[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 148 (Tuesday, October 21, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2118]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT FOR DEFENSE AND FOR THE 
              RECONSTRUCTION OF IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN, 2004



                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 17, 2003

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3289) making 
     emergency supplemental appropriations for defense and for the 
     reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan for the fiscal year 
     ending September 30, 2004, and for other purposes:

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise to address this proposed $87 
billion appropriation for the reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan.
  I have been gravely concerned over the problems surrounding the 
reconstruction, over the poor planning for the postwar period and our 
inability to work productively with the international community to 
rebuild Iraq. The supplemental appropriation before us raises many 
difficult questions.
  With great reluctance, I will support this funding. I believe it will 
both support our soldiers and help increase their safety. Sixty-five 
billion dollars will directly aid our troops; I feel that the 
additional $18.6 billion in reconstruction aid will make them safer and 
get them home sooner.
  While I am going to support this funding request it should not be 
interpreted that I am supporting all of the policies and actions to 
date in the war effort.
  We need to do more.
  We need to get more countries involved to help with the security.
  We need to make the reconstruction effort more cost-effective. We 
need to follow the model set by Major General David Petraeus, whom I 
met with in Iraq. Advised by American engineers that rebuilding a 
cement factory to American standards would cost $15 million, General 
Petraeus took the initiative to identify Iraqi contractors, who were 
able to bring the factory back on line for a mere $80,000.
  That example and others like it inspired me to introduce an amendment 
to increase competitive bidding in Iraq and to encourage the use of 
Iraqi contractors and subcontractors. I regret that this amendment was 
not accepted and urge the administration to embrace a more open bidding 
process in the reconstruction of Iraq and to avoid the use of sole-
source contracts.
  We need to be doing more to bring human rights to Iraq and 
Afghanistan. One measure of the success of our efforts will be the 
degree to which women are integrated into the political, economic, and 
educational life of these nations. I will offer amendments to ensure 
that women are fully included in the process of drafting Iraq's new 
constitution and to devote $65 million from a previous authorization to 
programs for Afghan women, amendments which I hope this body will 
support.

  Hundreds of my neighbors and constituents lost their lives at the 
hands of terrorists, some of whom were trained in Afghanistan. Twenty-
five firehouses in my district lost men trying to save others whose 
lives were imperiled by those terrorists. I remember all too vividly 
the awful consequences of our failure in Afghanistan.
  History teaches us that, when America turned its industrial and 
economic might toward the cause of helping others around the world who 
sought to rebuild after bitter conflicts--for the reconstruction of a 
Europe ravaged by World War I; for the creation of democracies in 
Germany, Japan and Italy after the devastation of World War II; and for 
the political and economic rebirth of Central Europe after the Cold 
War--we truly succeeded in making our mark as the greatest nation on 
earth.
  Before us stands that opportunity once again. But we need to do a 
better job of winning the peace then we have been doing. We must work 
more productively with the international community to secure Iraq's 
transition to a stable democracy.
  I will support this budget request but with the understanding that we 
need to do better.
  Let us remember the past. Let us not repeat its failures.
  We do not have a choice to leave or to fail in Iraq. We must succeed.

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