[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 75 (Tuesday, June 13, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1136]
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

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                               speech of

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 12, 2006

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, when is enough, enough? I rise in opposition 
to H.R. 4939 because there is no limit to the amount of money 
Republicans are willing to spend on this counterproductive war in Iraq.
  When the Bush administration beat the drums of war, it promised the 
American people that the total cost would be $50 billion. More than 3 
years later, the price tag for the Iraqi civil war stands at more than 
$320 billion. Before the invasion, neoconservatives told us Iraq was an 
oil-rich country that could finance its own reconstruction. Yet this 
latest supplemental includes billions more for the ``stabilization'' of 
Iraq that could have instead gone to rebuild New Orleans.
  The Vietnam war required only a single supplemental, after which it 
was financed through the regular budget process. But virtually all of 
this money for the war in Iraq has been provided in so-called 
``emergency'' supplementals that do not require budgetary tradeoffs 
such as spending cuts or tax increases. As a result, every dollar spent 
in Iraq is a dollar of debt for our children and grandchildren.
  For their money, future generations are getting a terrible return. 
Thanks to our seemingly open-ended occupation of Iraq, anti-American 
forces are growing stronger, not weaker. Despite parliamentary 
elections and limitless American aid for democracy building, Iraq is in 
the midst of a civil war. Though even the rubber stamp Republicans in 
Congress have shown a real interest in transferring authority to Iraqi 
security forces, their training proceeds at a snail's pace.
  This emergency supplemental bill does provide badly needed funds for 
Katrina reconstruction. Particularly worthwhile is this legislation's 
support for levee improvements, the rebuilding of the Veterans 
Administration hospital in New Orleans, alternative housing for 
hurricane survivors, and community development block grants.
  But the numbers speak for themselves. The bill provides more than 
three times more funding for defense-related expenditures than it does 
for Katrina-related aid. Because I cannot support additional spending 
for a war that has already claimed nearly 2,500 American servicemen and 
women and countless Iraqi citizens, I urge my colleagues to vote 
``no.''

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