[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 33 (Thursday, March 17, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT FOR DEFENSE, THE GLOBAL WAR 
                  ON TERROR, AND TSUMANI RELIEF, 2005

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                               speech of

                           HON. DIANA DeGETTE

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 16, 2005

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration of the bill (H.R. 1268) 
     making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2005, and for other purposes.

  Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Chairman, despite many reservations, I am supporting 
the bill before us today because I believe it is essential that this 
body unequivocally supports our troops in the field and their families 
here at home. By providing $2 billion more than the President's request 
for equipment and munitions, this bill will help to ensure that 
soldiers in the field finally have the body armor, night vision 
equipment, and vehicle armor they should have had since military 
operations began in Iraq. Additionally, by significantly increasing the 
Military Death Gratuity and the Subsidized Life Insurance benefit, this 
bill will help to guarantee that the families of deceased soldiers will 
have adequate financial resources in their time of need.
  While it is critical that this bill provides soldiers and their 
families with the protection and benefits they so rightfully deserve, I 
remain deeply concerned that it continues to leave the Administration 
and the Department of Defense unaccountable for the expenditures in 
Iraq. I am distressed by the alleged reports of waste, corruption and 
mismanagement of previous funds earmarked for the military operations 
and reconstruction in Iraq. Further, I am troubled to learn that, 
according to several studies, only a portion of every dollar spent on 
rebuilding Iraq has gone to improving the lives of Iraqis. 
Unfortunately, the efforts made by me and other members of Congress to 
insert accountability and transparency into the funding process, 
including the most recent bipartisan effort to establish a commission 
to investigate the costs of the reconstruction in Iraq, have been 
repeatedly rejected by the Majority in Congress.
  I am similarly disappointed that this Administration insists on 
funding the war in Iraq using the emergency appropriations process--a 
process that should be reserved for true emergencies, like tsunami 
relief. While the Bush Administration claims that it excludes these 
costs from the annual budget process because it cannot anticipate 
future war costs, the true reason for this exclusion is to make the 
already massive deficit look slightly, albeit artificially, lower. This 
Administration is therefore abusing the emergency appropriations 
process in order to help obscure and hide the extent of its fiscal 
recklessness from the American people. This is the same sort of fuzzy 
accounting that was employed by the likes of Enron and WorldCom, and 
yet, while those corporations were ultimately held accountable, this 
Administration continues not to be.
  While I have significant ideological problems with this bill, I 
cannot in good faith turn my back on the courageous men and women who 
have so valiantly served to preserve the peace in Iraq. They deserve to 
enter the battlefield with adequate armor and equipment and are 
similarly entitled to an increase in benefits for them and for their 
families. However, I vote in favor of this bill with the sincere hope 
that this is the last time the Administration abuses the emergency 
appropriations process and comes to this body with such a request.

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