[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24386-24392]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 QUESTIONS FOR THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Murphy). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) 
is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on the topic of my special order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Maryland?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I come tonight to address this House along 
with my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus, and I guess one 
thing, as I heard our previous speaker talking about Martin Luther 
King, I could not help but think about a quote that King stated many 
years ago when he said that when you talk about peace, it is not just 
the absence of conflict but it is the presence of justice.
  And tonight the Congressional Black Caucus, as we did last week and 
we will continue to do over and over again, come forward in the spirit 
of justice, justice with regard to the American people, who have a 
right to know what is going on in their country and with the tax 
dollars that they work so hard to give to our national Treasury. I 
think they want justice so that they can fully understand why it is 
that just a few months ago the President came asking for close to $80 
billion and this Congress gave it to him for Iraq. I think they will 
consider justice to simply be that they now have answers to the 
questions with regard to the present $87 billion, questions answered 
which will help them understand what is going on and why it is that 
their tax dollars are being spent.
  Those same citizens, like the Congressional Black Caucus, are very 
clear with regard to support of our troops. We support our troops with 
everything we have got. As I often say, we support our troops 1 million 
percent, but the fact is that, if justice is to prevail and if peace is 
to really come to this world, we also need to know and the American 
citizens need to know whether those troops, while we applaud them over 
and over again, whether they are receiving justice when they ask the 
question and send the letters to their congressmen and to their 
representatives and to their Senators asking what do we have to do to 
get the things that we need to address this war that we are in?
  So I want to make it very clear that there is not the slightest bit 
of reluctance to support our troops. We do. But now we must begin to 
answer some questions, and we presented these questions to the 
President before, and we will present them over and over again.
  Recently, we in the Congressional Black Caucus released the 
principles that will guide our evaluation of the administration's $87 
billion supplemental funding request regarding the United States' 
involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. This latest $87 billion request, I 
should note, is in addition to the $80 billion that Congress 
appropriated just last spring.
  In the Congressional Black Caucus statement of principles, we 
declared the following: The administration should provide to the 
Congress the full details of the information relied upon by the 
President in his decision to go to war. We asked for a detailed 
accounting from the administration as to all funds expended to date, 
including details about all contracts for works in or related to Iraq. 
We asserted that the President should provide full details about how 
the efforts will be paid for, including a full accounting of how and to 
what extent Iraqi resources could be used to reduce the United States' 
costs. We indicated that the President should provide the Congress with 
a detailed plan showing how the proposed new funding will be spent, 
distinguishing between what will be used for the protection and 
maintenance of our troops and what will be used for the rebuilding of 
Iraq.
  We went on to say, and we declare that the President should provide 
full details about the future obligations of

[[Page 24387]]

the United States and about how responsibility and authority for these 
obligations will be shared with the United Nations and other nations 
around the world. And we asked that the President set forth the 
criteria he will expect to be met before bringing our troops home.
  Mr. Speaker, next week this House will vote on the administration's 
$87 billion request. Personally and on behalf of my colleagues within 
the Congressional Black Caucus, I once again pledge our unwavering 
support for our troops. We must provide our brave young men and women 
with all the resources they need to complete their mission and return 
home as soon as possible.
  I suggest, however, that our evaluation of the administration's 
supplemental funding request requires further consideration of what 
precisely the mission of our troops in Iraq will be from this point 
forward. That question is central to the last four CBC principles that 
I just mentioned, and it is central to the concerns of the 26 million 
Americans the Congressional Black Caucus members represent.
  I must note that we are being asked to appropriate this $87 billion, 
more than twice the amount of the entire Homeland Security Department's 
fiscal year 2004 budget. I must also acknowledge that we have not yet 
provided the Federal funding needed by our States and local governments 
to assure the security of our people right here at home.
  I believe that there is substantial support in this House for a 
continuing and significant United States role in the rebuilding of Iraq 
and the transition of Iraq to a democratic peaceful society. Once 
again, however, we are faced with a critical issue of national policy. 
Must the United States substantially go it alone in financing the 
reconstruction of Iraq? Or, in the alternative, will the administration 
be able to obtain substantial United Nations involvement and financial 
participation?
  The answers to these questions will be central to our evaluation of 
the administration's $87 billion request and especially the $20 billion 
plus requested for rebuilding Iraq.
  As I speak, Mr. Speaker, the administration's proposed resolution 
seeking U.N. support is in trouble within the United Nations Security 
Council. The critical question appears to be this: Who will control the 
reconstruction of Iraq, the United Nations or the United States? We 
also rapidly are approaching the International Donors Conference in 
Madrid which is scheduled for October 27. The administration is 
maintaining the position that we, not the U.N., must remain in control 
of the Iraq process. This is the current situation. We in the Congress 
are being asked to approve another $87 billion in American funds at a 
time when we are filled with uncertainty.

