[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 23546-23548]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST FOR IRAQ

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, obviously one of the issues before us and 
the issue we will be grappling with for the remainder of the week--
perhaps longer--is the question of supporting our troops in Iraq and 
continuing to deal with the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
Certainly everyone agrees that these things have to be done. There are 
different views as to how they should be done. All of us have to review 
in our minds where we are, what the basic issues are that have us 
there, and certainly what is necessary to succeed in our efforts in the 
Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  We have before us a request for $87 billion for the war on terror. 
That will be dealt with this week, the division there between what is 
required for the military aspect and then what is required to complete 
our job in terms of leaving Iraq and Afghanistan in the condition in 
which democracy and freedom and a lack of terrorism will be where we 
are in the future.
  It is good to go back and review some ideas. I would like to talk 
about where we have been, where we need to go to complete the task we 
undertook, and talk a little about what we are seeking to do in terms 
of leaving Iraq in a position to govern itself and to support freedom 
and peace, and about the fact that we hear all the time that there was 
no plan after combat was over. That is not true. There is a plan. The 
plan is in process. We certainly will continue to carry out that plan. 
We need resources to do that.
  All of us are concerned about spending. All of us are concerned about 
the deficit. We find ourselves in a deficit situation for reasons that 
are fairly apparent. It started, of course, with September 11, which 
was something we had no control over, which increased special spending 
we would not otherwise have had. Then we were faced with an economic 
turndown which caused additional impacts on our deficit and the 
economy. Then, of course, we continued to have more terrorism and our 
troops in Iraq.
  I guess probably no one in this body is more conservative than I am 
in terms of spending, in terms of government's role and what we ought 
to be doing, but I do recognize that when you have special things, 
whether it is your business or your family or your government, then 
spending is done in a different way. That is where we are.
  The stakes are high in Iraq, certainly. It is the center front now 
for the war on terrorism. Critical work remains to be done in 
Afghanistan as well. Terrorists and regime remnants are making a 
desperate attempt to maintain themselves and continue in these 
countries. The U.S. and its allies are confronting them where they live 
and where they seek refuge, rather than leaving the terrorists in the 
safe havens where they would like to gather strength and resources and 
come back as they did before.
  Our troops--no one would disagree, I am sure--have to have the 
necessary resources for the war on terror, and the spending requests 
will give our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan the equipment they need to 
increase their safety and security, which happens to be the most 
important thing for us. This includes funding to replace equipment used 
that was destroyed during combat operations, to protect our forces, 
better housing for our troops deployed overseas, and enhanced pay, 
reflected in the dangers that we face.
  Of course, we have been through these things before. Stabilizing Iraq 
and Afghanistan will increase our security at home and certainly help 
win the war.
  As we understand, the war was not just combat but to change things in 
that part of the world. The costs of fighting terrorists are 
significant, but they still are a relatively small percentage of the 
overall economy compared to that of previous conflicts. According to an 
analysis done by USA Today, the cost of fighting the war is 5 percent 
of the GDP compared to 30 percent for World War II and 15 percent for 
the Korean war. The $87 billion request is less than 4 percent of our 
entire Federal budget next year. Yet it is a critical part of this 
stabilization area we are in.
  Initial estimates of Iraq's total need range from $50 billion to $75 
billion. The administration believes $20 billion represents our 
reasonable share as to what we ought to be doing to put the country 
back in reasonable shape, and we expect the rest of the costs, of 
course, to be filled by the international community, or by Iraq's own 
reserves, which are potentially very large.
  So these funds will be carefully targeted to the immediate security 
needs, as well as the share of the critical infrastructure that has to 
be replaced in order to get the kinds of support there that we are 
looking for.
  Iraq oil reserves are estimated at approximately $12 billion in 2004 
and $19 billion for each of 2005 and 2006. So unlike many of the 
countries in that part of the world, there are sizable resources that 
we hope will be part of this rebuilding exercise, and indeed should be.
  President Bush has held the line on nondefense spending growth. In 
2001, the last budget before President Bush took office, nondefense 
spending grew nearly 15 percent. He cut that growth to 6 percent in 
2000, less than 5 percent in 2003, and 2 percent in 2004. Obviously, 
there is always controversy and different views and things that we 
would like to do in our home States and in our country. But, of course, 
obviously, they have to be balanced with our ability to pay and our 
willingness to tax.
