[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 12 (Monday, January 22, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H819-H826]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           BLUE DOG COALITION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 18, 2007, the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening on behalf of the 44-member 
fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. Each week we come 
to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to discuss with you 
and the people of this Congress, Mr. Speaker, about the need to restore 
fiscal discipline and common sense to our national government.
  We speak of the need for accountability. Why? Because today the U.S. 
national debt is $8,710,232,192,210; and, we ran out of room on the 
poster, but if you want to be exact about it, 43 cents. And for every 
man, woman, and child living in America today, their share of the 
national debt as of tonight is $29,061.20. It is what those of us in

[[Page H820]]

the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition refer to as the debt tax, 
D-E-B-T, which is one tax that will never go away until we get our 
fiscal house in order.
  Mr. Speaker, as you walk the halls of Congress, it is easy to detect 
when you are walking by an office of a fellow Blue Dog member, because 
you will see this poster reminding Members of Congress and reminding 
the American people of the fiscal recklessness that we have witnessed 
all across this Nation for the past 6 years. The American people have 
spoken, the American people have given the Democrats an opportunity to 
lead this Chamber, and we are determined as members of the fiscally 
conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition to getting our Nation's 
fiscal house in order and restoring fiscal discipline and common sense 
to our national government.
  The Blue Dog Coalition is about accountability. And, Mr. Speaker, 
tomorrow, on Tuesday, many members of the Blue Dog Coalition will be 
filing a resolution for the 110th Congress, a resolution providing for 
Operation Iraqi Freedom cost accountability. I want to thank the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Patrick Murphy) for his work on this, 
a veteran of the Iraqi war who will be joining us later this evening on 
the floor.
  This evening, as members of the Blue Dog Coalition, we plan to talk 
about providing for Operation Iraqi Freedom cost accountability. You 
ask people what they think about this postwar Iraq policy, you ask 100 
people, you get 100 different ideas about how we ought to do it. One 
thing is for sure, everybody believes that we need to move in a new 
direction.
  But, Mr. Speaker, one of the things that really makes me proud to be 
an American is that, unlike Vietnam, and I believe one of the painful 
lessons to come out of Vietnam is this time, this time at least, we are 
getting the support for soldier part of this right, because I see us 
all, not as Democrats and Republicans, but as Americans first. And what 
I have witnessed this time around has been truly amazing and has made 
me proud to be an American, and that is that everyone, regardless of 
how they feel about the war in Iraq, regardless of whether they are a 
Democrat or a Republican, everyone in America for the most part has 
stood united in support of our men and women in uniform.
  I couldn't help but notice the plane I was on today from Little Rock 
to Atlanta had about a half dozen soldiers heading to Iraq, and I had 
the opportunity to shake their hand and thank them for their service to 
our country. I noticed others doing the same when I was changing planes 
in Atlanta. There were a lot of soldiers today in Atlanta headed for 
Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, personally I am opposed to this surge. I think that is 
not a new direction, I think it is more of the same. But as members of 
the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, we didn't take 
a position on that because everyone needs to represent the views of 
their district, and everyone needs to speak from their heart.
  We have approached this, Mr. Speaker, from an accountability 
standpoint. And, Mr. Speaker, I would like to read to you this 
resolution so you will know exactly what is in it, and you will know 
exactly what the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition 
stands for and what we are talking about, and then a number of Blue Dog 
fellow members will be joining me in this Special Order to discuss 
various aspects of this.
  But resolution providing for Operation Iraqi Freedom cost 
accountability says:
  Whereas it has been nearly 4 years since Operation Iraqi Freedom 
began;