                              {time}  2030

  The questions that the Congressional Black Caucus have posed have not 
yet been answered. We are uncertain about the role of the UN; we are 
uncertain about what other nations will come forward to help pay the 
costs and how much they are prepared to contribute.
  What we can reasonably conclude is this: Unless the United States is 
prepared to share power and control regarding the future of Iraq with 
the United Nations, we cannot reasonably anticipate that other major 
nations will be willing to share any substantial portion of the costs. 
In addition, thus far we have seen very little reference in the 
administration's proposals with respect to the appropriate use of 
Iraq's own resources to help rebuild the Middle Eastern Nation.
  I should also note that according to an examination the Marshall Plan 
analogy, a report prepared by the minority staff of the Committee on 
Appropriations, the $20-plus billion we are being asked to appropriate 
far exceeds Iraq's need for humanitarian assistance.
  Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world, with 112 
billion barrels of proven oil reserves and another probable 220 billion 
barrels. At the current world market rate, the value of the proven 
Iraqi reserves would amount to $2.8 trillion, together with another 
$5.5 trillion in probable oil reserves. However, the administration's 
supplemental request does not seem to contain any plans to utilize this 
resource to cover the costs for building Iraq, as President Bush 
suggested that we would do before we began this war.
  Even those of us who are inclined to support U.S. assistance in 
rebuilding Iraq must question the size of this request in the context 
of our national priorities.
  Mr. Speaker, I must also conclude that serious questions about our 
motives would be raised abroad if we maintained unilateral control over 
the reconstruction process while using Iraqi oil resources to pay part 
of the cost.
  Recall the core issue that we face, however: Who will control the 
process, us, or the U.N.? Would not UN control of the rebuilding 
process make the use of Iraqi resources far more acceptable, both in 
Iraq and abroad? Would not UN participation reduce the cost to the 
American people? Would not power sharing with the UN allow us to bring 
our troops home faster? Would not the truly international process give 
far greater legitimacy to the process and results of an Iraqi 
reconstruction?
  These, I submit, are serious questions that must be answered to our 
satisfaction before we can justifiably appropriate more than $20 
billion in additional American funds.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the great 
State of California (Ms. Lee).
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, first let me just say I rise tonight with my 
Congressional Black Caucus colleagues, led by our very strong, wise and 
courageous chairman, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings). I just 
want to say thank you to the gentleman for once again ensuring that the 
Congressional Black Caucus has the opportunity to put President Bush on 
notice of our concerns with his $87 billion appropriation request to 
fund the ongoing war in Iraq.
  Now, the gentleman from Maryland referenced the Statement of 
Principles which the Congressional Black Caucus actually put together 
and released several weeks ago. I would like to reference, Mr. Speaker, 
the Statement of Principles which we actually submitted in October of 
2002 to put this in a bit more of a historical perspective.
  In October of 2002, the Congressional Black Caucus issued the 
following statement: ``We oppose a unilateral first-strike action by 
the United States without a clearly demonstrated and imminent threat of 
attack on the United States. Only Congress has the authority to declare 
war. Every conceivable diplomatic option must be exhausted.
  ``A unilateral first strike would undermine the moral authority of 
the United States, destabilize the Middle East region and undermine the 
ability of our Nation to address unmet domestic priorities.
  ``Further, any post-strike plan for maintaining stability in the 
region would be costly and would require a long-term commitment.''
  That was in October of 2002.
  Mr. Speaker, this money follows an initial $78 billion special 
appropriation which I believe was passed in April and, of course, a 
defense budget that already tops $368 to $370 billion. Those climbing 
numbers are not only daunting in themselves, but they also represent 
what is this second installment for the Iraq invasion, a process that 
may be endless.
  I reached this conclusion because this proposal provides no answers 
to the questions that it begs, which our chairman just laid out, no 
answers to the questions with regard to a timetable for Iraqi 
independence and an exit strategy for American troops. None of the 
answers to these questions have been provided. Before appropriating 
another taxpayer dollar, I believe we must have an answer to each and 
every one of these questions.
  Mr. Speaker, some people will come to the floor and say that we must 
support this Presidential request without question because we have to 
support our troops. Well, Mr. Speaker, we all

