George W. Bush Speaker Fee
Floor Speech
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Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, July 9, I saw a report on ABC News that former President George W. Bush charged $100,000 to speak at a charity fundraiser for military veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was disappointed to learn that a President who sent thousands of Americans to die in an unnecessary war justified by manipulated intelligence would charge a fee to speak at a fundraiser for wounded veterans.
ABC also reported that, in addition to charging $100,000 to speak at the charity: ``The former President was also provided with a private jet to travel to Houston at a cost of $20,000.''
Further, ABC News reported: ``One of the wounded vets who served on the charity board told ABC News he was outraged that his former commander in chief would charge any fee to speak on behalf of men and women he ordered into harm's way.
`` `For him to be paid to raise money for veterans that were wounded in combat under his orders, I don't think that's right,' said former Marine Eddie Wright.''
Eddie Wright, Mr. Speaker, lost both hands in a rocket attack in Fallujah in Iraq in the year 2004.
This is so disappointing and outrageous. These veterans have been severely wounded, and the President that led us into an unjustified war charges $100,000 to be in their presence. That is wrong, Mr. Speaker. That is really, really wrong.
Many of these wounded veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan live in the Third District in North Carolina, which I have the privilege to represent. For years, I have felt deep regret over my vote to go into Iraq; and to atone for that, I have publicly and privately apologized and signed over 11,000 letters to families who lost loved ones in Afghanistan and Iraq because of my mistake. President Bush and Vice President Cheney have never publicly apologized to the families for the unnecessary war they began.
Mr. Speaker, I think my friend Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, was right about the Iraq war. On MSNBC a couple of months ago, Colonel Wilkerson stated: ``The intelligence was fixed, and everyone should know that by now. It was a failure of the intelligence agencies, but it was also a failure of the political people who manipulated the intelligence failure to their own benefit.''
He further stated: ``It destroyed the balance of power in the Gulf and produced what we have today, the chaos we have today: al Qaeda in Iraq--never there until we invaded; ISIS--never there until we invaded; the mess we have in Yemen. Everything that's happening in the Middle East today can be attributed to our having destroyed the balance of power that we had carefully maintained for a half a century with the invasion in 2003. It was a disaster.''
I have a lot of respect for Colonel Wilkerson because he is telling the truth when he made this statement to MSNBC.
Let me repeat the words of Marine Eddie Wright, who lost both hands in Iraq: ``For him,'' President Bush, ``to be paid to raise money for veterans that were wounded ..... under his orders, I don't think that's right.''
Mr. Speaker, it is not right; and I will add my own thoughts and use the word ``shameful,'' that the former President and his administration, who created an unnecessary war and sent our troops over there to die and also to be wounded, should not charge one dime to go help them out now.
So with that, Mr. Speaker, I will ask God to bless America.
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