[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24255-24256]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        WASHINGTON WAR WATCHERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, in 2 days the House Committee on 
Appropriations will take up the $87 billion that the administration has 
requested for Iraq and Afghanistan. This is the second down payment on 
top of the first $75 billion that has been requested. Secretary Powell 
and others in the administration recently said this is a down payment, 
and that they will be back in 6 months from now with an additional 
request on top of the $160-some-odd billion we spent on these two 
operations, for more money for reconstruction of both Afghanistan and 
Iraq. This funding contains a $20 billion

[[Page 24256]]

request, taxpayer financed, for the reconstruction of Iraq.
  Back in April I introduced a bill called the American Parity Act, 
which required that for every dollar we invest in Iraq's health care, 
education, and transportation and infrastructure we also invest here at 
home. Today we have 102 cosponsors.
  Now, I think everybody that has signed on to this agrees that the 
same values that we hold for Iraq, we must pledge for all Americans. 
The same goals we envision for Iraq's future, we must envision for 
America's future. Unfortunately, to date, we have had two priorities, 
two sets of values, two sets of books, one for Iraq and one for 
America. I did a T-shirt the other day which I brought down to the 
floor showing all of the investments we had planned for Iraq and all 
the cuts here at home we had planned in the corresponding areas.
  Now, two colleagues before me who are part of my freshman class from 
the other party talked about waste, fraud, and abuse. I would like to 
bring to their attention, and I have the same sense that if we were 
able to cut some of the waste, fraud, and abuse, we could fund other 
initiatives dealing with the uninsured in this country.
  But to point to some waste, fraud, and abuse: in the President's 
request for Iraq, there is $3.6 million for 600 radios and telephones 
at $6,000 each. I highly recommend that maybe we should hear the word 
Radio Shack. If you cannot get a telephone for less than $6,000, you 
may want to consider Radio Shack.
  We have also in the request $2.5 million for pickup trucks at $33,000 
apiece. Has anybody ever heard of zero percent financing by GM, Ford, 
or Chrysler? You can get a pickup truck for less than $33,000. Mr. 
Speaker, $100 million to hire 500 people at $200,000 a person to 
investigate crimes. Mr. Speaker, $20 million to finance 200 election 
experts, election experts for 6 months at $100,000 per expert. Now, I 
come from Chicago. I think I can get a ward committeeman to do it just 
slightly cheaper than that.
  So if we are interested in waste, fraud, and abuse, I recommend maybe 
we take a look at what we are recommending as a first down payment of 
what will be a total bill to the American taxpayers for $60 billion in 
the area of waste, fraud, and abuse.
  If I may take some more time, they did not want to mention the $5.6 
billion for the new electric grid in Iraq. Yet here in America, what 
did we get for that? The blackout. And how much is invested in 
America's electric future, in our energy future, in a massive 
investment here? Zero. We could create 100,000 jobs. We do not mention 
that when it comes to waste, fraud, and abuse.
  In the area of health care, we are talking about $150 million more 
for a new children's hospital in Basra. Yet, in that same week, we had 
a report that there are 10 million uninsured Americans. And what is the 
initiative? We cut the funding for the children's health insurance 
program. We have 44 million uninsured Americans, and not a single bill 
on the floor to insure the uninsured Americans.
  In the area of police, there is $4 billion planned for the Iraqi 
police, and yet what do we do? We cut the 100,000 police program here 
in the United States practicing community policing at $1 billion. Mr. 
Speaker, $5 billion for water, drinkable water in Iraq and wetlands 
restoration and irrigation; yet we have frozen the funds for the Corps 
of Engineers, and we do not fund any cleanup and improvement in the 
Great Lakes of America where 40 million Americans get their daily 
drinking water. I am interested in the area of waste, fraud, and abuse; 
and I would like to talk about it.
  In the area of veterans, we have a $6 billion cut here at home for 
our veterans for their health care and other benefits, and yet what do 
we plan? To rebuild Iraq's national army.
  So when it comes to waste, fraud, and abuse, I would hope my 
colleagues would join me on the floor and talk about some of the waste, 
the fraud, and the abuse that will go on in the $60 billion 
reconstruction project the American taxpayers are being asked to pay 
and foot the bill for, while 3.1 million Americans have lost their 
jobs, 5 more million Americans have lost their health insurance, $1 
trillion worth of corporate assets are foreclosed on, and 5 million 
Americans have walked out of middle class into poverty; and that has 
been the net result over the last 3 years in economic stewardship.

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