[[Page 24388]]

support our troops. As the daughter of a career military officer, this 
is very important to me, and I want to see them safe at home as soon as 
possible.
  In the meantime, I want them to have the health benefits that they 
deserve, the bulletproof vests that they need, and the basic supplies, 
the toiletries, the basics that they need that really have been denied 
to them. I want to know that our wounded receive proper treatment and 
proper respect.
  Our veterans deserve more than what they are getting. Disabled 
veterans deserve full retirement benefits and their families deserve 
full survivor benefits. They have made the ultimate sacrifice and need 
to be strengthened in terms of survivor benefits. How can we possibly 
do anything less?
  I do not know where this first $78 billion went, but I support our 
troops, and I think that we need to understand that this $78 billion 
hopefully should have gone, we believe, to have supported our troops. I 
am not sure what happened to that money.
  So in supporting our troops, I think I can say very clearly that I do 
not support the quagmire they are now trapped in. This $87 billion does 
not come with a plan to get our troops out of Iraq or to create a real 
transition to UN authority and then Iraqi independence. Instead, it 
supports and extends the guerilla war, without an accounting of how we 
got here or how we will get out.
  The American people have a right to know the answers to these 
questions before they are asked to spend one more penny on this war. 
Accountability and transparency are among the fundamental principles 
that we are trying to really impart as it relates to our policy to 
Iraq.
  How high will these bills go? Some experts tell us it could go as 
high as $400 billion, or even higher. Accountability also demands that 
we know who is making money off of the war. Billions of dollars are 
going to Halliburton and to Bechtel and other corporations, many of 
them, of course, with ties to this administration.
  Now, I am very pleased that Dr. Martin Luther King's vision, his 
perspective and his fight for peace and justice, has been part of our 
debate, and I want to just mention another perspective and lesson that 
Dr. King provided to us in the sixties. He warned us, and this was a 
quote that Dr. King provided and gave us in terms of instruction, he 
said, ``In the wasteland of war, the expenditure of resources knows no 
restraints.''
  Dr. King knew that war could be a bottomless pit into which this 
great Nation could pour all of its resources, all of its young people, 
and really never come out any safer nor any stronger.
  So we need a map, and we need a timetable to really get us out of 
this bottomless pit, and we need a clear transition strategy, so that 
we can achieve these goals. We need a timetable, so that we have an 
understanding of when we will get out.
  Let me just say we need to also leave an Iraq that is stable and 
secure in terms of a transition, but we need to leave. The Iraqi people 
deserve to run their own country. The international community will be a 
major part of that transition.
  We have deep obligations, unmet needs here at home, which our 
Congressional Black Caucus Statement of Principles laid out. We have 
schools that need to be reconstructed. We have health care needs. Here 
we have a country with 44 million people uninsured. We have health care 
needs that must be expanded here at home. We have housing that needs to 
be built.
  We also have other obligations internationally, with 42 million 
people in the world with HIV and AIDS. The administration has not even 
come up with the full $3 billion to fight a disease that killed 3 
million people last year. We have been fighting very hard for that this 
year, and still cannot get that extra $1 billion.
  According to the National Priorities Project in my home State of 
California, taxpayers will be asked to contribute over $11 billion to 
fund this supplemental appropriation. That money could pay for $2 
billion in school construction, over 7,500 new affordable housing 
units, almost $2 billion in infrastructure projects, and fund over 
30,000 new firefighters and first responders. It would provide health 
care coverage for over 1 million people, and, in the process, create 
over 150,000 additional new jobs. So there are real costs to our own 
country with regard to this very failed and misguided foreign policy.
  Finally, let me say in conclusion, yes, we must support our troops, 
and let us support our troops by forging a transition strategy that 
will get them home. Let us not blindly sign another blank check, 
another installment on the President's foreign policy doctrine, and 
this is what it really is, his foreign policy doctrine of preemption. 
Over 300 Americans have died in Iraq, over 1,200 have been wounded, and 
we do not have any real idea of how many Iraqis have died because the 
Pentagon refuses to try to even count them. So let us find our way out 
of this quagmire and out of this wasteland of war.
  I want to thank the chairman again for his leadership and for this 
special order. Again, we are here tonight to wake up America.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman for her 
statement. As you were talking, I could not help but think about the 
call that I got the other day from one of my constituents who has now 
been laid off from a factory that closed.
  She saw the same national news story that I saw where several Iraqi 
teachers were being paid, and we all welcome education and everything, 
but what they said in the newscast and what she was so upset about is 
the newscaster said they are now being paid six times what they were 
earning before the war. She said it just hurt her so badly to see those 
dollars being paid out, and yet she was about to be homeless.
  So there is just something that I think the Caucus has consistently 
emphasized. Along with being very supportive of our troops, we have 
also used the word ``balance'' over and over again. We must approach 
our family issues with balance, our lives with balance, the things we 
do with balance. Clearly, I think the gentlewoman will agree with me, 
what seems to be happening here is clearly out of balance.
  One of the things we want the American people to keep in mind is that 
we are not talking about just this $87 billion. We are also talking 
about close to $80 billion that we just gave in the spring, and one of 
the big questions that we put forth is when is the next request going 
to come and how much will that be for?
  Ms. LEE. That is right. As I said earlier, I believe that it is very 
important that our troops are supported. This initial $78 billion 
should have gone to support our troops, with all of the necessary 
equipment and protective vests and everything that they need. We do not 
know where that $78 billion went.