  Whereas our military personnel have performed with honor and bravery, 
and deserve the support of all Americans;
  Whereas more than 3,000 American military personnel have been killed 
in Operation Iraqi Freedom and more than 20,000 have been injured;
  Whereas the United States has spent nearly $400 billion in support of 
Operation Iraqi Freedom;
  Whereas the United States has spent tens of billions of dollars 
paying private contractors for services performed in Operation Iraqi 
Freedom;
  Whereas government investigations and media reports have detailed 
waste, fraud, and possible war profiteering by some of these 
contractors;
  Whereas American taxpayers deserve a detailed cost accounting for 
funds spent in Operation Iraqi Freedom;
  Whereas instead of the normal budgetary process, the administration 
has used emergency supplemental appropriation bills to fund Operation 
Iraqi Freedom;
  Whereas the normal appropriations process gives Congress greater 
oversight concerning both the need for and use of budgeted funds;
  Whereas the annual need to budget substantial funding for Operation 
Iraqi Freedom is not unanticipated within the meaning of section 502 of 
the fiscal year 2007 budget resolution, and further funding for 
Operation Iraqi Freedom should be attained through the normal budgeting 
process;
  Whereas since coalition forces removed Saddam Hussein from power, 
success in Operation Iraqi Freedom has depended upon an active and 
effective partnership between coalition forces and the Government and 
people of Iraq, a partnership that provides indispensable leverage to 
the coalition's financial, military, and political investments;
  Whereas Iraqis must assume principal responsibility for internally 
policing Iraq, failing which past, present, and future coalition 
investments will not lead to security in Iraq and Iraq will dissolve in 
chaos.
  Let me read that again: Whereas Iraqis must assume principal 
responsibility for internally policing Iraq, failing which past, 
present, and future coalition investments will not lead to security in 
Iraq and Iraq will dissolve in chaos. In other words, we are in this 
together, and it is time for the Iraqi people to step up to the plate 
and assume more accountability and responsibility for the internal 
policing of Iraq.
  Now, therefore, be it resolved that; and this is what the Blue Dog 
Coalition's accountability measure is about: Within 30 days after the 
adoption of this resolution, and every 90 days thereafter, the 
Department of Defense Inspector General and the Special Inspector 
General for Iraq Reconstruction shall prepare and transmit to Congress 
an unclassified report, but with a classified annex if necessary, that 
would contain:
  Number 1. A detailed accounting of how military and reconstruction 
funds in Iraq have been spent thus far; $400 billion of tax money from 
the hardworking people of America has gone to Iraq, and they deserve to 
know how that money has been spent in support of our men and women in 
uniform in support of this new Iraqi Government;
  Number 2. A detailed accounting of the types and terms of contracts 
awarded on behalf of the United States, including the methods by which 
such contracts were awarded and contractors selected;
  Our cities and counties all across this Nation are expected to 
advertise for bids and award bids based on the lowest bid they receive 
for services rendered for what they are looking for. Our Federal 
Government should not be any different.
  Number 3. A description of the efforts to obtain support and 
assistance from other countries toward the rehabilitation of Iraq;
  And, number 4. An assessment of what additional funding is needed to 
complete military operations and reconstruction efforts in Iraq, 
including a plan for security of Iraq, a detailed plan for how any 
future funds will be spent, and a statement of how those funds will 
advance the interests of the United States in Iraq.
  That is one point.
  The second point:
  If either Inspector General fails to submit a quarterly report, the 
Government Accountability Office shall conduct an audit and report to 
Congress.
  Sanctions shall be imposed against contractors who have engaged in 
fraud or abuse or war profiteering.
  Congress should create a Truman Committee to conduct an ongoing study 
and investigation of the awarding and carrying out of contracts by the 
United States to conduct activities with regard to Operation Iraqi 
Freedom, and make such recommendations to the House as the select 
committee deems appropriate.
  Funding requests for Operation Iraqi Freedom in fiscal year 2008 and 
beyond must come through the regular appropriations process, and not 
through so-called emergency supplementals.

