CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 1268, EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT FOR DEFENSE, THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR, AND TSUNAMI RELIEF ACT, 2005 -- (House of Representatives - May 05, 2005)
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Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, this appropriations bill contains much crucial funding, most importantly money to provide additional armor for our troops and vehicles in Iraq and electronic jammers to protect them from roadside bombs. While I strongly support this funding, I am disappointed that I must vote "no" on this bill.
We have a responsibility to the men and women who we send into harm's way as members of the United States Armed Forces. It is because of my desire to support our troops that I continue to insist that the administration develop a plan to win the peace in Iraq and, to the best of our capability, protect the troops as they go about their mission. I believe that Congress must hold the administration to the highest standards when the lives of our service personnel are at risk. A "no" vote is one of the few ways I have to protest the continued abdication of this responsibility by the highest levels of the Bush Administration.
One positive part of this legislation is an amendment that I offered during House consideration with Mr. MARKEY to prohibit funds for torture and for sending detainees to countries that practice torture, which was carried into this conference report. The use of torture and rendition is morally reprehensible, puts Americans at risk, is a poor way to obtain reliable information in our fight against terrorism, and sets back the cause of democracy. This is the very least that we can do as Congress continues to abdicate its responsibility to investigate this horrific aspect of administration policy.
Perhaps most disappointing, this legislation also continues to be burdened with all the flaws of H.R.418, the "REAL ID Act," which, among other things, placed the entire 7,514 mile border completely outside all legal protections. This is perhaps the single most damaging precedent since I've been in Congress. Do we really want to be giving this responsibility to the Department of Homeland Security, which has not been a paragon of efficiency and sensitivity during its three years of existence? Some of the environmental laws waived by this provision include: the Noise Control Act, the Clean Water Act, the Farmland Protection Policy Act, and the Bald Eagle Act. This is not only bad public policy, it is unnecessary, as most of these laws have security exemptions already written into them. However, in addition to environmental laws, this provision would waive labor laws, safety standards, the National Historic Preservation Act, and the Native American Graves Protection Act. If this provision were to become law, the Department of Homeland Security could build a road that has no safety standards, using l2-year-old laborers, through the site of a Native American burial ground, killing hundreds of bald eagles during construction, and polluting the drinking water of a nearby community. The proponents of this provision have given us no compelling reasons for why this broad exemption is necessary.
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