[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 42 (Tuesday, April 12, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E619-E620]
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 TSUNAMI RELIEF, 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    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

[[Page E620]]

     consideration the bill (H.R. 1268) making emergency 
     supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2005, and for other purposes.

  Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Chairman, all Americans stand united 
in support of our troops. However, President Bush has no strategy for 
success in Iraq. Therefore, I rise in opposition to the Emergency 
Wartime Supplemental Appropriation (H.R. 1268) and my vote today is a 
vote of no confidence in this Administration's ad hoc Iraq policy.
  Tragically, more than 1,500 American troops have been killed in Iraq 
and there is no end in sight to this war. The President's ``coalition 
of the willing'' is dissolving as Italy and the Netherlands become the 
most recent countries deciding to withdraw their troops from Iraq. The 
U.S. continues to bear the enormous burden of this conflict militarily 
and financially. With this $75 billion, as well as the $25 billion 
approved earlier this year, we have now spent $250 billion in Iraq.
  Most outrageous is the fact that not $1 of the more than $200 billion 
spent on this war has been paid for. Congress has now borrowed over 
$250 billion from foreign countries like Saudi Arabia, China and Japan. 
Every dollar plus interest will be paid for by the men and women who 
are fighting as well as their children.
  There are some real emergencies funded in this bill. I support U.S. 
assistance for tsunami relief and recovery as well as for peacekeeping 
operations, emergency funds and food aid to the Darfur region of Sudan. 
The generous assistance of the American people in these two serious 
crises is saving lives and having a tremendous impact.
  This administration's failures of leadership in Iraq demands 
extensive Congressional oversight and accountability, not another blank 
check. The current policy is unsustainable. If Americans are to 
continue to bear the burden of securing and rebuilding Iraq, rather 
than approving a blank check, we deserve a plan for success and an exit 
strategy for America's troops.

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