[[Page H821]]

  No more hiding the cost of the war.
  In furtherance of the partnership that is critical to success in 
Operation Iraqi Freedom, the administration should firmly condition 
further American financial, military, and political resources upon 
steady improvement in Iraqi assumption of principal responsibility for 
internally policing Iraq.

                              {time}  2045

  That is the resolution that many members of the Blue Dog Coalition 
will be filing, a resolution endorsed by the 44-member strong, fiscally 
conservative Blue Dog Coalition, with the Clerk of the House on Tuesday 
or Wednesday of this week. I just read it in detail, word by word, so 
the American people, Mr. Speaker, will know exactly what it is that we 
are offering up.
  It is not complicated. It is not partisan. It is not about whether we 
should or should not be in Iraq and about whether we should or should 
not leave tonight or tomorrow, next month or next year. It is about 
being accountable for the $400 billion that has already been spent in 
Iraq, and God knows how much more will be spent in Iraq, and the 
American people, the hardworking people of this country that get up, go 
to work, work hard and pay taxes, deserve to know and have a full 
accounting for how their money is being spent in Iraq.
  That is what this resolution is all about. It is what the Blue Dog 
Coalition is all about. It is about standing for responsibility, 
transparency and accountability and in getting our Nation's fiscal 
house in order so we can see this number, Mr. Speaker, the national 
debt, begin to trend downward, because as long as we are spending a 
half a billion dollars a day paying interest on the debt we have 
already got, before we increase it another billion dollars a day, many 
of America's priorities will continue to go unmet.
  We have got to get our fiscal house in order because, you know what, 
coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan and other parts of the world is a 
whole new generation of veterans. It is our duty in these United States 
to be there in support of our veterans, to be there in support of our 
men and women in uniform, regardless of whether they are serving us in 
Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere across the globe.
  We can have differences of opinion with the President on Iraq and his 
Iraq policy, but what makes me proud to be an American is that we are 
standing together in support of our men and women in uniform.
  Mr. Speaker, we have got a number of folks that have joined me this 
evening to talk about accountability in this Iraq War, and at this 
time, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott).
  Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Ross very much. It is 
always a pleasure to be on the floor with you and my other colleagues 
in the Blue Dog Coalition.
  I would like to maybe start just responding to what we are doing so 
that we can set the stage properly for the American people who are 
watching to understand why we are doing this and the important 
confirmation that we have for doing it that is embedded deep in the 
Constitution of the United States.
  The question on what role does Congress have in this has been put 
before pundits and before commentators, news articles once the 
President made his statement about the surge, and I, too, want to go on 
record as saying that I oppose this surge, almost exclusively because 
of the strain that it is placing on our military, which is already 
overstrained, and taking our young men and women and not only just 
putting them in harm's way, but placing them in the cross-hairs of a 
civil war.
  But fundamentally, as I mentioned earlier, what this legislation is 
that we are here to bring some transparency and to bring some 
understanding of how the taxpayers' money is being spent is embedded, 
as I said early, deep into the Constitution.
  Now, I want everybody to understand that when we put forward this 
bill, we are not putting it forward based upon what we feel like today. 
We are putting this forward so that we can be responsive to the job 
that we were created to do.
  In Article I in Section 8 of the Constitution, it states clearly, 
when that question was put to James Madison and to Alexander Hamilton 
at the beginning of the formation of the Continental Army, the fight 
for the freedom of this country at the very beginning, the question was 
this: Who has the authority to declare war; who has the authority to 
raise and support our military? Here is what it says in Article I, 
Section 8, that was written well over 200 years ago.
  Article I, Section 8, gives Congress, not the White House, not the 
executive branch, not the President, it says clearly it gives Congress 
the power to ``raise and support armies.'' Those words are in there. In 
other words, it gives Congress the exclusive power to appropriate the 
funds for war and then to determine the manner in which those funds are 
handled and used.
  That is what undergirds our resolution that we are putting forth as 
Blue Dogs and as Democrats and as Republicans, because I believe that 
we will get bipartisan support for standing up and finally allowing 
this Congress to do what the Founding Fathers put us here to do.
  Just for a moment, our war in Iraq has been prosecuted at a 
tremendous cost to our Nation, a tremendous cost in terms of especially 
our soldiers' lives, and we cannot thank our soldiers enough for the 
sacrifice that they have given, but also the strain that it has placed 
on their families through repeated and increasingly hefty deployments, 
wear and tear on our equipment and, of course, the taxpayers' money.
  That is what the Founding Fathers said when they said raise and 
support our Army. They just did not say tax the money. It did not say 
that. It said raise and support, which means put your arms around it 
and make sure you take care of your Army.
  I will tell you, up to this point this Congress has not done so. The 
strain on our military is extraordinary. Our service members, as we 
know, are all volunteers. They and their families are more than willing 
to sacrifice, as they have and as they will continue to do, for the 
good of our Nation, and the American public at large is also willing to 
allow its tax dollars to be spent on a worthy cause. However, we in 
Congress owe it to the whole country to make sure that our service 
members are not sacrificing needlessly in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 
that tax money is not being squandered.
  The American public and Members of Congress have largely not been 
aware of exactly where the money is going, where the funding that we 
are providing has been going, and there is widespread reports of 
contractor fraud. There is bribery, there is waste, there is theft of 
reconstruction funds for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the 
reason it has been is because we have not fulfilled Article I in 
Section 8 which gives Congress the power to raise and support our 
armies and determine how this money is being spent, because this 
Congress, up to now, has rolled over and given this President 
everything he asked for without asking the questions because they have 
allowed him to use the emergency supplemental funding process.
  For those in America and those on C-SPAN, what that means is that 
that is a type of funding that prohibits us in Congress from doing 
exactly what the Founding Fathers said we must do in Article I, Section 
8, of the Constitution, and that is to raise and support armies and 
determine how this money is being spent.
  It is because this administration has used the dubious practice of 
emergency supplementals to fund the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan 
away from congressional oversight, that is why we have had fraud.
  That is why we have had bribery. Emergency supplementals do not go 
through the normal budgeting and appropriations cycle.
  The administration has also not been forthcoming in providing the 
detail as to what specifically the funds in the supplemental budget 
request is being used for, and as a result, Members of Congress 
typically have not had the opportunity to scrutinize the request 
thoroughly. Supplementals are considered on an expedited basis and 
basically a sight unseen.
  That is why what the Blue Dogs are doing with our resolution is so 
important. It pulls the covers off and it says let the Congress do the 
job that the Founding Fathers put us here to do.
  One more point I want to make in the Iraq Study Group report that 
came

[[Page H822]]

