, that sectarian violence is okay, and in the midst of the civil war is not where we belong.
(Mr. Gingrey asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. Gingrey: Madam Speaker, indeed it is an anniversary. It's about the 80th-day anniversary since the President asked for funding for our troops. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the theatrics the Democratic majority is trying to pass off as some kind of policy.
Today, Speaker Pelosi will stage an elaborate and politically timed signing ceremony for the Iraq troop withdrawal bill Congress passed 5 days ago. As President Bush has already vowed to veto this irresponsible legislation, Speaker Pelosi's theatrics are simply slowing down the process of getting much needed funding and money to our troops.
Let me remind the American people that our warfighters have been waiting nearly 3 months for Congress to pass the President's requested supplemental funding for the war. The Democratic leader might think a few days here don't mean much, don't matter much. Every day they stall to appease left-wing activists is another day our military must wait for the funding it needs to win this war.
Madam Speaker, I admonish Speaker Pelosi to quit playing politics with our national security. Let Congress vote on a clean funding bill for our troops. The Democratic leaders may be content to lose the war, but the troops are in harm's way, and they certainly will not lose this war.
(Mr. Kagen asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)
Mr. Kagen: Madam Speaker, I rise today to remind everyone here and throughout the country that our President needs our help. The President needs our help to support our troops before, during, and after serving in harm's way, and to guarantee our soldiers receive everything necessary to heal their wounds from battles fought on our behalf.
The President needs our help to fulfill Abe Lincoln's promise to our veterans, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and orphans. The President needs our help to hold the freely elected Iraqi Government accountable to his own benchmarks. And the President needs our help to accept the new direction away from Iraq back towards al Qaeda.
The people of Wisconsin urge the President to sign the Iraqi Accountability Act, for in doing so he will be able to once again tell our troops and all the American people: "Mission Accomplished."
Mr. President, the American people hope you will accept our help.
(Mr. Kline of Minnesota asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. Kline of Minnesota: Madam Speaker, House Republicans believe that our commanders on the ground in Iraq deserve to have the resources and flexibility they need to lead our troops in harm's way during this critical phase of their mission.
On the other hand, Washington Democrats would rather use our troops to make a political statement than work in a bipartisan fashion to get our brave men and women in uniform the funding they need to succeed in their mission.
I thought the San Diego Union Tribune made a good point in an editorial stating: "And even though this sham bill is merely a political show, the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate managed to lard it up in nearly $25 billion in wasteful pork, most of it entirely unrelated to war funding."
It's time the Democratic leadership send the President a clean supplemental. It is simply unacceptable for Democrat leaders to restrict the necessary funds our troops need so political points can be scored with their defeatist base.
(Mr. Kucinich asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. Kucinich: Madam Speaker, 4 years ago, the President declared: "Mission Accomplished." I would ask the President, Madam Speaker, whose mission was accomplished by the invasion and occupation of Iraq? Was Halliburton's mission accomplished? Was the oil companies' mission accomplished? Was the defense contractors' mission accomplished?
I was at Arlington Cemetery this morning where so many of our brave young men and women responded to the call of duty. Their mission was to put their lives on the line for America. They accomplished their mission. This Congress has not accomplished its mission.
We must stop funding the war. We must end the occupation. We must use the money in the pipeline to bring our troops home. We must reach out to the nations of the region to create an international peacekeeping and security force to stabilize Iraq. And we must bring to justice under our Constitution and under the laws of this Nation those in high office who took us into a war based on lies. Then we will have accomplished our mission. Then we will have restored America's honor, America's greatness.
(Mr. Welch of Vermont asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. Welch of Vermont: Last week, the Government Reform and Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Secretary Rice and it was faced, the committee, with a simple question. We could do our job or not.
There is no question, no question that the intelligence used by the administration to justify the war in Iraq was dead wrong. Secretary Rice was the administration's principal spokesperson, and under her leadership the administration was certain but wrong about the Niger claim; certain but wrong about the aluminum tubes, certain but wrong about the al Qaeda connection, about the mobile labs, about unmanned aerial vehicles. And there are now three questions that Congress must answer. How did the White House and Secretary Rice have such confidence they were so right when, in fact, they were so wrong? How can we protect the American people and U.S. military from such misinformation in the future? And was the administration's active dissemination of bad intelligence premeditated and deliberate, done with the intention to deceive the American people, or was it reckless and cavalier, done to justify a decision to go to war that had already been made?
(Mr. Pence asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. Pence: As we've heard this morning, Madam Speaker, 4 years ago today, aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, President Bush gave a speech. Now, it has been characterized by Members of Congress this morning that the President "announced 'mission accomplished.' " And one other speaker said that the President "declared 'mission accomplished.' " Actually, here's what the President said, and I am quoting: "We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We're bringing order to parts of the country that remain dangerous." But he added, "our mission continues. Al Qaeda is wounded, not destroyed. The enemies of freedom are not idle and neither are we, and we will continue to hunt down the enemy before he can strike."
