[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 53 (Tuesday, March 27, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3790-S3791]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations

  Mr. President, this emergency supplemental bill that we are debating 
today has been long seen as our best chance of extricating ourselves 
from the quagmire in Iraq. As one of only 23 Senators who opposed the 
authorization of the use of military force, I have supported every 
credible proposal that has come before this body to bring our troops 
home.
  The war in Iraq was not about September 11. It was not about al-
Qaida. It was not about making our Nation safer. While no one can prove 
a negative, I believe the damage this war has done to our national 
security, our national interest, and our international standing has 
been incalculable. When we had a chance to capture Osama bin Laden, the 
master mind of 9/11, we let him get away because the administration, 
the Bush-Cheney administration, wanted to take our troops out of 
Afghanistan and send then to Iraq, a country that had absolutely 
nothing to do with 9/11. The injustices perpetrated at Abu Ghraib and 
Guantanamo have tarnished our national reputation and leadership, and 
the way Iraq has become a rallying cry for religious extremists has 
made the American people less safe.
  For whatever misguided reasons, the President started a unilateral, 
preemptive war in Iraq which has cost us thousands of American lives 
and made us less safe. I think that historians will look back at this 
war as one of the most costly, reckless mistakes made by any 
administration in this history.
  This supplemental contains another $96 billion to support U.S. 
military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. I supported the use of 
military force to remove the Taliban from power, and I support the 
continued efforts of our military and NATO forces against the Taliban 
and al-Qaida in Afghanistan. But I did not, do not, and will not agree 
to the use of the U.S. military to continue putting our people in 
harm's way in the middle of a continuing civil war in Iraq.
  This bill also contains money to help the people of Lebanon rebuild 
after the devastating war between Hezbollah and Israel last year, aid 
for refugees in Darfur, the Congo, Uganda, and other humanitarian 
crises, and to prevent the spread of avian influenza. It contains 
resources to help Kosovo as it moves toward independence, for Liberia 
to rebuild after their civil war, and to support the peace process in 
Nepal which finally has a chance to shed its feudal past.
  It contains a provision I sponsored, with the support of both 
Republicans and Democrats, to fix the illogical and unfair provisions 
in the Immigration and Naturalization Act that have been used to 
prevent victims of terrorist groups or members of groups who fought 
alongside the United States from admission as refugees or from 
obtaining asylum.
  As the chairman of the Senate's Subcommittee on State, Foreign 
Operations, and Related Programs, I am also pleased to report the bill 
includes, for the first time, benchmarks on a portion of the 
reconstruction assistance for Iraq. We are not going to continue to 
pour billions of dollars into no-bid contracts that have been plagued 
by rampant fraud and shoddy workmanship. It is about time we put an end 
to the practice of handing out American taxpayers' money with no 
strings attached. These benchmarks reflect what the Iraqi Government 
itself has pledged and what even President Bush acknowledged is 
necessary if the Iraqi Government is to succeed in bringing stability 
to that country.
  So there is much in this bill that I support, but despite that, I do 
not support the funding to continue the military operations in Iraq, 
and I will vote against this bill unless it contains the provision 
relating to the withdrawal of our forces, which is similar to 
legislation which narrowly lost in the Senate last week. I voted for it 
then, and I will vote for it again.
  The withdrawal provision in this bill is not, in some respects, as 
definitive as what passed the House by the slimmest of margins last 
Friday. Like many others, I would have written it differently. I wanted 
a deadline for commencement of the withdrawal of our forces but also 
for completing it within a target date. I have cosponsored legislation 
that contains such a deadline. But this provision represents a 90-
degree change of course from the President's policy of escalation in 
the middle of a civil war. It is our best hope of obtaining the 
majority of votes needed to begin that process. So I am confident that 
once the withdrawal of our troops begins, there will be no turning 
back.
  We have to remove our troops from the Iraq civil war. That argument 
has been made eloquently, including by former senior military officers 
whose credibility is unimpeachable. Retired LTG William Odom, in an op-
ed piece of February 11 in the Washington Post, said it better than I 
ever could. It is the only way the Iraqis will make the difficult 
political compromises that can save their country from further 
destruction.
  The President has threatened to veto this bill if the troop 
withdrawal provision is included. That is not surprising for a White 
House that has stubbornly refused to change course even in the face of 
dwindling support from the American people whose sons and daughters are 
dying. For more than 4 years, President Bush, Vice President Cheney and 
former Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, backed by a rubberstamp Congress, 
made one incompetent decision after another, arrogantly insisting they 
knew best and dismissing anyone who so much as questioned their policy 
for ``not supporting the troops.'' It has been reminiscent of the old 
``soft on communism'' and ``soft on drugs'' refrains that were used, 
and still are used, for political purposes to justify failed policies.
  None of us should be intimidated by these worn out arguments. If they 
want to show their support of the troops, they should do something 
about our VA system. Fix up Walter Reed and fix up the other facilities 
where we are not giving proper help to our wounded soldiers when they 
return from Iraq. We Democrats want to support those troops, too, and 
not just to be at the parades when they go over but to be there to help 
them when they come back. If this administration wants to support the 
troops, it should have given them the equipment, the training, and the 
armor they still don't get in a war that has lasted longer than World 
War II. And they should take care of the wounded whose bodies, minds 
and lives have been shattered.
  None of us should have confidence in a failed war effort that has 
already wrought enormous toll in American blood, treasure, and 
credibility, not after the fiasco this White House has wrought. It is 
time for the Congress to act as the voice and the conscience of the 
American people.
  Mr. President, I reserve the remainder of my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition to urge my 
colleagues to support the nomination of

