[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 41 (Tuesday, April 4, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E499-E500]
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 HURRICANE RECOVERY, 2006

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 16, 2006

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4939) making 
     emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year 
     ending September 30, 2006, and for other purposes:


[[Page E500]]


  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the FY06 
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill because it is long overdue 
that we end the failed policy in Iraq.
  I voted against giving the President the authority to go to war 
against Iraq in October 2002, and I have opposed supplemental funding 
that would extend the conflict ever since. I ask my colleagues to 
recall the comments of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who said in 
January 2003 that the war would cost ``something under $50 billion.'' 
Unfortunately, since that time we have appropriated more than $250 
billion in supplemental funding alone. And a new study by Columbia 
University economist Joseph E. Stiglitz, who won the Nobel Prize in 
economics in 2001, and Harvard lecturer Linda Bilmes concludes that the 
total costs of the Iraq war could top the $2 trillion mark.
  Secretary Rumsfeld also told us in February 2003 that ``it is 
unknowable how long that [Iraq] conflict will last. It could last six 
days, six weeks. I doubt six months.'' On May 1st, 2003, President Bush 
stood on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln and declared Mission 
Accomplished. And on May 30th, 2005, Vice President Cheney declared 
that ``I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the 
insurgency.'' However, this week we are celebrating the 3 year 
anniversary of the war, 2176 brave men and women in uniform have died 
in Iraq since the President declared Mission Accomplished, and it has 
become clear that the Iraqi civil war that many of us feared would 
occur has begun.
  Although there is an attempt by the Bush administration to convince 
the American people that our military is helping to quell the sectarian 
violence, recent events have proven the administration wrong. Our 
occupation of Iraq has isolated us from a large segment of the 
international community, and has prevented us from capturing or killing 
Osama Bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda leaders. The war has also distracted 
us from two of the most critical issues in the region--the development 
of nuclear weapons in Iran and the Israeli/Palestinian peace process. 
In addition, the war has diverted attention and resources from critical 
homeland security needs. A continued United States presence in Iraq 
will do nothing but exacerbate these problems.
  It is for our brave troops, and for the security of the international 
community that I cannot vote to continue the war in Iraq. Like 
everyone, I want to avoid a radical and unstable Iraq in the future. 
However, I believe that the ongoing presence of the U.S. military in 
Iraq is putting those brave troops at risk and creating a situation 
where the majority of Iraqis support U.S. withdrawal.
  I know that the Republican supplemental appropriations request will 
pass the House of Representatives. Our troops will not be stranded in 
the field. None of us would allow that to occur. And I know that this 
supplemental will also contain money for important issues such as 
Katrina relief, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), 
and assistance to Darfur and Liberia, which I strongly support funding. 
However, Iraq war funding makes up approximately 80 percent of this 
supplemental. The Republican majority has employed a cynical tactic to 
attach worthy causes onto an Iraq war funding bill in an attempt to 
force members of Congress who oppose the war into voting for it. Also, 
crafting an ``emergency'' supplemental for a war that is three years 
old is simply another example of the majority's poor leadership in this 
Congress.
  I would like to encourage all my colleagues to join me in 
cosponsoring two bills, which if passed together, add up to a sensible 
policy that would provide our troops with the resources they need to 
complete a safe and honorable redeployment from their current combat 
areas.
  The first is H.J. Res. 73, known as the Murtha Resolution, which 
calls for the immediate redeployment of U.S. forces in Iraq, the 
creation of a quick-reaction and over-the-horizon presence of U.S. 
Marines in the region, and the pursuit of stability in Iraq through 
diplomacy. This resolution would allow the U.S. footprint to be 
minimized on the ground in Iraq, while still providing a military 
presence that can assist Iraqis in securing their nation. I support 
this resolution precisely because I want to help our troops who are in 
harm's way.
  The second bill, H.R. 4232, the End the War in Iraq Act introduced by 
Representative James McGovern, would prohibit funds from being 
appropriated to deploy, or continue to deploy, U.S. Armed Forces to 
Iraq. Exceptions to this rule would be made if the funds are being used 
to provide for the safe and orderly redeployment of U.S. Armed Forces 
from Iraq, to ensure the security of Iraq and its transition to 
democratic rule by carrying out consultations with the Government of 
Iraq, other foreign governments and international organizations, or by 
providing financial assistance or equipment to Iraqi security forces 
and international forces in Iraq. In addition H.R. 4232 would permit 
the use of funds to carry out social and economic reconstruction 
activities. Simply because we must reposition our armed forces, does 
not mean we can abandon our obligation to the Iraqi people to help them 
create a positive future for themselves and future generations.
  I am pleased that my colleagues accepted the Lee/Schakowsky/Allen/
Hinchey Amendment which would prohibit permanent military bases from 
being constructed in Iraq. I will work to make sure this amendment is 
accepted by the Senate. However, I cannot vote today to continue this 
misguided war in Iraq. My no vote is an expression for my desire to 
support our troops and to begin to restore the credibility of America 
in the eyes of the international community.

                          ____________________