                              {time}  2045

  We do not know where we are going with this. This is just the second 
installment, and all of the estimates have been $400 billion-plus, 5 
years-plus. We have got to say no to this, I would say to the 
gentleman, I believe. I think that it is about time that we ask the 
hard questions; and if we do not receive the answers, we must try to 
figure out a way to ensure that America understands what the stakes are 
and what the risks are.
  Finally, with regard to education, yes, I can understand why this 
young lady was very upset. We cannot even fund and have not funded 
Leave No Child Behind. We promised the American people that we would 
create some parity in our school system and a quality education for 
young people, and that was probably rhetoric only. The reality is not 
there. So this $87 billion, part of this certainly could go to ensure 
that our young people have the best possible public education that we 
can provide.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman also spoke about the 
principles of the Congressional Black Caucus, and there were two sets 
of principles as the gentlewoman referenced. We had one set of 
principles that came prior to the war, and then we had another set of 
principles that we agreed upon with regard to this $87

[[Page 24389]]

billion in future spending. The man who really helped us pull all of 
that together, who has just spent a phenomenal amount of effort in 
trying to make sure that we put forth principles that made sense, that 
were common sense, that we believe the entire Nation should be asking, 
was our colleague, the gentleman from the great State of North Carolina 
(Mr. Watt), and I yield to him.
  Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman, the gentleman from 
Maryland (Chairman Cummings), for yielding and for organizing this 
Special Order this evening to talk about the Congressional Black 
Caucus's position on the war and to make some commonsense points about 
what that position should be and what the Congress's position should 
be.
  Based on what my colleagues have already said, it is quite apparent 
that the Congressional Black Caucus has standing to be here for at 
least two reasons. Number one, we have standing because only 34 out of 
38 of our Members voted against the original war resolution, against a 
backdrop where we had set out five clear principles that we would be 
measuring the President's original request to delegate authority to him 
to go to war against. And almost as if we had some crystal ball at that 
time, the fifth of the five principles stated as follows: it said, any 
post-strike plan for maintaining stability in the region would be 
costly and would require a long-term commitment. It was as if we were 
forecasting, even back in October of 2002, the exact circumstance in 
which we find ourselves today.
  We did not have any crystal ball; what we had was common sense that 
told us if the President went this course alone without a worldwide, 
international coalition, we were likely to be there by ourselves, 
paying for the war and the postwar responsibilities by ourselves; that 
we would destabilize what was already an unstable situation in the 
Middle East even further, which has turned out to be the case.
  Our own common sense in our communities says, hey, you simply do not 
fight somebody unless you have exhausted every possible, conceivable 
effort, short of fighting somebody. I mean, that is just a commonsense 
rule of the street where many of us have had to exist. You just simply 
do not go and fight somebody, and you do not go and make a unilateral 
attack against somebody without a demonstrated, imminent threat that 
somebody is getting ready to slap you or your mama. I mean, that is 
basically commonsense principles that we outlined in October of 2002.
  So we have standing to be here, not because we came to say we told 
you so, but because we applied to our own voting pattern in the 
original war resolution the principles that we thought were commonsense 
principles that should govern our country. Unfortunately, this 
administration failed to apply those principles; and, as a result, we 
are here today.
  Now, I want to zero in on several of the new eight principles that we 
established a couple of weeks ago to evaluate the President's $87 
billion additional request. First of all, we reaffirmed our commitment 
to the original principles that we had adopted back in October of 2002. 
We were not starting from scratch; we were working in a context where 
if we knew that if the President had followed those original 
principles, we would not be here today. But the second principle is 
quite interesting, because despite the fact that the President had not 
