[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 146 (Friday, October 17, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H9681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               DISAGREEING WITH THE PASSAGE OF H.R. 3289

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I think we need to put in 
perspective what just happened and unfolded on the floor of the House. 
And I think it is important to share this with the Congressional Record 
because that is what we are sharing with this afternoon, the journey 
that we just took and the importance and the monumental statement that 
we made today.
  Just for a slight bit of history and fairness to the debate, might I 
just say that I opposed the War Resolution of 2002 on the basis of 
facts. The first question was whether or not the administration made 
its case on the existence of weapons of mass destruction and whether or 
not the United States was under imminent attack.
  Though I am trained to be polite, and I do not want to say I told you 
so, clearly this war was not about weapons of mass destruction which 
have not yet been found, and clearly the United States with the 
condition of Saddam Hussein and the poorness of his country were not 
about to be imminently attacked. But the war did occur.
  And so I disagree with the majority leader, it is not war. The war 
against terrorism is our war. And that war had the embrace of the world 
leaders and nations after 9/11. And we blew up that coalition by going 
singly, unilaterally without a Constitutional vote in a war against 
Iraq. We broke the coalition. We broke the friendships and the 
alliances around the war against terrorism. The war against terrorism 
is our mutual vote. But there is no suggestion that Iran or Iraq or 
Korea is anymore engaged in the war against terrorism that would have 
warranted a preemptive attack against Iraq. But yet our young men and 
women went forward to the front lines, our neighbors or friends, our 
sons and daughters, and we rallied around them.
  I take issue with the majority leader who would question any Member's 
patriotism because we refused to go down the rosy path of destruction 
and foolishness of this administration. How dare you suggest who is 
unpatriotic and who is not? Yes, I support the troops, and you cannot 
dare tell me I do not. What have you done?
  This past weekend I spent many, many hours with troops in the Middle 
East, young men and women who did not care whether or not their names 
were cited. They wanted us to know that there is no exit strategy, that 
they have been there for 7 and 8 and 9 months and no one will tell them 
when they can go home, that there are no jobs for them to do there in 
terms of their particular responsibilities, that the part of their work 
is over, and yet they still cannot go home, that carpenters and 
painters and electricians are being used as police officers to knock 
open doors. Why not the Iraqi police?
  When they ask about their pay, Reservists and National Guard, they 
cannot even get paid proficiently and efficiently. But yet, Madam 
Speaker, today the majority of this Congress voted $3.2 billion for 
security and law enforcement in Iraq, $1.3 billion for justice public 
safety and civil society infrastructure, $5.65 billion for electrical 
generation, and $2.1 billion for oil infrastructure, and $4.3 billion 
for water resources.

                              {time}  1515

  Of course we should help rebuild Iraq; I am not an isolationist. As 
we should Liberia and Haiti. But it is interesting how you can find 
little help and little resources for them.
  This U.N. Security Council resolution that we are bragging about, it 
is a paper tiger. There is no commitment of troops. There is no fresh 
infusion of troops. The RAND Corporation said that if we were going to 
have the number of troops that we needed, we needed 350,000 troops on 
the ground. We have barely 130,000. We do not have fresh troops to be 
able to put in so our other troops can go home. And then on top of that 
we have a situation where we are not paying our troops.
  So my amendments regarding making sure they get paid, not allowed. My 
amendments saying there should be an exit strategy, not allowed. My 
amendment to prohibit funds to be used until there is an exit strategy, 
not allowed. My amendment that would restore back to Condoleezza Rice 
the right to coordinate the funds to oversee the President's plan, 
stricken or not allowed. They have language in there that says she 
cannot control the monies, and she has been put over the plan that 
should be rebuilding Iraq.
  My amendment to separate the vote, meaning vote from the troops 
separately from the rebuild so that we can collaborate in the Madrid 
conference, not allowed. None of the serious amendments allowed on the 
basis of supporting our troops was in order. We were stopped in our 
tracks.
  I am glad to say that most of the American people have enough sense 
to know that this is a foolish, misdirected, and unfortunate policy of 
the United States. I hope we will come together on behalf of the 
troops. And how dare you suggest that any of our patriotism should be 
questioned.

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