[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 21, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E987-E988]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 15, 2008

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the first and 
second amendments to the Senate amendment to H.R. 2642. In November 
2006, the people of the United States gave this Congress a mandate to 
end the war in Iraq. Yet today we are in the same place we were in 
January of 2007 and have not taken appropriate action to end the war.
  The first amendment considered today continues to fund the war with 
an additional $162.5 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
These funds will carry the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan into 2009. This 
money adds to the $700 billion that Congress has appropriated for all 
war related expenses since 2001. Expert analysis tells us that the real 
cost of funding this war will amount to $3 trillion. Yet dollar figures 
cannot begin to estimate the true cost of war which includes the lost 
lives of the 4,077 of our honorable troops who have been killed in Iraq 
and 501 killed in Afghanistan, the lives of over 1,000,000 Iraqi 
civilians, and the injury of over 30,000 members of the Armed Forces.
  The second amendment sets a goal for the withdrawal of our troops 
from Iraq. I favor the safe and orderly redeployment of our troops

[[Page E988]]

and this amendment requires that it begin within 30 days. But a 
nonbinding goal to withdraw our troops within l8 months does not end 
this war and does not mean that all of our troops will be home within 
18 months. This goal amounts to an open-ended invitation to continue 
this war well into the future. This body has the ability to end the war 
and bring our troops home simply by refusing to continue funding.
  The war, waged under false pretenses, has decimated Iraq. Destruction 
has permeated most of the country. War has taken a very heavy, very 
real and very caustic toll. At an absolute minimum, we have a 
responsibility to rebuild that which we have destroyed. However, 
amendment number two to the Emergency Supplemental requires Iraq to 
match U.S. reconstruction funds dollar-for-dollar. The U.S. has waged 
an illegal war that has torn Iraq to pieces and now this body sees fit 
to require that Iraq match U.S. funding for reconstruction. This sends 
a clear signal to the Iraqi people about the U.S. commitment to the 
health and well-being of the people of Iraq. I cannot support this 
policy.
  The second amendment will also require Iraq to partially finance the 
cost of fuel for the U.S. military in Iraq. This amounts to stealing 
from the Iraqi people. The Constitution of Iraq mandates that the 
petroleum resources of Iraq belong to the Iraqi people. These resources 
will be needed by Iraq to ensure their future well-being. This body 
should not establish any requirements related to the oil resources of 
Iraq.
  It is time for this body to stop equivocating. This body must end 
this war. The American people have asked us to end this war and bring 
our troops home. We must respond to the will of the American people.

                          ____________________