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October 16, 2003
CONGRESSWOMAN HARMAN TO OPPOSE
"BLANK CHECK" FOR IRAQ FUNDING
Washington, DC - Attached is the text of remarks US Congresswoman
Jane Harman (D-Venice) prepared for delivery on the House floor today
announcing her opposition to the "blank check" funding request
the Administration has made for Iraq.
"The $87 billion supplemental request in its present form is profoundly
flawed - and if it is not improved by amendment on the House floor, I
intend to oppose it.
"I take a back seat to no one when it comes to my support of our
nation's defense and our intelligence community. But I believe there are
better ways to support our troops and rebuild Iraq while respecting the
American taxpayer in the process.
"Simply put, the plan that Congress is being asked to fund is not
ready for prime time. Our troops, our veterans and America's families
deserve better.
"Members of this body rightly have complained about the Bush Administration's
lack of a sustainable strategy for Iraq and the lack of a sincere attempt
to explain the supplemental's details.
"The failure to spend funds wisely in Iraq and Afghanistan is already
having a profound effect on our fighting men and women there. Earlier
this week newspapers reported that ceramic inserts for soldiers' flak
jackets - to be paid for with $300 million already appropriated - still
have not been delivered and might not arrive until December! This is irresponsible.
US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are targets of daily attacks; wearing
the inserts is literally a matter of life and death should they be hit
by assault rifle fire.
"I also have serious concerns about our policy going forward.
"First, deficiencies in pre-war intelligence have not been acknowledged
by the Administration, let alone fixed. If our intelligence is flawed,
our forces are at risk. And our predictions about threats posed by other
hot spots like Iran and North Korea will lack credibility. This supplemental
does nothing to fix these problems.
"Second, we have only belatedly reached out for those Americans
with extensive experience in stabilization and reconstruction. Iraq is
the sixth such rebuilding effort in a decade. Yet, "lessons learned"
from earlier experiences have been largely ignored.
"Third, we are at best limping along in our quest for an international
reconstruction strategy - one that restores wealth to the Iraqi people
and enjoys the support of the United Nations and other countries capable
of contributing to a successful result.
"Fourth, by sending forward a second emergency funding request and
demanding that the crisis requires its immediate passage, the President
has bypassed the annual budgeting process and its fiscal constraints.
It is even more troubling in this case since the Administration resisted
for months the call for openness and honesty about the true costs of managing
post-war Iraq.
"Fifth, we owe it to our veterans and those soldiers returning from
the war on terrorism to fully fund the benefits to which they are entitled
- and to make up the $1.8 billion shortfall in health care funding in
the FY 2004 VA-HUD bill.
"Since 9/11, I have called for a wartime budget that would fully
fund the war on terror as well as reconstruction and stabilization in
Iraq within a balanced budget framework. Americans are prepared to make
hard and responsible choices. Every previous war has been paid for by
the generation that fought it, and not by saddling our children and grandchildren
with mountains of debt.
"The United States has a moral obligation to finish the job in Iraq,
Afghanistan and elsewhere - and I support finishing that job.
"To this end, I would support, as I believe many other Members would,
an incremental approach to the supplemental package - one that provides
funding in installments and only after certain benchmarks and milestones
are met.
"But I am not prepared to provide this Administration with another
blank check."
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