followed our principles, our second new principle was to say that 
despite the President's failure to follow our original statement of 
principles in his decisions leading to the war, we expressed our full 
resolve to support and protect our troops and their families. So as 
both of my colleagues who have spoken to this point have indicated, 
there should be no question about our commitment to the troops.
  But before we give a President who has already demonstrated that he 
is inept and demonstrated that he is unwilling to follow commonsense 
principles for an additional $87 billion, we think some other things 
ought to happen.
  First of all, we think this administration should provide an 
accounting of all funds expended to date that were previously approved 
by the Congress, including details about all contracts for work in or 
related to Iraq. In my community, I do not know about my colleagues, 
but in my community, there are substantial questions being raised about 
how Halliburton can end up with a contract in excess of $1 billion in 
Iraq, and now people are asking, well, why can the Iraqi people not do 
some of this work? If we are trying to help them, why is it that we are 
being so paternalistic that only the United States can do the work; we 
will not even hire any of them to do the work on the ground? We are 
hiring U.S. companies, giving none of our small businesses, our 
minority businesses the opportunity to participate in those work 
opportunities?
  Our next principle was the President should provide sufficient 
details about how the proposed funding will be spent to enable Congress 
and its committees to evaluate separately funding proposed for the 
protection and maintenance of our troops, which all of us agree is a 
high moral imperative. Despite the fact that the President did this 
unilaterally, our troops did not make that decision. We have got to 
protect them. But we want a separate accounting of the money that is 
going to be spent on the proposed rebuilding of Iraq.
  Now, why do we want a separate accounting? Common sense again. We 
have neighborhoods in our own country that have inadequate plumbing, 
inadequate electricity. We had our own blackout. And if we are going to 
provide assistance to Iraq, we ought to be focusing on providing 
assistance in the same kind of settings in our own communities that we 
are providing in Iraq. We ought to make sure that we are not giving 
Iraq more than Iraq had before we even ever bombed there. At least show 
us what it is that we destroyed by bombing them; maybe we have some 
moral obligation to rebuild that part of Iraq. But for the life of me, 
I cannot figure out why we would think Iraq would be a higher priority 
to fund basic infrastructure than other countries with substantially 
less per capita incomes.
  There are many countries throughout this world that have a lot less 
per capita income than Iraq, and there are a lot of countries that I 
would get to helping and providing assistance to before I would get 
down to Iraq, trying to provide this assistance solely against a 
backdrop where we have gone in and bombed that country.
  We think the President should provide an accounting of Iraqi 
resources which we were told in advance the country was going to apply 
to rebuilding Iraq. Iraq has probably got more oil under the ground 
than most of the assets that we have here in our country. Why can they 
not use their own assets to help pay for the cost of rebuilding? I 
mean, that is just common sense. We try to tell people not to be 
paternalistic. I mean, you have to want to help yourself before we want 
to give you anything. That is what we have said to the American people. 
That is what we have said to people on welfare right here in our 
country. You got to get up and work yourself and use your own 
resources, so why can we not apply the same principles to Iraq that we 
apply here at home?
  These are just commonsense principles, Mr. Speaker; and it is just 
impossible for us to go back into our communities and say that we 
should be doing this, providing another blank check to this President, 
without a full accounting for the $79 billion that has already been 
spent and without any accounting for how he is going to pay for the 
additional $87 billion.
  Now, we have been saying, all of us in the Congressional Black Caucus 
have been saying for months that if this is a priority, then we ought 
to pay for it as a Nation and not pass the debt along to our children. 
Every dime of this $87 billion is going straight to the deficit and 
coming straight from borrowed money. The effect of that is to pass that 
obligation along to our children, rather than paying for it ourselves.
  Now, who ought to be paying for it? I think who ought to be paying 
for it is