[[Page S3791]]

Judge George H. Wu to be U.S. district judge for the Central District 
of California. Judge Wu currently serves as a judge on the Los Angeles 
Superior Court, where he has presided since 1996, and before that was a 
judge on the Los Angeles municipal court from 1993 to 1996.
  He came to those judicial positions with an excellent academic 
background--a bachelor's degree from Pamona College in 1972 and a law 
degree from the University of Chicago in 1975. He has an outstanding 
record in the practice of law. He was assistant professor of law at the 
University of Tennessee College of Law from 1979 to 1982. He was an 
Assistant U.S. Attorney in the civil division of the Central District 
of California office in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1989. He later served 
as Assistant Division Chief in the U.S. Attorney's Office from 1991 to 
1993. Judge Wu is very well qualified, rated so by the American Bar 
Association. They unanimously rated Judge Wu as ``well qualified.''

  His nomination to the Federal bench is recognition of the 
contributions of lawyers from the Southern California Chinese Lawyers 
Association, where he was a member from 1984 until the present time.
  I recently spoke at the convention of lawyers from the Asian-Pacific 
American Bar Association, who made the point to me that there ought to 
be more representation, more diversity for judges with a background 
from Asia and specifically from China. There are not very many judges 
representing that particular group. I think it is a good idea to have 
diversity on the Federal bench among people from all walks of life, all 
backgrounds, all national origins, all ethnic representations, and 
applaud his nomination from that point of view, in addition to the 
excellent credentials which I have cited.
  I ask unanimous consent that the full text of his resume and 
background on two pages be printed in the Congressional Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                              George H. Wu


  United States District Judge for the Central District of California

       Birth: November 3, 1950, New York, NY.
       Legal Residence: California.
       Education: B.A., Pomona College, 1972; J.D., University of 
     Chicago Law School, 1975.
       Employment: Associate, Latham & Watkins, Los Angeles, CA, 
     1975-1976, 1977-1978; Law Clerk, Hon. Stanley N. Barnes, U.S. 
     Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1976-1977 (and again 
     for brief periods in 1979 and 1980); Associate, Latham & 
     Watkins, Los Angeles, CA, 1977-1978; Assistant Professor of 
     Law, University of Tennessee College of Law, 1979-1982; 
     Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office, Civil 
     Division, Central District of California, 1982-1989; 
     Associate, LaBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae, Los Angeles, CA, 
     1989-1991; Assistant Division Chief, U.S. Attorney's Office, 
     Civil Division, Central District of California, 1991-1993; 
     Judge, Los Angeles Municipal Court, 1993-1996; Judge, Los 
     Angeles Superior Court, 1996-Present.
       Selected Activities: Member, Committee on Standard Jury 
     Instructions (Criminal and Civil) of the Superior Court of 
     Los Angeles County, California, 2000-2004; Member, Southern 
     California Chinese Lawyers Association, 1984-Present; Member, 
     Federal Bar Association, 1983-1986 (Member, Judicial 
     Evaluation Committee, 1984-1985); Member, Los Angeles County 
     Bar Association, 1983-1992 (Member, Committee on Federal 
     Courts and Practice, 1984, 1985); Member, Barristers--Los 
     Angeles County Bar Association, 1983-1986 (Co-Chairman, 
     Government Attorneys Committee, 1985-1986).
       Judge George Wu was nominated in the last Congress, but his 
     nomination was not acted upon prior to its adjournment.
       President Bush re-nominated Judge Wu on January 9, 2007. A 
     hearing was held on his nomination on February 6 and the 
     Judiciary Committee favorably reported him on March 1.
       Judge Wu is a highly qualified nominee with a distinguished 
     record.
       In 1972, he earned his B.A. degree from Pomona College. In 
     1975, he earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law 
     School.
       After law school, Judge Wu became an associate at the firm 
     of Latham & Watkins in Los Angeles from 1975 to 1976.
       Judge Wu subsequently served as a judicial clerk for the 
     Honorable Stanley N. Barnes on the U.S. Court of Appeals for 
     the Ninth Circuit.
       From 1979 to 1982 Judge Wu was an Assistant Professor of 
     Law at the University of Tennessee College of Law in 
     Knoxville, Tennessee, where his courses included civil 
     procedure, torts, and labor law.
       Judge Wu served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Civil 
     Division of the Central District of California office in Los 
     Angeles from 1982 to 1989 and later served as Assistant 
     Division Chief from 1991 to 1993.
       From 1989 to 1991, Judge Wu returned to private practice, 
     this time as an associate at LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae in 
     Los Angeles.
       In 1993, Governor Pete Wilson appointed Judge Wu to the Los 
     Angeles Municipal Court, which handles misdemeanor cases, 
     preliminary felony hearings, and small civil actions. In 
     1996, Governor Wilson elevated Judge Wu to the Los Angeles 
     Superior Court, which handles felony cases and larger civil 
     suits.
       The American Bar Association unanimously rated Judge Wu 
     ``Well Qualified.''