out, it recognized this problem, and it mentions briefly the issue of 
budgeting for Operation Iraqi Freedom, and specifically they 
recommended that funding be placed back in the regular budget process, 
away from the supplemental, saying that this should be done to increase 
transparency and accountability. The Blue Dogs are taking that 
recommendation and doing with it what was recommended, and for those of 
you that have that report, you might find that recommendation on page 
59 and 60. It is recommendation 72.
  So, to correct this problem, we in the Blue Dog Coalition are 
introducing this bill. As Mr. Ross said, we will be doing it later this 
week. This bill will allow the Members of Congress the time and the 
information required to provide proper oversight of defense spending 
and contracting, and it will allow us the time to apply the new PAYGO 
rules recently passed by the House of Representatives, and, most 
importantly, it will allow the American people, that is what this 
election was about, it was about this country and this country taking 
this country back and putting into practice those things that the 
Founding Fathers gave us to do, and in the process the American people 
will become more fully educated on the true costs of this war and the 
sacrifices they are making and make sure that this money goes where it 
is supposed to go, and will hopefully, prayerfully bring our sons and 
daughters, our husbands and our wives, our fathers and our mothers back 
home safe as soon as we possibly can and end this war.
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Georgia and 
would invite him to stay and continue this conversation with me this 
evening during this Special Order that is being hosted by the fiscally 
conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition.
  Mr. Speaker, if you have any comments, questions or concerns for us, 
you can e-mail us at [email protected]. Again, you can e-mail us 
at [email protected].
  One of the new Members of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog 
Coalition comes to us from the State of Pennsylvania, and that is 
Patrick Murphy, a veteran of the Iraq War who was very involved, as I 
mentioned at the beginning of the discussion this evening, in helping 
to carefully craft this resolution to demand accountability for how the 
tax money of the people of America is being spent in Iraq while 
continuing to remain steadfast in our support of our soldiers.
  At this time, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Patrick 
Murphy).
  Mr. PATRICK MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank the 
gentleman from Arkansas for this opportunity and for allowing me to 
serve on that task force that we formed to present this bill this week, 
this Operation Iraqi Freedom cost accountability resolution.
  As I was seeking to prepare my remarks, I could not help but think 
about Mr. Scott from the great State of Georgia when he talked about 
that Constitution. That is the Constitution that every soldier, every 
airmen, every marine takes note to support and defend against all 
enemies, foreign and domestic. I appreciate that.
  That is the Constitution I had the great opportunity to talk about 
and teach about every single day at the United States Military Academy 
at West Point, and talking about those first three articles of our 
Constitution that lays out the framework, that separation of powers 
that we talk about. There is a reason why Article I was the Congress 
and Article II was the President and Article III was the judiciary.
  Those two main goals of the U.S. Congress is to, one, declare war; 
but two is the purse strings, that budget that you talked so eloquently 
about. So I appreciate you bringing that up, and I hope we can make 
this happen this week. I do believe that we will get many of our 
colleagues, not just on our side of the aisle, but also on the other 
side of the Chamber as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the war in Iraq, and I want 
to talk today because the Blue Dogs, the Blue Dog Democrats, the 
fiscally conservative Democrats, stay focused on two things: one, 
fiscal responsibility; and, two, a strong national defense. The 
legislation that we are discussing this week, which I will have the 
opportunity to introduce, tackles both of these issues.
  Mr. Speaker, we have spent over $360 billion in Iraq over the course 
of the last 4 years.

                              {time}  2100

  Along with the casualty reports and the terrible news on the ground, 
we are getting reports about money lost and weapons missing.
  Last week, as a member of the Armed Services Committee, we heard from 
Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraqi reconstruction. 
He told those of us at the hearing that as much as 15 percent of the 
billions of dollars that we were spending in Iraq has vanished, and as 
many as 14,000 weapons sent to the Iraqis have gone missing because of 
mismanagement and fraud. That is enough weaponry to arm an entire 
division of the al Sadr militia. This isn't just about money; it is 
about the safety of our troops as well.
  Mr. Speaker, it is long past time that we kept track of the money and 
the weapons that we are giving to the Iraqis and to replace the fraud, 
waste and abuse with proper oversight, responsibility and 
accountability.
  The legislation that the Blue Dogs are introducing this week 
addresses the glaring lack of oversight and accountability in Iraq and 
addresses how our taxpayer dollars are spent on the war. It puts 
forward commonsense proposals that ensure fewer resources are wasted 
and more resources get to the troops in the field.
  This bill contains measures everyone can agree on, regardless of 
their political party. American families are frustrated with the war in 
Iraq, and this legislation will go a long way toward providing some 
meaningful solutions.
  Another thing that this legislation does is urge the establishment of 
a Truman Committee-type commission to track and curb the waste, fraud 
and abuse in Iraq. In the 1940s, then-Senator Harry Truman established 
a committee that wasn't very popular at the time. Senator Truman's work 
reportedly saved $11 billion, and eventually landed him on the cover of 
Time magazine.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, none of us here, none of us Blue Dogs here, are 
looking to be on the front of a magazine cover; but we are looking for 
an end to the mismanagement in Iraq and in the war.
  As you know, this issue hits very close to home for me. I served in 
Baghdad, Iraq, in 2003 to 2004 as a member of the 82nd Airborne 
Division, Second Brigade Combat Team. On our team, we lost 19 men, men 
that made the ultimate sacrifice. Part of what we did in Iraq was to 
train the Iraqi National Defense Corps.
  At the time that we were training them back in that summer of 2003, 
they didn't have uniforms, so we took the initiative to give them hats, 
Chicago White Sox hats, so that we could identify them as a unit. They 
didn't have uniforms. There was no oversight. There was no thought 
process. But our soldiers on the ground took the initiative to at least 
give them something that would distinguish them.
  At our hearing, Special Inspector Bowen revealed one example of $75 
million so grossly mismanaged by the Iraqi Police Academy that it had 
to be knocked down before it was even put to use. That is $75 million 
in American taxpayer money that is just thrown to the wayside.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for answers, and it is time for 
accountability.
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania, a 
veteran of the Iraqi war, a new member of the fiscally conservative 
Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, for not only joining us for this Special 
Order this evening on demanding accountability of the American people's 
tax money and how it is being spent in Iraq, but also playing a very 
important role in helping draft, carefully craft and write this 
resolution that the Blue Dog Coalition has endorsed and will be filed 
as a House resolution on the floor of this House this week. I thank the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania again for his work on that and for his 
service to our country.
  At this time I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois, Ms. Bean, 
another very active member of the Blue Dog Coalition, someone who comes 
to