[[Page 24390]]

the people that we gave the tax break to this year who are making over 
$150,000 to $200,000 a year. If they think this is a priority, if the 
country thinks this is a priority, then let us pay for it as a 
priority. So we think the tax cuts should be rolled back, especially at 
the highest levels, and maybe even at the middle-income levels, to have 
all of us share in the sacrifice, if we think this is a national 
priority. Those are the kinds of questions that we have asked this 
President to focus on and to provide attention to and to give us 
information about as a condition for asking us to support an additional 
$87 billion.
  Mr. Speaker, I will say to my colleagues that this Congressional 
Black Caucus has applied commonsense principles, the principles that we 
grew up in our communities understanding and abiding by; the principles 
that we have heard applied in our own country in communities by the 
people who make decisions.

                              {time}  2100

  You have got to be responsible yourself before we are going to be 
responsible for you. And we think that is a good, good criteria to 
measure this request against. And unless we get answers and responses 
to these principles, these eight principles that we have set out to 
evaluate this request against, I think you are going to see the 
Congressional Black Caucus vote in as unified a fashion against the $87 
billion request as we were against the original war resolution. And 
that is where we should be out of responsibility to our constituents, 
and our Nation, and our children, and the future of this country.
  I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) for convening this 
Special Order and for yielding time to me. I could go further, but I 
know there are other people who want to talk about this. And there are 
some other important principles that I need to touch on, but I am sure 
my colleagues are going to hit them before this Special Order is over.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. I want to thank the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Watt) for his statement. I am glad that you have over and over again 
reminded all of us that these are just basic, logical, practical 
questions that people would ask in any serious matter.
  But I just wanted to emphasize one thing that you talked about when 
you talked about how there were countries that were a lot worse off 
that are not getting this kind of assistance. And I just reiterate 
something I said a little bit earlier. Iraq has the second largest oil 
reserves in the world, with 112 billion barrels of proven oil reserves 
and another probable 220 billion barrels.
  In the current world rate, the value of proven Iraqi reserves would 
be about $2.8 trillion together with another $5.5 trillion in probable 
oil reserves.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague, the gentlewoman from Michigan 
(Ms. Kilpatrick), who has been at the forefront of our outreach as a 
caucus and has pulled us together on this issue.
  Ms. KILPATRICK. Mr. Chairman of our Congressional Black Caucus, thank 
you for continuing to be the beacon as we speak out and remain the 
conscience of the Congress and the conscience of our country. This is a 
serious time for the world, a serious time for American people. As our 
people struggle to raise their families, to feed them, to house them, 
to clothe them, to send their children to institutions of higher 
education, at a time when unemployment is the highest it has been in 
several years, many people who have worked all of their lives find 
themselves unemployed in this country.
  So we as Members of the Congressional Black Caucus come to the 
American people tonight to ask you to fax, to e-mail, to call and to 
write your Congressperson, your U.S. Senator, and, yes, President Bush. 
It has already been shown that over the last 2 weeks the American 
people get this. Over 60 percent do not want us to spend $87 billion in 
Iraq. Many of them want their own children, their own families, their 
own communities to be able to participate in the American Dream.
  And over the last 2 years, with over 3 million jobs lost across this 
country, the people of America are crying out. And we, the Members of 
the Congressional Black Caucus, come to you, America, and ask you to 
speak up, to fax, to e-mail, to call, and to write the President, your 
United States Senator, and your Congressperson and let us know how you 
feel.
  I am an appropriator. I sit on the Committee on Appropriations and I 
am honored to serve there, one of two people from the State of 
Michigan. Last May this Congress gave, as has been mentioned, $79 
billion to the President, asking no accountability. And you know what, 
American people? We have not gotten it, and that was our mistake. When 
we let that money go in May, we should have asked for accountability. 
And the principles that the Congressional Black Caucus adopted then and 
that we present to you tonight, ask for a full accounting of the $79 
billion.
  The families of many of the people who are active in Iraq and 
Afghanistan today have come to us and other Members of this body to say 
that their sons and daughters do not have the training that they need 
in such a situation, do not have the protective body armor they need to 
protect themselves, and equipment; and they do not have what is needed 
to fight such a war as this that the President declared was over a few 
months ago. The war is not over. We are in a new phase of it.
  And the $79 billion then, which was not spent for training and armor 
and keeping the equipment up to date, the equipment is falling apart. 
They have been fighting in the desert. The PXes where the soldiers get 
their water, their personal items are almost empty. We have got to put 
the money back in for that. The President asked for $87 billion more 
just on September 7.
  I am happy to say that this Congress, both the House and the Senate, 
want to take a look at what he is asking us to do. You see, the $87 
billion on September 7, and the $79 billion in May, is $166 billion. 
There are 13 appropriations bills. This $166 billion is larger than 
seven of those bills combined. We have had over 40 hearings on those 
bills. So we must not rush to do this.
  We must first protect our troops, give the soldiers what they need, 
make sure we do what is right. And as an appropriator and as members of 
the Congressional Black Caucus, we are committed to doing that. $166 
billion over 6 months' time and we have soldiers who do not have the 
protection they need to protect their lives? Many of our vehicles are 
out of operable order.
  Where has the money gone? That is what this Member wants to know. 
Where has the money gone? How much money is really needed right now? I 
support giving the government what they need, giving our troops what 
they need. But we have not been given the documentation. Where is that 
documentation? Where has the money gone? Why can we not get that 
information?
  And as we come to you tonight, America, we want you to ask those same 
questions.
  Appropriations, I sit on the Foreign Operations subcommittee, so I am 
talking to you about what I know, what we get, the little we can sift 
through and find. On the Foreign Operations subcommittee we have had 
two hearings on the reconstruction money. As the President proposed it, 
he asked for $20.3 billion. That is what the two hearings were held on. 
Today it went into the Committee on Appropriations. Tomorrow morning I 
understand the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) of the Committee on 
Appropriations has reduced that by $2 billion. And his mark before us 
tomorrow morning will be for $18 billion.
  Is it needed now? Must we do it all now? Can we fund until January so 
that we can get the information that this caucus has requested in our 
principles? I believe that we have to demand that. And I believe that 
you, America, have to demand that. Why would we build Iraq better than 
Iraq was before we entered it, before we unilaterally struck them? Why? 
Why would we build their roads and bridges and clean water and schools 
and hospitals and justice system when our very same things are 
crumbling? Why? Why will we give them a Cadillac at a time when our 
people are unemployed and we need to help our citizens when we could 
give them a Ford?

