[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 90 (Wednesday, July 12, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H5050]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            LESSONS LEARNED

  (Mr. EMANUEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the President said we would 
continue to be wise about how we spend the people's money. Now, this is 
true. We actually have a Director of Lessons Learned at the White 
House, who is paid over $100,000.
  Maybe I can save the taxpayers $100,000 by running through a few 
lessons this White House should have learned:
  Lesson 1. When the Army Chief of Staff and the Secretary of State say 
you are going to war without enough troops, you are going to war 
without enough troops.
  Lesson 2 learned. When $8 billion is missing from Iraq's 
reconstruction and $2 billion disappears from Katrina relief, you need 
a little accountability.
  Lesson 3 learned. When you have turned the corner in Iraq more times 
than Danica Patrick at the Indy 500, it means you are going in circles.
  Lesson 4 learned. When the National Weather Service tells you a 
category 5 hurricane is heading for New Orleans, a category 5 hurricane 
is heading for New Orleans.
  I would also ask the President why we are paying for two Ethics 
Advisors and a Director of Fact Checking. They must be the only people 
in Washington who get more vacation time than the President. Maybe the 
White House can consolidate these positions into a Director of Irony.
  It is time for a new direction.

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