  Today's deficits are larger than anybody wants. No one wants 
deficits, but they are certainly still less than 5 percent of the GDP 
and are manageable if we put them into a steady downward path by strong 
economic growth and spending restraints. These are the issues with 
which we have to deal.
  Certainly, the war on terrorism has to be funded. Freeing Iraq is the 
key to winning the terrorism war and vital to America. President Bush 
has asked for $87 billion in emergency funding--a large amount, of 
course. The majority--$65 billion--will go to directly support troops 
in Iraq and Afghanistan, give them more resources that they need. 
Again, no one would argue against giving our troops what is necessary 
for them to go forward. And $21 billion would go to create a secure 
environment. It is high, but as I mentioned, things have changed and we 
need to do the job right and continue to work at doing it.
  From time to time we hear that there really wasn't a plan or there is 
not a plan. There is a plan and we are following it. One of the issues, 
of course, is time. I don't know how you could plan that anybody would 
have a definite timeframe in terms of a plan for a place such as Iraq. 
But I think Secretary Rumsfeld covered it well when he commented some 
time back, a few days ago. These are some of his comments that I think 
are correct. He said the coalition has certainly, in less than 5 
months, racked up a series of achievements in both countries and civil 
reconstruction that may be without precedent. Today in Iraq virtually 
all major hospitals and universities have been reopened; hundreds of 
secondary schools--until a few months ago many were used for weapons 
storage--have been rebuilt and are ready for the start of the fall 
semester. This is part of the plan to put these entities, of course, 
back into place.
  Fifty-six thousand Iraqis have been armed and trained in just a few 
months. They are contributing to the security and defense of the 
country. Today a new Iraqi army is being trained, and 40,000 Iraq 
police will join with that army to conduct joint controls with the 
coalition. Contrast that to the 14 months it took to establish a police 
force in postwar Germany and the 10 years it took to begin training a 
new German army.
  Again, this is part of the plan to add stability and provide the 
opportunity for Iraqis to be able to control their

[[Page 23547]]

own country and their own people and move forward. As security 
improves, so does commerce. Five thousand small businesses have opened 
since the liberation on May 1. An independent Iraqi central bank was 
established and new currency was announced in just 2 months. These are 
accomplishments which took years before in Germany. The Iraq governing 
council has been formed and they appointed a cabinet of ministers--
again, something that took years to do in other times.
  So this is the plan and the movement to get government back into 
place there, to have security for themselves, to have people trained to 
do what has to be done in a country that is independent and standing 
alone. In major cities and most of the towns, villages, and 
municipalities, councils have been formed to make the decisions on 
local matters. That is something that it took a great deal of time to 
do before, and you would imagine that it would.
  But all this has taken place in just 5 months. Again, I don't think 
anybody can specifically say we are going to be done by the 14th of 
March in 2005, or whatever, but we are moving very quickly. There is a 
plan as to what needs to be in place. The Iraqi people are providing 
intelligence now for our forces every day. Division commanders 
consistently report an increased numbers of Iraqis coming forward with 
intelligence that makes it more likely that we can find the terrorists 
and get them out of positions, and so on. So there has been a great 
deal of advancement.
  There has been great talk about the need for more troops. Those in 
the military have declared that is not necessary. If we are going to 
have more, they need to come from other countries that are involved. 
The commander of the Marine division in the south area decided to send 
home 15,000 troops and explained if there is a point when he needs 
them, he can get them. So there hasn't been the shortage that is felt 
by the military.
  Again, we are moving forward and making some progress in that area. 
That is what it is all about--to continue to reach the visions that we 
have for Iraq and against terrorism.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Wyoming. We 
are beginning a very important week. We are going to be talking about 
what is happening in Iraq and the President's request for $87 billion 
and added funding.
  A lot of people are saying: Wow, $87 billion. But it is important for 
us to look at what that $87 billion is going to do.
  First of all, $66 billion is for our troops. That is for our troop 
protection, equipment, making sure they have everything they need to do 
the job we are asking them to do over the next year. I don't think 
there is anyone in this Congress who would deny the President a dime of 
the money that is going to our troops to make sure they have everything 
they need to do one of the toughest jobs I have ever seen.
