Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery

EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT FOR DEFENSE, THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR, AND HURRICANE RECOVERY, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - March 15, 2006)

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Mr. PAUL. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this legislation, which makes ``emergencies'' out of non-emergencies and fails to provide assistance to my home State of Texas, which did suffer an emergency in the form of Hurricane Rita last summer.

First, I should note to my colleagues and the American taxpayer that, at almost $92 billion, this is the largest supplemental appropriations request in the history of the U.S. Congress.

Is it really an emergency to send $1.2 billion to pay off our allies for their help in Afghanistan? Won't these countries in close proximity presumably benefit more than even we will from the stability that we are told U.S. troops will provide? Perhaps these countries should be paying us for stabilizing their neighborhood. But no, it is always the U.S. taxpayer who ends up paying.

Is $36 million more for taxpayer-funded broadcasting programs overseas really an emergency?

Is $30 million to build roads in Liberia an emergency, when roads in Texas are still unrepaired after Hurricane Rita?

Mr. Chairman, I am offering an amendment to this ``emergency'' supplemental that reduces some of the non-emergency ``emergencies'' by $500 million and allocates that money for the recovery of the State of Texas from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Additionally, my amendment will take another half-billion dollars from the non-emergency portions of this bill and apply it toward the Federal deficit.

The real emergency is the rate that this government is spending money we do not have on policies that we cannot afford while ignoring what should be our real priorities.

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