[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 79 (Wednesday, June 15, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H4556]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                SMART SECURITY AND THE BRIDGE TO NOWHERE

  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, the Defense appropriations bill that will 
be on the House floor tomorrow contains $45 billion in emergency bridge 
funding to pay for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  This money is called bridge funding because it will bridge the 
funding gap between the most recent $79 billion supplemental spending 
bill for Iraq, which Congress passed in February, and the next one, 
sometime this fall.
  This bridge fund is like a bridge to nowhere. The latest $45 billion 
for the war in Iraq is just the Bush administration's latest grab into 
the big congressional money bag, the Defense appropriations bill, 
because it is virtually hidden in a huge $400 billion Defense 
appropriations bill. This is outrageous.
  An additional $45 billion for the war in Iraq is a staggering amount. 
This bridge fund comes on top of the emergency supplemental bill that 
was approved a mere 4-months ago, allocating another $79 billion for 
the war, bringing the costs of the war to over $200 billion before this 
new $45 billion expenditure.
  The bridge fund represents the fifth time Congress will fund the war 
in Iraq without hearings, without oversight and without accountability.
  $45 billion is not insignificant. It is several billion dollars more 
than the President requested for homeland security funding for fiscal 
year 2006. In fact, it is more than the President has requested for 
homeland security in any year since the Department of Homeland Security 
was established in the year 2001.
  It would be one thing if the President actually had a plan to bring 
our troops home, but after more than 2 years and over 1,700 American 
troops being killed, he still has not come to the table with a plan. 
Mr. Speaker, since the President will not come up with a plan for Iraq, 
we will have to. It will have to come from the Congress.
  This unpopular war is a lose-lose. It is America's very presence in 
Iraq that unites the strong insurgency, a whole new generation of 
terrorists, whose common bond is their hatred for the United States and 
its aggressive militarism.
  Once we have a plan in place to end the war, we can begin the long 
process of helping Iraq rebuild its failing physical and economic 
infrastructure, and we can accomplish this while we are at the same 
time preventing future wars through SMART security.
  SMART security, which has the support of 50 Members of Congress is a 
Sensible, Multilateral, American Response to Terrorism for the 21st 
Century, and it will help us address the threats we face as a Nation.
  SMART security will ensure America's security by reaching out and 
engaging the Iraqi people. Instead of rushing off to war for the wrong 
reasons, SMART security encourages the United States to work with other 
Nations to address the most pressing global issues.
  Not every international problem has militaries, and that is why SMART 
security will prevent terrorism, by addressing the very conditions 
which give rise to terrorism: poverty, despair, resource scarcity and 
lack of education.
  This is the best way to encourage democracy in countries like Iraq, 
not through wars, not through the barrel of a gun, not through ways 
that cause thousands of unnecessary deaths and costs billions and 
billions of dollars.
  The Bush administration needs to get smart about Iraq, and take a 
long, hard look at the effects of our policies there. We can end the 
war, we can bring our troops home, and we can do it by creating a plan 
to bring them home.
  The U.S. soldiers who are serving in Iraq deserve nothing less. 
Bringing the troops home will help secure Iraq. It will save the lives 
of thousands of Americans, and it is time that we do not put any other 
excuses in front of us because we must start this process, and we must 
start it today.

                          ____________________