[[Page 24391]]

  Most American people want to help them, but they do not want to do it 
at the expense of our own country. That is what we have to talk about. 
That is why we need the information. We do not have to rush for this 
one.
  Tomorrow morning in the Committee on Appropriations, and I will be 
there, one of many Members discussing this supplemental bill that is 
before us, why can we not bifurcate it? Why can we not get the details 
that the troops need, the armies need, the vehicles, the weaponry they 
need and funds for the next 3 months until the first of the year? That 
would give us time to study this.
  Why can we not look at the reconstruction money that is being asked 
for and perhaps fund it for the next 3 months so that we can look into 
the American people's money and at the same time fund those things that 
families need? We as Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are 
demanding that. As has been said already, we believe that we must help 
the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and give them what they need to 
fight this battle.
  I am one who voted against a unilateral strike. We have always been a 
country of defending ourselves. We have never unilaterally struck 
another nation. And there was no imminent threat then. And now the 
President has told us what we already knew, there was no imminent 
threat, that we could have addressed this better. We could have worked 
with the United Nations, 183 nations of the world, and had partners in 
this effort. Yes, Saddam Hussein was a bad man. Yes, we are happy that 
he is gone.
  Iraq is not a poor country. Iraq has the second largest oil reserves 
in the world. The value of those oil reserves are over $2 trillion. 
Why, then, do we take our meager dollars at a time when American 
citizens are suffering and families are out of work and our hospitals 
are closing and our schools are crumbling? And what about our 
blackouts? We had a blackout, America; do not forget that. Your State 
may have been one of them. Mine certainly was. We have got to put our 
electric grids back up. We have got to see that our power companies 
invest back into the power system. I contend we can do both.
  We have got to go back to the United Nations and try to get a 
coalition. The Madrid Conference is coming up in a couple of weeks. 
There we will find out what countries will come to the table and be 
allies with us. We were told in appropriation that 61 small countries, 
61 can only come up with $1 billion. And they want one country to come 
up with $87 billion of your money? I do not think that is necessary.
  And I think, America, the Congressional Black Caucus urges you to 
write, fax, call and e-mail your Congressperson, your U.S. Senator, 
and, yes, our President Bush, to let us know how you feel.
  If we would freeze the highest 1 percent of Americans, the 
millionaires, if we would freeze the tax cut that has been given to 
them over the next 6 years, we could recoup $80 billion. This is a time 
of giving. It is a time that we all must put in.
  Terrorism we must rid in the world. And it is going to take a 
collective, international effort to do that. We have got to do it at 
the same time that we keep our families strong, that we keep our men 
and women working and their families keeping their children together 
and protecting our seniors, who today have to choose between eating and 
getting their medicines, paying their rent and getting their medicines. 
Why are we not talking about that?
  Mr. President, this is not right. And we as Members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, you have our principles. Look at them. Talk 
to us. It is our community too. It is our country too. And if we are 
going to sustain ourselves as the world leaders that we are, if God is 
going to protect us as we carry out the business of the country, I 
think we need more time.
  There is no need to push an $87 billion supplemental through in this 
short period of time. So I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. 
Cummings) for the leadership that he has provided. Thank you to my 
brothers and sisters in the Congressional Black Caucus who remain the 
conscience of the Congress. We come as 39 Members representing over 26 
million people. Many of our districts are not majority African 
Americans. Some are; some are not. We represent Arab Americans, Latino 
Americans, European Americans, Native Americans. We have the microcosm 
in our districts of America.