[[Page H823]]

this town and demands fiscal accountability and responsibility like we 
are doing here on the floor of the House this evening.
  Ms. BEAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. It 
is always a pleasure to join my Blue Dog colleagues on the House floor.
  The Blue Dogs were formed with the intention of always demanding 
accountability and oversight, particularly relative to our national 
budget. We are out here pretty regularly talking about the $8 trillion 
national debt. You have the number right next to you, Mr. Ross. That 
has really ballooned out of control.
  We talk about PAYGO budget rules, which we were glad to lead our 
caucus into passing through the House so we can start to bring some 
fiscal sense back to this Congress in the same way that our taxpayers 
and constituents have to bring to their home budgets and their business 
budgets. They deserve the same level of accountability with their tax 
dollars and the way we spend them here.
  That applies to the entire budget. There is no more important 
priority than ensuring the safety of our troops and our Nation. So it 
is almost incomprehensible that billions of dollars of the roughly $400 
billion that has been spent on the war in Iraq goes unaccounted for.
  Congressman Murphy just spoke to that. He talked about it is not just 
dollars unaccounted for, but weapons as well. So there is a serious 
safety issue for our troops. Therefore, I was proud to join my Blue Dog 
colleagues as a cosponsor of this Iraq war cost accountability 
resolution that I believe we are introducing on the floor tomorrow.
  Before I talk about the resolution itself, I just wanted to mention 
another one of our colleagues who is not with us today, Congresswoman 
Jane Harman, who recently had an op-ed piece that she entitled ``Stop 
Conducting the War Off the Books.'' She talked about how the emergency 
supplemental that the President has said he will be bringing to this 
Congress will be the sixth emergency supplemental for this war. She 
also talks about how our own last year's budget resolution defined 
``emergency'' as only spending that is ``sudden, unforeseen or 
temporary.'' While certainly supporting our troops is urgent and 
important, it is not sudden, when we are almost 4 years and $400 
billion into this war.
  I think she makes a good case that we all support, who are on this 
resolution, getting these requests into the budget, and that one of the 
reasons they have been called emergencies when they haven't been 
unforeseen or sudden is that doing so exempts the President from 
spending caps and from counting the hundreds of billions of dollars 
that have been spent on the war in Iraq in our deficit.
  What that really is, it is dishonest accounting. We are not asking 
all Americans to join Congress in making the hard decisions about what 
the cost of this war should mean relative to a shared sacrifice. So by 
doing it off the books, we are not engaging in the dialogue we really 
should be having.
  This resolution that we are introducing tomorrow will require four 
things: first, accountability and oversight, not only for our own 
spending, but also what we are doing to urge other countries and allies 
to participate and what their spending would be. It will talk about 
dollars already spent and how they have been spent and whether we have 
accomplished what we set out to do. Also important is it will include 
sanctions for contractors that have engaged in fraud, abuse or war 
profiteering.
  The second thing it will do, as Congressman Murphy alluded to, is 
create committees akin to the Truman Committee that will, again, look 
at all contracts awarded and also the method of how those contracts are 
awarded to ensure we are getting the best return on our tax dollars.
  Third, it will require, as I just alluded to, the on-budget 
accounting of the war. No more emergency supplementals. But it will 
require that the war in Iraq, starting in fiscal 2008 and beyond, any 
requests for funding must come through the regular appropriations 
process, with the oversight and accountability that goes along with 
that.
  The fourth thing that this resolution does is it states how important 
it is for Iraq to be moving forward in assuming the principal 
responsibility for their own internal security. It will require that 
the administration should condition further American financial or 
military support upon steady improvement in Iraqi progress toward that 
end.
  I am very proud to join my colleagues on this resolution. I think the 
American public should expect no less from this Congress. I am hopeful 
that we are going to have bipartisan support on this resolution, as we 
have on some of the things we have been introducing in the first 100 
hours in our new majority.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for letting me join him.
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I thank an active member of the fiscally 
responsible Blue Dog Democrat Coalition, the gentlewoman from Illinois, 
Melissa Bean, for being a part of this discussion this evening to talk 
about the Blue Dog Coalition's resolution to demand accountability for 
how tax money is being spent in Iraq, just as we do here at home 
through our Blue Dog 12-point plan for budget reform.
  This resolution will be filed on the floor of this House this week as 
the Blue Dog Coalition demands this administration to be accountable 
for how your tax money, Mr. Speaker, is being spent in Iraq.
  At this time I yield to the gentleman from New York, a new member of 
the Blue Dog Coalition, someone who has come here and been a very 
active member of our coalition and has been doing a lot to help us with 
this resolution, and that is the gentleman from New York, Mike Arcuri.
  Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Arkansas.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my strong opposition to this 
administration's call for 21,000 new troops in the surge in Iraq. As 
one of three New Yorkers in the Blue Dog Coalition, I am very proud of 
the position that the Blue Dog Coalition takes with respect to 
identifying issues of fiscal responsibility. They have done that very 
thing with the war.
  There are many, many reasons why we shouldn't be involved in the war 
in Iraq, and the Blue Dogs have pointed out one additional reason for 
that in terms of the cost that this war has and the way it has burdened 
our country.
  When I talk to people in my district, they always ask me, why are we 
spending so much money on the war, when we have such great needs for 
education or for health care or for housing? Those are all issues that 
people are very concerned about; yet we continue to spend billions and 
billions of dollars on a very unpopular war.
  My other concern with respect to this war and this operation in Iraq 
is the fact that our Army is an army that is a volunteer army, which 
means that in order for us to continue to defend our country and to get 
the numbers that we need in the Armed Forces, we need to have high 
numbers of volunteers. Yet with this protracted engagement that we are 
involved in now in Iraq, it continues to lower morale and makes it more 
and more difficult to attract troops and to attract recruits to our 
military.
  I am very humbled when I hear my colleague Patrick Murphy, a real 
patriot, a veteran of Iraq, get up here and speak and talk from his 
heart about the things that he experienced while he was in Iraq. It 
concerns me, because I believe that this war and this engagement in 
Iraq is doing more to hurt the morale of our military than any other 
operation that we have seen in recent history. It concerns me because I 
hear different anecdotal stories from people in my district. There is 
one I would like to share with you.
  Mr. Speaker, a constituent of mine who was a very patriotic young man 
enlisted in the armed services and actually did three tours of duty. He 
did one in Afghanistan and two in Iraq. He was wounded and received the 
Purple Heart and received a Bronze Star.
  After his last tour in Iraq, he was ready to leave the military. He 
talked to his people in his outfit, and they asked him if he would stay 
and help to train troops in a non-deployment type of position 
stateside. Being the patriotic person that he is, he agreed to do that.
  The problem for him was that because of the buildup and because of 
the steps that are being taken now, he was

