Eighty seven billion dollars is a lot of money.  But when you are trying to get a nation of 25 million back on its feet after years of oppression under a ruthless dictator, itƒ­s barely enough for a year.

I support President Bush's proposal - but I still believe America deserves, and will get, a return on our investment in Iraq.  Stable energy supplies, a new market for American agriculture, and one less safe harbor for terrorism are all reasons why our commitment to Iraq will result in a more secure future.  Foreign relations and trade will be essential to continuing peace in the region, and therefore in the world.

These concerns are secondary, however, to completing the humanitarian mission in Iraq now.  There must not be a Desert Storm III.

This is an expensive project, but a worthwhile one.  Iraqi lives are in the balance, and a great majority of Iraqis support the U.S. presence.  Because America is the last remaining superpower, we are the  worldƒ­s policeman, and now we must help the people of Iraq rebuild their country.

Congress is considering a supplemental spending measure to continue American efforts in the reconstruction of Iraq.  It is broken into two segments.  The larger $64.7 billion part of the package is for the U.S. troops still stationed in Iraq.  For me, there is nothing to debate on this national security measure.  Our troops need our full support, to keep them safe and bring them home soon.  These funds support their mission for the next year - verything from food to fatigues to, hopefully, a trip home to see their loved ones.

The remaining $18.6 billion part of the package would go for rebuilding a new Iraq with the capacity to care for its own people, an Iraq insulated from the threat of would-be dictators.

Ultimately, at least some of our aid to oil-rich Iraq should be in the form of a loan to be returned to the American taxpayer.   We must be able to trust the good faith of the government we will create.   Other nations must contribute as well to the effort we will lead.

After the war, we have identified deficiencies in Iraq's institutions and infrastructure ƒ² not caused by the war against Saddam Hussein, but by the Hussein regime over the course of three decades of despotic rule.  We did not cause the poor government systems, economic instability, and insufficient public health resources, but America will certainly bear the blame if we do not repair them.

As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I have worked to ensure only essential spending is included in the bill.  As a result, hundreds of millions of dollars for new zip codes, garbage trucks, and prisons, among other things, have been stripped out. 
The programs which remain are those essential to creating a self-governing Iraq.  What is most important is securing basic human rights for all the Iraqi people: clean air and water, electricity and transportation infrastructure, health care, reliable police and fire services, freedom from political imprisonment, an end to torture and genocide, and a voice in their own government.

Our long-term goal is a nation that won't need our help, because it will be able to help itself.  This goal requires many primary arrangements on our part to make certain the time and effort we have expended, and the American lives we have lost, are not in vain.

The transition from America's custody to the custody of the international community demands that we do much of the heavy lifting ourselves.  The United Nations is notorious for bureaucratizing the futures of nations emerging from dictatorships.  Its operations in Serbia, Kosovo, and Rwanda failed precisely because institution-building involvement was absent.  Stability in Iraq is the key to stability in the Middle East, and we should not repeat the mistake of giving the United Nations too much sway too soon.

On the road to Baghdad, the Arab world refused to end Saddam Hussein's rule of terror and the United Nations would not intervene.  It was a reluctant America that stopped to aid the Iraqi people militarily.  And now, we are preparing to make arrangements to help the Iraqi people rebuild their lives.