[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 15, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     WAR FUNDING ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Cardoza) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for the War 
Funding Accountability Act, a bill that has been endorsed by the Blue 
Dog Coalition, a group of moderate to conservative Democrats with 
reputations for being fiscal and defense hawks. The members of the Blue 
Dog Coalition are some of the most pro-defense, pro-military Members of 
Congress, from either party. We are dedicated to seeing our troops 
achieve success in Iraq and Afghanistan and we applaud the Iraqi people 
for their recent election success.
  The War Funding Accountability Act, sponsored by the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Thompson), is about those troops, the dedicated men and 
women of the United States Armed Forces who put their lives on the line 
every single day to defend our way of life.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe, as people across our Nation believe, that we 
must provide our men and women in uniform the resources they need to 
complete their mission as safely and securely as possible. Our military 
has performed brilliantly, protecting civilians, maintaining order and 
promoting democracy while facing threats and guerilla-style attacks 
every single day. My support for our troops is unwavering, and for that 
reason I have supported the supplemental requests that have come before 
this Congress. However, the job of Congress is to make sure that the 
money we are spending in Iraq is going to the appropriate places, going 
to our troops to keep our Nation's sons and daughters out of harm's 
way. We must make sure this job gets done right and gets done as soon 
as humanly possible.
  So until all of our troops are withdrawn from Iraq, we need an 
accurate accounting method of where the money is being spent so that we 
can make sure our soldiers are adequately equipped and prepared. 
Accountability is not only patriotic, it is often determining of 
success or failure. If our troops do not have proper equipment, such as 
vehicles without armor plating, rather than them scrounging for scrap 
metal for do-it-yourself armor plating, we as Members of Congress can 
and should do something about it by redirecting the money.
  The Department of Defense has received $201 billion to date for the 
war on terrorism. While they have provided an allocation of some of 
these funds, they have not given Congress a full accounting. The White 
House has announced today that it will request $81 billion more for 
these operations in its fiscal year 2005 wartime supplemental, 
including $75 billion for the DOD. In addition, the Congressional 
Budget Office has estimated that the costs for the war could approach 
$500 billion between this year and the year 2015.
  There have been reports of wasteful spending. One private contractor, 
for example, overcharged DOD by $61 million to import gasoline into 
Iraq from Kuwait where the government agency provided the same service 
for less than one-third the price.

                              {time}  2000

  The same contractor reportedly charged taxpayers $10,000 a day for 
unauthorized and unnecessary expenses at the Kuwait Hilton, even though 
the same people could have stayed in air-conditioned tents like those 
used by our troops for less than $600 per day. The entire justification 
for having private companies is that contractors can supposedly save 
the taxpayers money, not cost the taxpayers dollars.
  With the War Accountability Act we have an opportunity to regain the 
oversight voice that has been lost for too long.
  Congress should not give up its oversight powers, Mr. Speaker, the 
power of the purse. And it should not write the Defense Department a 
blank check. The President needs to be held accountable for where our 
money is going. This is a responsibility that we have to the men and 
women serving in combat, to their parents, and to all American 
taxpayers who are footing the bill to ensure that the billions of 
dollars in supplemental funds are going to be spent in the most 
effective and efficient way possible.
  I hope all of my colleagues will stand with the Blue Dog Coalition 
and start to support the War Funding Accountability Act, an act for 
America.

                          ____________________