[[Page H824]]

told that he would no longer be able to continue in a nondeployment 
type of position, but would rather have to go into a third tour of duty 
in Iraq. It put a huge strain on him. It put a huge strain on his 
family.
  These are the kinds of concerns that we have when it comes to the 
morale and when it comes to the future of our military.

                              {time}  2115

  And speaking from myself, I would just like to say that I believe 
that this type of action and this type of activity puts a huge strain 
on our military.
  I strongly support the efforts of the Blue Dog Coalition because I 
believe that they point out the things that we need to do as a country. 
We are talking about a resolution that will create a Truman type of 
committee that will help to oversee efforts and oversee different 
actions which are taking place by different contractors in Iraq. So I 
am very pleased to be here today to talk on behalf of the Blue Dog 
Coalition.
  Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Arcuri), a new 
Member of this Congress, a new member of the Blue Dog Coalition, for 
coming and visiting with us this evening about the need for 
accountability and responsibility in Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, as you know, the Blue Dog Coalition is about fiscal 
responsibility. It is about restoring common sense and fiscal 
discipline to our Nation's government, not only here at home, but also 
in Iraq. And that is why this week the Blue Dog Coalition will file a 
resolution that its coalition, the Blue Dog members, have endorsed to 
demand accountability in Iraq.
  We read the resolution in its entirety at the beginning of this 
Special Order. Basically, we want a detailed accounting of how military 
and reconstruction funds in Iraq have been spent thus far, a detailed 
accounting of the types and terms of contracts awarded on behalf of the 
United States, including the methods by which such contracts were 
awarded and contractors selected; a description of efforts to obtain 
support and assistance from other countries toward the rehabilitation 
of Iraq. The U.S. should not be going this alone; an assessment of what 
additional funding is needed to complete military operations and 
reconstruction efforts in Iraq, including a plan for security in Iraq; 
a detailed plan for how any future funds will be spent; and a statement 
of how those funds will advance the interests of the United States in 
Iraq. Sanctions shall be imposed against contractors who have engaged 
in fraud or abuse or, yes, war profiteering.
  We are calling for the creation of a Truman-like committee 
commissioned to conduct an ongoing study and investigation of the 
awarding and carrying out of contracts by the United States to conduct 
activities with regard to Operation Iraqi Freedom, and make such 
recommendations to the House as the select committee deems appropriate.
  Funding requests for Operation Iraqi Freedom in fiscal year 2008 and 
beyond must come through the regular appropriation process, not through 
the so-called emergency supplementals; no more of not being 
accountable; no more hiding the true cost of the war.
  And finally, the administration should firmly condition further 
American financial, military and political resources upon steady 
improvement in Iraqi assumption of principal responsibility for 
internally policing Iraq.
  Now, why are we filing this resolution? Because our Nation has now 
spent over $400 billion, nearly a half a trillion, in Iraq. Total for 
2006, $100.4 billion; for the month, $8.44 billion; the cost per day, 
$275 million. And, Mr. Speaker, yes, each hour we are sending 
$11,458,333 of your tax money to Iraq. And we believe it is time for 
this Congress to fulfill its constitutional duty to provide oversight 
on how this money is being spent.
  I yield to my fellow Blue Dog member from California Mr. Costa.
  Mr. COSTA. Thank you very much, the gentleman from Arkansas. I 
appreciate having an opportunity to share with my fellow Blue Dog 
colleagues this evening the challenges that our country is facing as we 
wage this war on terrorism, and try to bring together some level of 
stability in Iraq.
  The War Funding Accountability Act that the Blue Dog Coalition is 
sponsoring, that we present to you this evening, is an attempt to bring 
accountability that has sorely been missing almost 4 years now after we 
have been engaged in this effort. And we, as Americans, are all engaged 
in this effort.
  This War Accountability Act, if it successfully passes Congress, 
would require the Department of Defense Inspector General, as well as 
the Special Inspector General for Iraq on Reconstruction, to report to 
the Congress every 30 days after any supplemental bill passes, and 
quarterly thereafter. These reports, unfortunately, have been lacking 
over the last 4 years.
  Now, as we look back, there has been a lot of water that has passed 
under this bridge, at tremendous costs, beginning first with over 3,000 
American lives, men and women that have been lost, and over 20,000 
Americans who have suffered injuries as a result of this engagement in 
Iraq and Afghanistan.
  We are talking about the fiscal costs here this evening. But there is 
no way that we can put a cost or a value on the American lives that 
have been lost in this effort to try to bring stability and continue to 
protect Americans on this war on terrorism.
  What has been lacking is accountability. The Blue Dogs feel strongly 
that accountability not only in the fiscal sense, but accountability in 
how we have engaged in this war effort needs to be seriously focused 
on. And that is why I am supporting this resolution.
  A couple of weeks ago I met with the President, as he solicited our 
ideas about how we should go forth. I said, ``Mr. President, I was in 
Iraq last year, among the first delegation to meet with Prime Minister 
Maliki, and I asked Prime Minister Maliki what his goals were. He said 
they were disband the militias, reduce violence, get reconstruction 
going and move the economy.'' It all makes a lot of sense. Eight months 
later, going on to 9 months, unfortunately, the Prime Minister's 
actions have been far deficient of his words. And so today we are 
focusing on this War Funding Accountability Act.
  But I said, ``Mr. President, militarily we cannot be successful in 
this effort alone. There needs to be a political agreement in which the 
major sectarian factions in this sectarian civil war are willing to 
agree upon on how to share the political power in Iraq and the oil 
revenues.'' Let's make no mistake about it. That is what we are 
fighting in today.
  Unfortunately, that is the sectarian civil war that we have gotten 
ourselves into, and without a political solution, we will not be 
successful in Iraq.
  I have been there. I looked into the eyes of the American men and 
women in uniform who are fighting valiantly on our behalf, and we need 
to put the same support for them as we try to put for you. So as we 
demand accountability on single-source bidding, on sole-source 
contracting for the efforts in Iraq, let's also hold the Iraqi 
Government to the same time lines and the same sort of accountability 
that we should be holding our own government for. And for these 
reasons, I support the Blue Dog Coalition on the War Funding 
Accountability Act.
  And as I told the President, ``Put me in the doubtful column as it 
relates to the surge unless we have a political agreement among the 
Shiites, the Kurds and the Sunnis on how they are going to share power 
forthwith and how they are going to share the oil revenues, because 
otherwise, in my opinion, we are kidding ourselves, and, more 
importantly, we are misleading the American public. And sadly, what is 
at stake are the lives of American men and women in uniform who are in 
harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan.

  Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa). And in 
the 8 minutes or so we have remaining, I have got three other members 
of the Blue Dog Coalition that have joined us, and we are very pleased 
that they have. At this time I yield to the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Cardoza).
  Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker and Mr. Ross, tomorrow night, when the 
President of the United States delivers his State of the Union Address, 
the Nation will listen carefully as he lays out his agenda for the 
final 2 years of office. And there is no question our Nation faces many 
great challenges. The one issue, however, that weighs most heavily on 
the minds of the American people is, of course, the war in Iraq. The

[[Page H825]]

President is now moving forward with a plan to escalate the war, 
despite bipartisan opposition. I have grave doubts about the wisdom of 
this action, as do most of my colleagues.
  Regardless of one's views on the right way to move forward in Iraq, 
we should be able to agree on one thing: Fraud and abuse and flagrant 
waste of taxpayer dollars that we have seen throughout this war have 
got to stop. It is bleeding our Treasury dry, and it is further 
undermining our security in Iraq.
  Some estimates suggest the war in Iraq will cost the American people 
$2 trillion when all is said and done, and that is truly a staggering 
figure. That is why the Blue Dogs are putting forward this resolution 
asking for accountability. We can't afford another $2 trillion in debt 
piled on to what Mr. Ross has already said, $8.710 and change trillion.
  So Mr. Speaker, I am not going to take up a lot of time. We have two 
distinguished colleagues that have waited here to speak to you tonight. 
But I will say that I applaud the Blue Dogs, and I am proud of being a 
member of the Blue Dogs. I am proud to be here with you again, Mr. 
Ross, and I just believe it is high time that the American people have 
a full accounting of what this war is costing, and how the contractors 
have misspent American Treasury in the process.
  Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from California for demanding 
accountability of how your tax money, Mr. Speaker, is being spent, the 
tax money of hardworking Americans is being spent, not only here at 
home, but also abroad in places like Iraq.
  I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee, my fellow Blue Dog member, 
Mr. Lincoln Davis.
  Mr. LINCOLN DAVIS of Tennessee. Congressman Ross, thanks very much. I 
will be very brief.
  During the campaign in November, October and September, obviously 
leading up to the November 7 election, I heard a great deal from those 
who would be talking about, do you favor cut and run or stay the 
course?
  I submit to you that neither of those are good alternatives. And the 
sad thing is that the American public have been told that mission has 
been accomplished after landing on the battleship. And then shortly 
after that, the Iraqi insurgents were told, just bring it on. I think 
it is time that we bring on a little bit of accountability. And this 
accountability and the resolution that the Blue Dog Democrats have 
introduced doesn't deal with whether or not we stay, how long we stay. 
It just talks about the stay that we have already been there, account 
for it. Account for the almost $400 billion that has been spent of 
taxpayer dollars that could be used, quite frankly, maybe to have won 
the war in a better way, to have brought about a safe Iraq that is not 
there today.
  And my real concern, as I go back and study the Tet Offensive, it is 
my concern that, as we send these 20-some thousand extra troops into 
Iraq, and as we start talking on the Shiia militias, that we may see 
the results of another Tet Offensive that we saw in 1968 in Vietnam.
  I just hope that our President, that the Defense Department and those 
who are advocating additional troops not only will be accountable for 
what we have already done there, but at least present to us a better 
plan than what we have had presented to us in the past.
  Stay the course, mission accomplished and bring it on just ain't got 
it done, and it is time that we look at what is going on in this 
country. When you look at Iraq and Iran, and you realize that when you 
hear that there are a billion folks of the faith of Islam, most of 
those are either in Asia, Central Asia and in Africa, not in the Middle 
East. Virtually all in the Middle East perhaps are the Islam faith 
except, obviously, for the nation of Israel. But when you look where 
most of the Shiias are, only 10 percent of the faith of Islam are 
Shiias. The other are Sunnis. And when you look at where the bulk of 
the Shiia population is, it is in Iraq and in Iran.
  It is my fear that stay the course, bring it on and mission 
accomplished has only brought to us two nations in the Middle East, 