  I was in Iraq and I was in Afghanistan in August. In Iraq and 
Afghanistan, our troops are in harm's way every day--every moment, 
really. I just woke up this morning to the news that two of our 
wonderful military personnel have been assassinated in Afghanistan. It 
is a very tough place. We are having to deal with a Taliban that has 
rejuvenated its efforts, and they are now into drug dealing. They are 
preying on the police in Afghanistan. If somebody doesn't deal with 
them, they are murdering them, assassinating them because they want the 
drug trade.
  Why do they want the drug trade? They want the drug trade because 
that is how they are going to finance the terrorist operations around 
the world. That is why they are trying to raise money in this illicit 
way. What could be more important to the security of our people than to 
stop the drug trafficking in Afghanistan and stop the resurrection of 
the Taliban?
  In Iraq, we see on a daily and weekly basis the harm our young men 
and women are in. We need to make sure they have the capability to do 
the job we are asking them to do. That is what the President is asking 
for, and that is what we will give him.
  The other $20 billion is what most people are talking about. How much 
should we be giving to rebuild Iraq and how should it be done? Those 
are the questions we are going to hear on the floor. The Appropriations 
Committee right now is marking up the bill that will come to the floor, 
hopefully tomorrow.
  This is a legitimate area of disagreement. Most certainly people can 
reasonably ask the question: Why are we putting $20 billion into Iraq? 
There are things we need in America.
  The first responsibility of the Congress of the United States and the 
President is to provide for the security of our people, to provide for 
a national defense. This is national defense. If we can stabilize Iraq 
and stop Iraq from being a breeding ground for terrorism, that is a 
United States security interest. That is why putting the money into the 
rebuilding of Iraq so that the people will be able to start having an 
economy, and if they have electricity, water, and basic living 
conditions, we also will begin to see the startup of business. We hope 
the oilfield infrastructure will be repaired or rebuilt. It is in much 
worse shape than we ever thought it would be. We want to rebuild the 
oil infrastructure so when the Iraqis get the oil out of the ground, it 
will give jobs to the Iraqi people. They will be able to use it and 
export it, but it also means other businesses will crop up to service 
those oil wells and the delivery of that oil.
  We are talking about the beginning of an economy for Iraq. If we 
don't put $20 billion into the rebuilding of Iraq, what will those 
people have to do? How can they start their economy from scratch? How 
can they start the creation of jobs if the oil pipelines are being held 
together with rags and cannot deliver the oil?
  It is a package of $87 billion that will be for the security and 
support of our troops, and for the rebuilding of Iraq which, in turn, 
will allow our troops to leave earlier but with the knowledge that the 
people of Iraq will have stability, that Iraq will not be a breeding 
ground for terrorism, and that they will have a justice system and a 
security system in place with their own policemen and their own army to 
protect their borders from the terrorists who are infiltrating their 
borders from Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.
  This is a very important bill, it is a very important request from 
the President, and it is important that we give to the President what 
he needs to do the job Congress has given him the authority to do. 
Congress gave the President the right to declare war on terrorism. 
Congress declared the war. The President is implementing that war, and 
we are going to have to give him the support he asks us to give. It 
would be unthinkable to walk away with the job not yet completed.
  I am very pleased to be supportive of the President and this effort, 
even though it is a difficult situation and a lot of questions have 
been raised.
  Mr. President, we have had a good beginning. We have had the 
beginning of 6,000 individual reconstruction projects. Schools, 
universities, and hospitals have been opened. They are not up to the 
standards we hope they will be, but it was important for the Iraqi 
children to start school; it was important they have health care 
services. We have gone in to augment the opening of those facilities.
  Iraq is also in the process of transitioning to a governing council. 
We hope they will be able to form their own government, create their 
own constitution, have representatives of their people for whom they 
can vote. That is what we hope to leave them.
  We have made a very strong beginning. If we look at where we started, 
which was absolutely a deteriorating infrastructure, we are making 
progress. What we hear about in the news is very disconcerting. We hear 
about a terrorist putting a landmine in a road and it blows up one of 
our people or one of their people. We hear of terrorists tearing down 
the electricity grids and cutting the water supply. This shows, if 
nothing else does, that

[[Page 23548]]

this is the terrorists' last stand. They do not want the United States 
to succeed. They do not want the Iraqi people to have a stable 
lifestyle. They want there to be foment and unrest. They want people 
who are desperate for change. We are not going to let them win. That is 
why this bill is so important.
