Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to continued war funding for Iraq.

I voted against the war and have never wavered in my opposition to the Administration's misguided policies in Iraq.

It has been a long and painful 5 year journey for the people of our country since the Administration acted preemptively and unilaterally to invade and occupy Iraq.

Military leaders, the best minds in foreign and economic policy, and the vast majority of the American people have been resoundingly clear: The Administration's war-without-end policy is not a strategy for success.

As retired General William Odom, former Director of the National Security Agency under President Reagan and member of the National Security Council under President Carter stated, "Getting out of Iraq is the pre-condition for creating new strategic options.''

I cannot support war funding without a clear exit strategy in sight. It is bad for our troops, our country, and our standing in the world.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of today's second amendment that includes a clear path out of Iraq, a plan that my constituents and the vast majority of Americans are demanding.

More than 5 years ago the President proclaimed `"Mission Accomplished'' in Iraq. Paradoxically, he insists on a permanent U.S. presence there. And what exactly has this Administration "accomplished'' in Iraq?

More than 4,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed and almost 30,000 injured; tens of thousands Iraqi civilian deaths; an emboldened Iran and new threats from Al Qaeda in the region; $519 billion taxpayer dollars spent and a future expenditure of some $3 trillion; a hobbled Iraqi government unable to provide clean water, medical care, jobs for its people, or pass critical oil sharing legislation; a U.S. military on the verge of collapse and unable to press vigorously the critical fight in Afghanistan or respond to other crises in the world; and still no exit strategy.

With no end game in sight, the Administration and its supporters in Congress are complicit in a continuation of a failed policy which they insist on extending with a blank check policy to accompany it.

The President owes it to our brave men and women in Iraq and their families, he owes it to the American people, and he owes it to the citizens of Iraq not to leave this mess for the next President to finish.

This bill establishes a clear path out of Iraq. The language requires the Administration to begin redeployment 30 days after enactment and requires Secretary Gates to submit to Congress within 90 days a report detailing plans to reduce and redeploy troops from Iraq. It prohibits sending troops to Iraq that are not assessed as "fully mission capable'' of performing their assigned mission, and outlaws the presence of a permanent U.S. base there. Additionally, this provision requires the Iraqi government to match every U.S. dollar spent for training and infrastructure construction and repair. Finally, it prohibits the intelligence community from subjecting detainees to interrogation techniques not authorized by the U.S. Army Field Manual. This will essentially abolish the use of water torture and begin to restore America's standing in the world community.

As a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence it is vital that we extend the ban on torture to the Intelligence agencies. The President has said he will veto any ban on torture, clearly demonstrating his desire to reserve for himself the right to subject detainees to these horrendous techniques. Congress has an obligation to make it clear that the American people do not believe in torture and will not allow it to continue.

This amendment sets a decisive course out of Iraq and begins to shift responsibilities to the Iraqi government. I urge my colleagues to heed the demands of the American people and support this strategy.

Mr. Speaker, I'm very pleased that the Appropriations Committee included two important provisions in today's third amendment. First, it includes critical funding for Iraqi Christians and second, it modernizes and improves the G.I. bill.

I'm pleased that the amendment contains $10 million for vulnerable Iraqi minorities, including Christians. The needs of Assyrians in Iraq could not be greater. A report produced by the Department of State on U.S. assistance to the Nineveh Plains in Iraq concluded that Christian minorities have experienced serious human rights abuses in the Nineveh Plains. The report also states that the region has absorbed a significant number of Christian internally displaced persons (IDPs) moving from the south, placing an economic burden in the area.

They are fleeing because they are being threatened and murdered in their home communities. Their priests are being executed, their churches burned, and their nuns threatened. In February of this year, Archbishop Paulos Rahho was abducted and murdered in Mosul.

While Assyrians only represented 5 percent of the total Iraqi population before the war, according to the United Nations today they comprise as much as 40 percent of the growing Iraqi refugees who have fled for their lives to Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey.

These families desperately need security, housing, jobs, schools and the chance to live in a sustainable community where they can openly practice their faith. This funding is essential to their survival.

Also included in this amendment is a modernization of the G.I. bill. The G.I. bill has been heralded as one of the most successful government programs in the history of our Nation. It gave millions of G.I.s the chance to go to college, many of whom were the first to receive a college education in their families. But the G.I. bill is over 54 years old and has not kept up with rising tuition costs.

According to a recent Department of Veterans Affairs (V.A.) survey, 18 percent of the veterans recently back from tours of duty are unemployed. Of those employed since leaving the military, 25 percent earn less than $21,840 a year. The survey also demonstrated that only 48.4 percent of the respondents took advantage of the G.I. bill and concluded that receiving the benefits of the current G.I. bill was not a strong predictor of successful employment outcomes.

This survey clearly demonstrates the need for this new G.I. bill. The amendment provides veterans with a maximum educational benefit equal to the highest tuition rate of a public college or university in their State, as well as a monthly stipend for housing. It also establishes a new program in which private educational institutions would make financial contributions toward veterans' tuition, and the federal government would match those contributions.

When our veterans return from the battlefield, they should have every opportunity to enter the classroom and ultimately the civilian workforce. Our Nation needs these brave men and women to contribute to the growth and health of our economy and this new G.I. bill accomplishes this.

From development funding for Iraqi Christians to the creation of a new G.I. bill, this amendment addresses specific urgent needs for our Nation and world. The amendment is well crafted and I urge my colleagues to support its passage.

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