Iraq and Iran, with probably close to 7 percent of the Shiias that will 
be in control of two nations in the Middle East that will have under 
their soils around 50 percent of the oil in the Middle East. It is 
time, Mr. Speaker, that we take a serious look and do what the old 
crossing at the railroad used to say: Stop, look and listen to what we 
are doing.
  Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his assessment in 
support of this Blue Dog resolution to demand accountability in Iraq. 
And with the remaining 3 or 4 minutes left in this Special Order, Mr. 
Speaker, I yield as much time as the gentleman from Florida, a new 
member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a new Member of this Congress, Mr. 
Mahoney, may so desire.

                              {time}  2130

  Mr. MAHONEY of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend 
from Arkansas for yielding to me tonight. I stand here today 
representing the great State of Florida's 16th Congressional District, 
a district that spans from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico and 
represents the hopes and aspirations of all Floridians.
  I stand here as a freshman member of the Blue Dog Coalition 
supporting our resolution demanding that the administration account for 
the Iraq war in a manner that lets this Nation see the true costs of 
the undertaking, and ensuring that our brave men and women who are 
fighting for our freedom are not being robbed by profiteers and 
inefficient government bureaucracy.
  What got me was that not only was the deficit a tax on my daughter, 
Bailey's, future, but this administration was not leveling with the 
American people. This administration was not telling the people the 
true cost of their programs, telling us that these tax breaks for the 
wealthiest were driving us to the poor house, cutting revenues when 
increasing government by over 30 percent.
  Now, do not get me wrong. I believe in smaller, more efficient 
government. I do not believe we need to raise taxes. However, as a 
businessman, I believe in living within one's means, having to make 
tough choices so that we can determine what is important, determining 
what our national priorities are and making those hard choices.
  The fact that this administration has calculatingly funded this war 
with emergency supplemental appropriations so that the American people 
would not see the true cost is wrong. This Congress and the American 
people have the right to determine for themselves if the results 
justify the expenses. Looking at the budget cuts our children had to 
endure when he cut Head Start, when he unfunded No Child Left Behind, 
cutting the budget for health services for our veterans, cutting 
funding for law enforcement programs while violent crime is on the 
rise, making a decision to leave our ports unsecured by not inspecting 
the hundreds of thousands of containers that enter this country every 
year.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people deserve to have all of the facts so 
that they can make their own decision. This resolution calls on the 
President to budget for the Iraq war like he budgets for everything 
else. No longer can this country afford the President standing in front 
of the American people and declaring fiscal victory when he loses less 
of our money than he projected, declaring victory when we are running 
record deficits and not adding the cost of the Iraq war.
  These are real losses, these are real debts, debts to be repaid with 
our tax dollars. Further, this resolution calls for the President to be 
a good steward of our money by asking for accountability in how our 
hard-earned money is spent. Our resolution specifically calls on 
Congress to perform this congressional responsibility to provide 
oversight and make sure that our brave men and women fighting for our 
liberty get everything they need to come home and make those who would 
steal from them pay the price.
  This is not a new idea. President Truman, as a U.S. Senator, did 
exactly that during World War II, a Democrat in Congress providing 
oversight to a Democratic administration. Imagine that. What a novel 
idea.
  Tonight I call upon the American people to let the President know 
that regardless of whether you support the war in Iraq or not, you 
expect him to level with the American people.
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, let me be clear the Blue Dog Coalition stands 
for fiscal responsibility and accountability

[[Page H826]]

here at home and in Iraq, and we stand in support of our men and women 
in uniform, and we demand accountability for them to ensure that these 
resources are going to them to support them, to keep them safe, and to 
return them home to their families. May God bless our troops and their 
families.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________