  I am pleased to talk about the important accomplishments and the 
importance of what we are doing in Iraq. The President and Congress 
must come together and do what is right for the security of the 
American people, and doing what is right means we will give the 
President the money which he has asked for the rebuilding of Iraq and 
for the protection and support of our troops in the field.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Texas. She 
certainly expresses the view of at least all of us on this side of the 
aisle in terms of the challenge we have before us and our willingness 
to take on that challenge and to complete this task we have begun in 
the protection of our country.
  There are probably a number of questions that are frequently asked 
with regard to this issue. They should be discussed, and indeed they 
have been discussed. So, frankly, I hope we do not string this issue 
out any longer than it needs to be. We should have a reasonable debate 
and get on with what we need to do. I am very hopeful, as well, that 
the idea of some of the discussion is not designed to be political. 
Unfortunately, many issues do that. These are genuine issues. They are 
not political issues.
  Some of the questions that are asked: Why can we not provide the 
resources for the troops and let the Iraqis do their own thing with 
their infrastructure? I think one of the differences we have, that we 
might not have with some other place, is Iraq has suffered from decades 
of corruption and mismanagement from Saddam, where he built dozens of 
lavish palaces for himself and his family and funded destruction 
programs. He involved himself in war in Kuwait, and he failed to invest 
in the country's critical infrastructure. As a result, more than $100 
billion in debt is unable to be tapped for their own resources. The 
stability of Iraq and Afghanistan is what is important so that they are 
no longer the breeding grounds for terrorism.
  So it is important that we are helpful in restructuring the things 
that have not been done for many years prior to our involvement there.
  Some ask: Why is rebuilding Iraq costing more than the administration 
said it would? Has the administration been honest about their analysis 
of the costs?
  Again, that is a legitimate question. Under Saddam, Iraq was one of 
the most tightly controlled and secretive societies in the world. Until 
the country was liberated, it was hard to know exactly how much 
internal damage or neglect had been suffered in everything from the 
electrical grid to water and sewage. In addition, rebuilding efforts 
have been hampered, of course, by the remnants of the regime and 
foreign terror groups that are there. It has been very difficult, in 
the long term, to understand what these costs would be.
  What are other countries realistically going to contribute to the 
reconstruction effort, and what are the expectations for the Madrid 
donor conference? It seems as if there is now more support for doing 
something in terms of restructuring than we had in the combat stage. We 
expect that many members of the community will participate, as well as 
some international financial institutions and organizations, such as 
the United Nations. Quite frankly, when we start doing this I believe 
we will see some of the European economic interests there. Some of them 
were there before in a business sense, and they will return again. We 
have had discussions with these donors individually, and they are 
planned for the conference. We also need to review the assessments 
being done by the U.N.
  What is our exit strategy? Again, that is a very difficult issue, 
particularly on timing. We know what we want to accomplish, but it is 
not always easy to know how long it will take to achieve those kinds of 
things.
  After 9/11, the President told the American people that he would 
confront the threats to our Nation before they reached our shores. Our 
troops are performing a vital task right now, and that is what they are 
doing. They are liberators, not occupiers. We bring freedom to those 
oppressed people and help the Iraqi people. It is interesting that all 
we hear about are the difficult times--and there are difficult times, 
and I understand that. The media, or whoever it is, speaks of those 
difficult and tragic things at the top of the news. The improvements 
that are being made and the support that is there is not always as well 
understood as are the difficulties.
  So I think we are making good progress. As we have pointed out, in 
just 5 months many things have happened that need to be done. The more 
that happens, the more support we will have from the Iraqi people, and 
we can begin to move rather soon.
  We have enough forces in the region. That is always a question that 
is being asked. I mentioned it before, but in the professional judgment 
of the military commanders, who are the ones who really know, the 
130,000 troops recently in Iraq can carry out the mission. Some of the 
marines have been sent back to the United States, knowing that if they 
are needed, of course, they could go there.
  One of the last figures I heard was about 25,000 troops from other 
countries are there, and that is a good thing. Of course, we are 
dealing with an action at the United Nations, so there will be more 
input from the United Nations into what we are doing, and I think that 
is good.
  So these are some of the questions that are asked, and I think they 
are indeed legitimate questions.
  No one wishes we were there. We all wish the whole terrorism thing 
had not happened, but it has, and the Senator from Texas mentioned why 
we do not want it to happen in our country. We need to deal with 
terrorism where it exists and not to let it happen here. I am hopeful 
that this is an issue we can deal with, and deal with it in a timely 
way.

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