[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 75 (Tuesday, June 13, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1139-E1140]
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. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 12, 2006

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to oppose the Emergency 
Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, 
and Hurricane Recovery Conference Report, H.R. 4939. This supplemental 
bill, totaling $94.5 billion, is the largest that the House of 
Representatives has ever considered. This is almost $3 billion more 
than the bill the House considered earlier this year.
  As I have said repeatedly on the House floor, I strongly oppose using 
so-called ``emergency supplementals'' to fund nonemergency, clearly 
foreseeable expenditures. This bill provides $72 billion for continued 
military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The fact that our troops 
are on the ground in these dangerous places is not a surprise. They 
have been in Iraq for almost 3 years. Their needs are well known to 
everyone, except, it seems, the President and his budget staff. Every 
year, the President fails to budget for the cost of military 
operations, and every year he pretends that the war is an unforeseen 
``emergency.''
  Funding our soldiers this way is dangerous because it leaves them 
ill-equipped and subject to last minute actions like this by Congress. 
If, by contrast, we funded military operations through the normal 
budget process, funding decisions would be made in the open and with 
the appropriate scrutiny they deserve. It would also allow for long-
term planning and more thoughtful budgeting. We have all read about the 
contracting waste and fraud that has occurred in Iraq. A number of no-
bid and open-ended contracts have wasted billions of taxpayers' 
dollars. This waste probably has made a few crooked businessmen wealthy 
and done nothing to protect our troops or help build a more stable 
democracy in Iraq.
  Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I refuse to continue to fund a 
failed policy. I opposed this war because I did not think the President 
had made a convincing case for the existence of weapons of mass 
destruction in Iraq and I opposed his illegal doctrine of preemption. 
Since then I have only been heartbroken by the utter incompetence of 
the planning and execution. Our service members are doing outstanding 
work, and I salute their sacrifice. But the policymakers in Washington 
have let them down and put them in an impossible situation. As I said 
in a letter to Secretary Rice last September, it is time to begin 
bringing our soldiers home. Spending good money after bad on a failed 
policy puts our troops and our national security in even greater risk.
  Let me talk for a moment about the other good portions of this bill 
which were attached by the majority in a cynical attempt to buy votes 
for the overall bill.
  There is true emergency funding in this bill. But it is money for 
Sudan and the gulf coast, and the preparation for the avian flu, not 
Iraq. This bill contains $1.9 billion to meet the pressing border 
security needs that exist because the President has not made funding 
for border security a priority. Unfortunately, the bill contains $708 
million to pay for the deployment of National Guard troops to the 
border. This is a bad idea that will further burden National Guard 
units across America at a time when they are stretched historically 
thin.
  This bill also contains $19.8 billion to help ensure that we meet our 
commitments to rebuild and restore the gulf coast. As we begin another 
hurricane season, my prayers are for the safety of all Americans who 
live near the coast. Yet prayers alone will not prevent flooding and 
help towns recover from hurricane related destruction. A strong federal 
commitment is needed to ensure that we remain at the highest state of 
readiness possible and that we can respond to all hurricane related 
natural disasters.
  Finally, this bill includes desperately needed funds for the Sudan. I 
am glad that this bill will provide $350 million in emergency 
humanitarian food assistance. There is additional funding for 
international disaster assistance and famine assistance, and $126 
million to sustain the African Union Mission in Sudan peacekeeping 
forces.
  I am sorry that these true emergency funds were attached to the 
foreseeable spending for the ongoing operations in Iraq. I have voted 
in the past for rebuilding the gulf coast and ending the genocide in 
Darfur, and I will continue to do so. But I will not fund a failed 
policy in

[[Page E1140]]

Iraq that is jeopardizing our soldiers needlessly, stoking the 
insurgency, draining our national resources, and doing nothing to 
protect Americans from terrorism at home.

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