[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 21, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H2799-H2800]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           REASONS FOR SUPPORT OF EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor this evening to voice 
my support for an emergency supplemental bill that will produce a 
significant change in the way the war in Iraq is being waged. This is 
not an easy decision on my part. Back in 2002, I opposed giving 
President Bush the authority to wage the Iraq war, and ever since, I 
have opposed every supplemental bill that has come to this floor to pay 
for the war in Iraq.
  During each supplemental debate, I voiced concern that Congress was 
essentially giving President Bush a blank check to wage the war as he 
saw fit. I voiced frustration that the Bush administration was 
unwilling to face the realities on the ground in Iraq and that 
Republican Congresses refused to provide proper oversight of billions 
of dollars that were handed out to contractors like Halliburton.
  Last November, the American people sent a clear message that the 
status quo in Iraq was no longer acceptable.

[[Page H2800]]

They entrusted Congress to Democrats in the hopes that we would help 
take our Iraq policy in a new direction so that we could bring our 
troops home soon.
  Mr. Speaker, the emergency supplemental addresses the concerns of the 
American people. It is a serious piece of legislation that brings 
together into one bill the recommendations of the nonpartisan Iraq 
Study Group, military generals, the Pentagon, and even the President 
himself. It provides us the first real opportunity to change course, 
and therefore it deserves the support of anyone who believes the status 
quo is no longer acceptable.
  The supplemental takes into consideration the views of military 
generals and military experts who have said for months now that there 
is no longer a military solution possible in Iraq. Instead, they say 
the only way to end the civil war that is raging in Iraq is through 
political and diplomatic means.
  Tomorrow this House will have the opportunity to send the President a 
strong message that the war in Iraq will not continue indefinitely. The 
legislation states that American troops will be out of Iraq no later 
than August 31, 2008, and if the Iraqi Government does not meet certain 
benchmarks in the coming months, our troops will be home by the end of 
this year.
  With this legislation, the fate of Iraq now truly belongs to the 
Iraqis themselves. It is time the Iraqi Government stepped forward and 
takes some responsibility. The Maliki government must realize that it 
has to meet political, economic and diplomatic benchmarks that the 
President himself set, and that if serious improvements are not seen in 
the coming months, then we will begin the process of redeploying our 
troops out of Iraq.
  This only makes sense, Mr. Speaker. If the Iraqi Government continues 
to believe that U.S. involvement there is indefinite, what kind of 
pressure are they going to have to make the necessary political 
reforms? They are not, and that is why both this pressure and a date 
certain for responsible redeployment are so important.
  This legislation also begins the process of redirecting the Bush 
administration's attention to the forgotten war in Afghanistan by 
adding $1 billion to the Defense Department's request for military 
activities there. This increase supports our efforts to suppress a 
likely spring offensive by the Taliban. In addition, it will reinforce 
our humanitarian efforts in that war-torn country. We must work to give 
poor farmers an alternative to the illicit opium trade that is rampant 
throughout Afghanistan.
  Finally, the legislation provides more money than the Pentagon 
requested for critical health care needs for veterans and wounded 
soldiers. Specifically, the legislation provides $1.7 billion more for 
defense health care and $1.7 billion more for veterans' health care in 
the hope that we can eliminate the horrific conditions and the 
treatment our wounded soldiers receive at Walter Reed. The brave men 
and women who fought on behalf of this country should not now have to 
endure bureaucratic delays in order to receive the health care services 
that they were promised.
  Mr. Speaker, this week we entered the fifth year of this unfortunate 
war. Tomorrow we must step forward and support a bill that brings our 
troops home within the next 18 months, exerts pressure on the Iraqi 
Government, prioritizes the forgotten war in Afghanistan and provides 
additional funds for veterans and military health care.
  Tomorrow we have the opportunity to change the direction of the war 
in Iraq, and we should certainly take it.

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