[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 75 (Tuesday, June 13, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    WAIVING POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4939, 
 EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT FOR DEFENSE, THE GLOBAL WAR 
                ON TERROR, AND HURRICANE RECOVERY, 2006

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 12, 2006

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, it is a disservice to the American 
people that the toughest challenges to our Nation at home and abroad 
are not addressed in a straightforward manner.
  More than 1,000 days after the war in Iraq began, we continue to fund 
it on an emergency basis deceiving the American taxpayer of the true 
cost of this war through a budgetary maneuver that simply pushes the 
enormous cost onto the next generation. It is no longer appropriate for 
Congress to approve this funding as an emergency. We must account for 
this through the normal budget process to ensure that taxpayer money is 
spent responsibly and with accountability.
  As for our response to protecting Americans at home from disasters, 
75 percent of the American public is at risk from one or more natural 
disasters, such as floods, fires, or earthquakes--yet the Federal 
Government continues to pour money into disaster-prone areas without 
any forward thinking plans. Instead of funding upfront mitigation, 
planning, and preparedness for disaster-prone communities, we spend 
even more money in emergency supplemental for things that we should 
know by now to expect. Our bizarre budget rules make it cheaper to 
appropriate billions after the fact than to invest millions in proven 
prevention programs.
  This emergency supplemental demonstrates Congress's complacency in 
dealing with tough choices and avoids fiscal responsibility.

                          ____________________