[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 22, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S3216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           IRAQ SUPPLEMENTAL

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I, too, am confident that we will pass 
important legislation on a bipartisan basis this week to provide the 
benefits to veterans that they have earned and that they deserve, but 
we can't forget the unfinished business of this Congress last December 
when we wrapped up the fiscal year 2008 appropriations bill and we left 
a balance of more than $100 billion that the Department of Defense said 
it needed to fight the global war on terror.
  In other words, it is important to support our veterans, but I would 
submit it is equally important to make sure we are supporting our 
troops currently in the fight and in harm's way, and this Congress has 
an unfortunate record of delaying that and playing political games with 
that money. It is time that should end.
  In the Army alone, this shortfall amounts to $66 billion. As a 
result, the Army will run out of pay for Active Duty and National Guard 
soldiers in June unless Congress acts promptly.
  At the same time, funding for extra vehicle armor, hospital 
construction and renovation, and new service vehicles will dry up. Our 
troops will not have the resources they need to carry out their mission 
unless we act soon to pass this emergency supplemental appropriation.
  Provincial reconstruction teams will also run out of funding. These 
teams are an integral part of our strategy in Iraq and go a long way to 
fostering growth, freedom, and good ties to the Iraqi communities and 
ensuring we win the battle for hearts and minds as well.
  We have also appropriated less than half of what the military leaders 
in Iraq tell us they need for the Commanders' Emergency Response 
Program, or CERP, which is essential for continued bottom-up 
reconciliation efforts. We should not hold this funding hostage to 
political gains, and it should not become a vessel for porkbarrel 
projects and bloated spending.
  We should pass a clean emergency supplemental funding bill for our 
troops as soon as we possibly can, and I hope immediately following the 
passage of this legislation we are on today.

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