[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 65 (Tuesday, May 17, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H3406]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        SMART SECURITY AND HOMELAND SECURITY VS IRAQ'S SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, minutes ago the House approved the fiscal 
year 2006 Homeland Security appropriation bill to the tune of, 
underwhelmingly, $37 billion. In a vacuum, $37 billion sounds like a 
lot of money, and it is, but when you consider that Congress has 
appropriated over $100 billion on the security of Iraq this year alone, 
and more than $200 billion overall, $37 billion sounds much less 
significant. In fact, the $37 billion spending bill that was approved 
today represents less than 5 percent of the U.S. annual discretionary 
budget. Yet the Iraq war this year, this year alone, represents well 
over 10 percent of our annual discretionary budget.
  Clearly, something is wrong with this picture. Spending on homeland 
security, while inadequate in its amount, focuses on the right things 
to protect America: First responders, border and port security, and 
cargo inspections. On the other hand, funding for the war in Iraq 
continues to focus on poorly planned military operations and 
irresponsible no-bid contracts to war profiteers like Halliburton and 
its subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root.
  At the same time, the Iraq supplemental spending bill of over $200 
billion has neglected to provide adequate funds for body armor for the 
troops. This is a particularly egregious mistake in light of the 2004 
study indicating as many as a quarter of all troop deaths could have 
been prevented if the most advanced body armor had been provided to 
every single soldier in Iraq.
  It is important to note the irony in our funding priorities. The 
Homeland Security budget, which is vitally important towards ensuring 
the safety of the American people, is drastically underfunded. On the 
other hand, the Iraq war, which was a war of choice, not a war of 
necessity, is so overfunded that last year $9 billion in reconstruction 
funds went missing. Nine billion dollars. That is more than a quarter 
of this year's homeland security budget.
  And let us not forget another more recent report by the Special 
Inspector General for Iraq's reconstruction. This report states that 
another $100 million for reconstruction projects in southern Iraq is 
also missing and cannot be accounted for.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to focus our spending on programs and policies 
that will help ensure the safety of the American people. The war in 
Iraq will not make Americans safer, because this conflict is causing 
the United States to be perceived by the Muslim world as a colonial 
occupier, not as a liberating force. This perception, combined with our 
continued military presence in Iraq, has assisted radical Muslim 
terrorist groups like al Qaeda in their recruiting efforts. The result 
is that 3\1/2\ years after September 11 Americans are less safe.
  Fortunately, there is a way to achieve sensible spending while also 
keeping America secure. Over the last 2 years, I have developed the 
SMART Security Strategy for the 21st Century. SMART is a sensible 
multilateral American response to terrorism. SMART Security urges a 
shifting of America's budget priorities to more effectively meet our 
national security needs. That means spending more money on port 
security, cargo inspections and airline security, and less money on 
warfare, outdated weapon systems, and new nuclear weapons.

                              {time}  1815

  Instead of funding continued military operations in Iraq, the SMART 
platform would encourage other nations to work with the United States 
and spend more money on peacekeeping, on reconstruction and 
developmental aid to ensure long-term peace and stability in the Middle 
East.
  In fact, it has been proven when debt relief increases, terrorism and 
the conditions that give rise to terrorism tend to decrease. That is 
why the SMART platform encourages wealthy nations to provide debt 
relief and developmental aid for the world's poorest countries. After 
more than 2 years of fighting, it is clear that the war in Iraq cannot 
be won through military means. We need to be smarter. We need to be 
smarter than the terrorists, not just bigger and stronger.
  The fight to secure our country must be fought on more than the 
battlefield. We must be smart in the way we prioritize our national 
spending by focusing on true security needs instead of superficial 
security needs. Homeland security is a true security need. Let us 
remember the next time President Bush asks for money for Iraq, which I 
understand will be sometime this summer, we need to know which is 
secure and which is not.

                          ____________________