[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 106 (Thursday, September 9, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8983-S8985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             FLIP-FLOPPING

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Madam President, this morning I rise to talk about 
something that we heard quite a bit about these days. The subject is 
flip-flopping.
  Flip-flopping is kind of an easy thing to identify. During a recent 
convention, we heard an irate Senator make an angry speech declaring 
that it is not what you say but, rather, what you do

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that counts. You flip-flop when you make promises and fail to fulfill 
them.
  In my 20 years in Washington, there has not been more flip-flopping 
in a President's office than we have seen in that of President George 
W. Bush. He calls others flip-floppers, but President Bush needs to 
look in the mirror, because on issue after issue he has given a new 
meaning to flip-flop. The President essentially says: Forget what I 
said the first time, I may change that very soon.
  Let's start with one of the earliest and cruelest flip-flops: 
education. It is cruel because the victims of the President's broken 
promises are our Nation's children.
  The flip was a bold promise of an education bill called No Child Left 
Behind, with the expectation that the program would produce more money 
for kids who deserve a quality education.
  In July 2001, I quote President Bush when he said he was dedicated to 
``increasing funding for public schools.'' Then came a whopper of a 
flop when he refused to provide the funding promised in the No Child 
Left Behind Act. President Bush's 2005 budget underfunds education by 
$9.5 billion.
  The next flip was in March of 2001, when President Bush promised our 
Nation's seniors not to touch the Social Security surplus. In March 
2001, President Bush said:

       We're going to keep the promise of Social Security and keep 
     the Government from raiding the Social Security surplus.

  Flop: He broke that promise and proposed diverting billions in Social 
Security surpluses to other programs in the budget.
  Flip: He promised to create more jobs for our Nation, but he flopped 
and has done nothing to create jobs. We are now seeing the first 
President to have actually lost jobs during the course of his 
administration since the dark days of Herbert Hoover. His 
administration ran from 1929 to 1933.
  Flip: President Bush has repeatedly promised to pressure OPEC to 
lower gasoline prices. When he was running for President, Governor 
George W. Bush said:

       What I think the President ought to do is he ought to get 
     on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say we expect you to 
     open your spigots. . . . And the President of the United 
     States must jawbone OPEC members to lower the price.

  Flop: Over the course of this administration, the average cost of a 
gallon of gasoline has skyrocketed from $1.47 a gallon to $1.87 a 
gallon. President Bush's failure to keep prices down is costing 
families hundreds of extra dollars per year.

  Flip: President Bush pledged to push to renew the ban on deadly 
assault weapons. In April of 2003, White House spokesman Scott 
McClellan said:

       The President supports the current law, and he supports the 
     reauthorization of the current ban.

  So the flip was that President Bush pushed to pledge to renew the ban 
on the deadly assault weapons. In April 2003, we heard what Scott 
McClellan said.
  Flop: The ban on assault weapons is set to expire in a few days, and 
President George W. Bush has not lifted a finger to get Republican 
leaders to pass the bill in Congress. We know that one in five police 
officers killed in the line of duty are killed with an assault weapon.
  We see the promises here on this chart. On this side are the flips, 
and we see the flops on this side. It is not just domestic issues that 
the President has flip-flopped on. When it comes to foreign affairs, 
the defense of our Nation, our Nation's veterans, President Bush has 
flip-flopped more than he has stayed the course.
  One flip was the Department of Homeland Security. That was designed 
to protect us at home while we sent our troops abroad to protect us 
from terrorist activities overseas. President Bush strongly opposed 
creating the Department of Homeland Security in March of 2002. His 
spokesman said that a Homeland Security Department ``doesn't solve 
anything.''
  Flop: Three months later, the President said he wants a Homeland 
Security Department, saying it is critical to protecting the American 
people.
  Of course, those of us who follow this game know the President flip-
flopped on this issue and it is part of a political scenario.
  Flip: President George W. Bush opposed the creation of the 9/11 
Commission. That is right, he opposed it. In April of 2002, President 
Bush said he was against the creation of the 9/11 Commission.
  Flop: After increased political pressure, the President said he 
supported creating the 9/11 Commission in September of the same year.
  The President even flip-flopped on catching the man who murdered 
3,000 Americans, Osama bin Laden. In September of 2001, George Bush 
said he wanted Osama bin Laden ``dead or alive.'' He said, ``I want 
justice. There is an old poster out West, I recall, that says `wanted 
dead or alive,' '' when he was talking in September of 2001. But in 
March of 2002 he said, ``I don't know where he is. You know, I just 
don't spend that much time on him. . . . I truly am not that concerned 
about him.''
  I can tell you that the families of the 700 people from the State of 
New Jersey who lost their lives thought about Osama bin Laden, and they 
think about him every day and night--the children who have no father, 
the spouse who has no mate. That is an outrageous comment.
  Of course, then there was the major flip, known as ``mission 
accomplished.'' If I can interpret that, he said: Rest easy Americans, 
there will be no more deaths and casualties, no more injuries that will 
last a lifetime.
  The President announced that major combat operations in Iraq were 
over during a political appearance on an aircraft carrier.
  Reality flopped him there--a tragic reality. Since declaring 
``mission accomplished'' on May 1, 2003, we have lost 864 people in 
Iraq. Tell those families that the mission is accomplished. Tell them 
they have nothing to worry about. What they have is an empty home and 
an empty heart. Tell those families that the danger is over.
  On the war on terror, President Bush flip-flopped again. One day in 
the same week he said he doesn't think we can win the war on terror. I 
believe that was a Monday. A day or two later, he flopped and said: Oh, 
no, we can win the war on terror.
  What is it, Mr. President? Can we win or can we not win? Don't 
disrupt the morale of the people serving over there by discouraging 
comments such as we cannot win and then boldly say, heck, why did I say 
that?
  He flip-flops on veterans issues as well. Just this month, he told 
the American Legion:

