FOR THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
June 13, 2006

MR. STARK. Mr. Speaker, when is enough, enough? I rise in opposition to H.R. 4939 because there is no limit to the amount of money Republicans are willing to spend on this counterproductive War in Iraq.

When the Bush Administration beat the drums of war, it promised the American people that the total cost would be $50 billion. More than three years later, the price tag for the Iraqi civil war stands at more than $320 billion. Before the invasion, neoconservatives told us Iraq was an oil-rich country that could finance its own reconstruction. Yet this latest supplemental includes billions more for the “stabilization” of Iraq that could have instead gone to rebuild New Orleans.

The Vietnam War required only a single supplemental, after which it was financed through the regular budget process. But virtually all of this money for the War in Iraq has been provided in so-called “emergency” supplementals that do not require budgetary tradeoffs such as spending cuts or tax increases. As a result, every dollar spent in Iraq is a dollar of debt for our children and grandchildren.

For their money, future generations are getting a terrible return. Thanks to our seemingly open-ended occupation of Iraq, anti-American forces are growing stronger, not weaker. Despite parliamentary elections and limitless American aid for democracy building, Iraq is in the midst of a civil war. Though even the rubber stamp Republicans in Congress have shown a real interest in transferring authority to Iraqi security forces, their training proceeds at a snail's pace.

This emergency supplemental bill does provide badly needed funds for Katrina reconstruction. Particularly worthwhile is this legislation's support for levee improvements, the rebuilding of the Veterans Administration hospital in New Orleans, alternative housing for hurricane survivors, and community development block grants.

But the numbers speak for themselves. The bill provides more than three times more funding for defense-related expenditures than it does for Katrina-related aid. Because I cannot support additional spending for a war that has already claimed nearly 2500 American servicemen and women and countless Iraqi citizens, I urge my colleagues to vote no.