The President said, "the battle of Iraq is one victory in a war of terror that began September 11 and still goes on."
As the President said 4 years ago, Madam Speaker, "our mission is not accomplished in Iraq or in the war on terror." So now is not the time to tie the funding for our troops to deadlines and defeat. Now is not the time for politicians in Washington, D.C. to micromanage and make decisions for our commanders in the field.
Mr. President, veto this bill.
(Mr. Perlmutter asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)
Mr. Perlmutter: Madam Speaker, today Congress will send President Bush an emergency war supplemental that finally begins moving this war in a new direction.
Four years ago today, the Bush administration sent out a message of "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. But our mission was not accomplished. Instead, for 4 years, the President has stumbled, and past Republican Congresses refused to hold the administration accountable for its miscues and mistakes. Well, those days are over now.
Our legislation brings real accountability to the war. It provides accountability to our soldiers who were sent into battle without proper equipment or a clear mission. It provides accountability to our veterans who are not getting the best medical care when they come home, and to our military that is stretched to the limits by the current Bush war policy. And it finally holds the Iraqi government accountable to meet the benchmarks the President has created.
Madam Speaker, the American people want this war to move in a new direction. The President should sign the bill today.
(Ms. Shea-Porter asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
Ms. Shea-Porter: Madam Speaker, 4 years ago today, 4 long years ago today, we heard "Mission Accomplished." What mission? We are not even sure what the mission is anymore, the President has changed the mission so many times.
But I have to tell America the truth about this war. I sit on the Armed Services Committee, and I'm tired of hearing what I hear every hearing. What am I hearing? I'm hearing that the American military is strained to the breaking point. I'm hearing that 88 percent of our National Guard is not ready to be sent. I'm hearing that we're having problems with equipment. I'm hearing problems from military families. What I'm hearing is that at the top leadership, we have failed the military and we have failed the people of the United States. We need to get a grip on this.
The Democrats have presented the White House with a responsible exit from Iraq. We need leadership here. The President has failed to show that leadership, but the Democrats are prepared now to give that responsible road map out of Iraq.
I urge the President to sign this legislation.
(Mrs. Blackburn asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
Mrs. Blackburn: Madam Speaker, you know, nobody likes war. I don't like it. My constituents from Fort Campbell that are fighting this war, they don't like it. But they understand it.
And we all know there are some things worth fighting for. Freedom is one of those things. Freedom is one of those things.
Listen to this from British historian John Stuart Mill. He said back in the 1800s, "War is an ugly thing, not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse." People that don't care, that is what is worse.
Using our troops as a political tool during a time of war is not wrong. It is ugly. It is downright ugly. It is wrong, and it jeopardizes our national security. Just yesterday, Iraq's Ambassador to the U.S. said American troops are critical to the success of that.
Today we stand and recognize the demise of al Masri, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. Tenacity. Focus. That is what yields results. Our men and women are getting results. It should be the first priority. We should all be reading this bill. We should recognize war is ugly.
Veto the bill, Mr. President.
(Mr. Price of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)
Mr. Price of Georgia: Madam Speaker, as the contentious and sometimes ugly debate over our strategy in Iraq continues here in Washington, it's important to remember that there are patriotic Americans helping with positive activity abroad and at home. And today it's my privilege to acknowledge the incredible work being done by some folks in my State of Georgia and all across this Nation. Operation Homefront is a national nonprofit organization founded in the wake of September 11. The decent and committed Americans at Operation Homefront are providing necessary assistance and comfort to our troops and their family.
Through financial assistance programs and other goods and services, these tireless volunteers are helping America's military families cope with the everyday difficulties that they face. They are truly making a difference.
Our military families deserve nothing less than the unending gratitude and support of our entire Nation. Thanks to Operation Homefront for their efforts. I encourage every American to get involved. And let's show our military men and women that we honor their sacrifice, and we will never forget all that they do to defend our freedom at home and abroad.
(Mr. Holt asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. Holt: Madam Speaker, 4 years ago, President Bush used soldiers and sailors as stage props to declare "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended." Those combat operations indeed, should have ended, in fact, they should never have begun. This combat was constitutionally and strategically unjustifiable, operationally poorly executed with regard to armoring and deploying the troops, and politically and diplomatically disastrous.
This war is not making anyone safer or more free and it cannot be won militarily. As retired General Odom said, "The challenge we face today is not how to win in Iraq; it is how to recover from a strategic mistake: invading Iraq in the first place."
The President continues to squander American influence, blood and treasure. The President's intransigence is why our Congress was forced to pass a spending bill that forces a change in course in Iraq. The President needs to know that the days of congressional blank checks in support of a failed policy are over.