       All our Nation's veterans have made serving America the 
     highest priority of their lives, and serving our veterans is 
     one of the highest priorities of my administration.

  But what has the President quietly done? His plan for 2006, which is 
out there already--the budget year--is to cut veterans health care by 
$910 million after the election. None of this came out publicly before. 
You have to search to find it. The evidence is in an OMB memo that 
reveals the President's budget plan for 2006. President Bush has also 
doubled copays for prescription drugs for many veterans.

  I served in a war a long time ago, and I say to my fellow veterans 
across the country: President Bush is talking the talk, but he doesn't 
walk the walk. Just as he failed to answer the call to combat during 
Vietnam, he is failing our veterans as President.
  Behind the scenes here in Washington, President Bush is undermining 
veterans health care, and one thing that particularly enraged me was 
when I tried to make flag-draped coffins available to be photographed 
by the news media for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice on the 
battlefields of Iraq, who deserve a last tribute from their country, a 
flag on their casket to tell their families they died honorably, 
President Bush would not allow it. He refuses to allow the public to 
see the flag-draped coffins arrive on our shores, such as in Dover, DE. 
That is where the bodies are brought back home.
  I will never forget President Reagan's funeral, the deliberate care 
the honor guard took when they folded the flag crease by crease, and 
finally the last person in the line put it into a triangle and walked 
stiffly over to Nancy Reagan and gave her the flag. She was beaming.
  I was at Arlington National Cemetery, where a young soldier was being 
buried. I joined his family. It was the same way: The honor guard 
folded the

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flag crease by crease, and finally gave the triangular-folded flag to 
the young man's mother. Although she was crying, she was beaming with 
pride that this last tribute was given to her son. But the White House 
is saying: No, we do not want the American people to see those flag-
draped coffins because it tells the truth about the cost of this war. 
The administration wants those images hidden because it is not good for 
reelection.
  President Bush uses a lot of broad language and imagery when he 
speaks. It makes him sound determined and decisive, but when you get 
behind that facade and look at the actions, you see flip-flop. Make no 
mistake about it, George W. Bush knows exactly what flip-flopping is. 
It takes one to know one.
  I close with the comment about an election that took place a few 
years ago in Georgia when a beloved comrade of ours--no legs, one arm 
left after his tour of duty in Vietnam--lost an election because he was 
declared to be soft on defense. The words almost were unpatriotic, and 
he lost an election because he was soft on defense--three limbs left 
behind in Vietnam, an American tragedy of the worst order.
  Now the same thing is happening with our colleague, Senator John 
Kerry, in trying to paint him as soft on defense, unwilling to support 
the soldiers, unwilling to buy the material that is needed to protect 
themselves. It is an insult not just to those veterans but to every 
American. Those are the actions of a chicken hawk. I had a drawing of a 
chicken hawk here. A chicken hawk is someone who makes wars for other 
people to serve.
  We know President Bush's record is very hard to come by. It is all 
obscured with was he there or wasn't he there. We know one thing, he 
wasn't there more than he was there.
  Vice President Cheney had five deferments and said, during that war 
when Americans across our country were being called on to fight to 
perhaps sacrifice limb or life, he had other priorities. It is a bad 
game, but I hope the American people will be aware of what is taking 
place.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.
  Mr. PRYOR. Madam President, how much time do I have remaining?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There are 9 minutes 20 seconds remaining.
  The Senator from Arkansas is recognized.
  Mr. PRYOR. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Mr. Pryor pertaining to the submission of S. Res. 420 
are located in today's Record under ``Submission of Concurrent and 
Senate Resolutions.'')

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