                              {time}  2115

  And what we are here tonight to say to the American people, you have 
to act. You have to speak now or forever hold your peace. This is 
serious times for America, for our children, for our families and as we 
live, and as members of the caucus who stood here and took the oaths, 
we pledge that we will do our support, we pledge that we will uphold 
this Constitution, and we pledge that we will represent to the very 
best of our ability.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman. I so 
often, Mr. Speaker, after these special orders, we get calls and people 
say, Why do you keep standing? Will you win? Do you think you can win? 
As much as we like to win, I take the words of former Congressman Bill 
Gray, he said, Even if we do not win this battle, we will set the 
trend, and we will be the conscience no matter what.
  Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Murphy). The gentleman from Maryland 
(Mr. Cummings) has approximately 6 minutes remaining.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Meek).
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the members that 
are here on the floor tonight of the Congressional Black Caucus. And I 
must say that we speak fact, and really it is not emotions, it is fact. 
And I am glad that many of the American people have responded in the 
way that they have thus far.
  Sixty percent of Americans do not stand with this administration and 
many of the Members on the other side of the aisle, as it relates to 
this $87 billion appropriations. I can tell you that every day I wake 
up and I walk into this great Capitol of ours, this democracy that we 
worked on for some 200-plus years, and I am just appreciative of being 
a Member of this body.
  Also, I am very glad that not only that the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Pelosi) but others have allowed me to serve on the 
Committee on Armed Services and the Select Committee on Homeland 
Security. I have two young children. I could be home with them, a 
lovely wife, things of that nature, but I think it is important that we 
take the time out, even though we worked all day to be here to share 
with the American people the truth. And I think what is important, if 
the record has been set in any other area, the education, 
transportation, environment, that this administration and Members of 
the other side of the aisle have set as it relates to misinformation, 
not good information, failure, when we were told that we would be 
successful, I think we need to take that to a very strong point.
  I have to go back to Desert Storm some 10 years ago and our 
investment in that particular effort. The cost of it was $61 billion, 
$61 billion. We are looking at a supplemental now that is $87 billion. 
And that is not $61 billion that we paid because our only share of that 
was 12 percent which was $7.4 billion by the President's father, 
President Bush, that had a coalition, a real coalition. And many of the 
Arab states or the Arab league was there because Saddam Hussein needed 
to be dealt with and those individuals in Iraq needed to be dealt with.
  We just gave $79 billion, you heard my colleague on the Committee on 
Appropriations, that has yet to be accounted for. Also, now we are 
talking about $87 billion, which has now moved us Americans up to $166 
billion.
  Now, these are not small numbers. They are going to have an effect on 
our economy. We talk about shock and awe in Iraq and that was pretty 
good for about 4 or 5 months. And I must say that I commend our troops 
and our

[[Page 24392]]

men and women. I am not talking about the individuals in uniforms. I am 
talking about the individuals that are wearing shirts and ties, that 
are running around here on cellular phones, that are holding press 
conferences, the Defense Secretary, the President of the United States 
and even Members of this Congress that stand up and talk about how they 
support the troops and how dare you question me, I, Secretary, 
President, Vice President, on our efforts against the war on terrorism.
  I must say that I would be ashamed to hold a press conference knowing 
that seven American soldiers, not coalition forces, seven American men 
and women are injured daily in Iraq. I am not talking about the 
numbers, over 177 troops have died since the President landed on the 
aircraft carrier.
  Let us talk dollars and cents for a moment. Let us talk about 
appropriations. I am not on the committee but I am privy to the 
information. The education budget for this year, just for 2003, $59.7 
billion; transportation, $1.5 billion; homeland security, $35.8 
billion, and we are here with no questions asked. Do not ask me any 
questions or you are unpatriotic for an $87 billion appropriations to 
continue the effort in Iraq.
  I intend to vote against this appropriation. It is not the fact that 
I disagree with the President or I disagree with the majority here in 
this House. I am voting against it because I care about Leave No Child 
Behind. I care about having roads and bridges. I care about our 
environment. I care about that teacher that is probably home right now 
checking papers of a classroom that he or she may have of 50 kids in 
the classroom.
  We are talking about when the terrorists win, the terrorists, as far 
as I am concerned, they are sitting there saying, this is a wonderful 
thing. I have America bent over borrowing money to prove me wrong. For 
those who say we need to fight the war on terrorism in Iraq, so we do 
not have to fight the war here, I do not think there are terrorists 
sitting around saying, well, as long as they are in Iraq, we will focus 
on Iraq. We are not going to focus on the United States of America.
  I have mayors right now in Florida that are trying to figure out how 
they are going to balance their budget because they do not have the 
money to do it because they had to get new security for the water 
plant, they had to put a police officer, not on the street preventing 
crime or fighting crime, but protecting something. In this country, we 
move the yellow, green, yellow, what have you, but we are not willing 
to give them the necessary funds to function.
  I want to share this, and then I will take my seat. How are we going 
to pay for this amount that we have now? That question has not been 
answered. We are going to borrow the money. It is going to cost us $28 
million a week in interest. I think that is very, very important.
  Mr. Speaker, I just want to say in closing that American people need 
to pay very close attention, continue to ask your Members of Congress 
what they are doing and the questions that they are asking.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman and the 
members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking you 
Chairman Cummings and the rest of my CBC colleagues for providing 
leadership on this important issue to the American people.
  Let me say at the outset that my fellow CBC members and I stand 
behind the courageous men and women in the military and are deeply 
grateful for their patriotism, courage and the sacrifices they are 
making.
  Whether it is the courageous Sergeant Shoshanna Johnson or the 
several of my constituents that are laying their lives on the line for 
the country they love, they are all owed our gratitude and support.
  I agree with you and my colleagues Mr. Chairman--as well as a 
significant number of my constituents who have sent me more e-mails 
opposing the President's request to spend an additional $87 billion on 
Iraq than on any other issue--that the administration should provide an 
accounting of all funds expended to date that were previously 
appropriated by the Congress, including details about all contracts for 
work in or related to Iraq.
  We can't give the president a blank check particularly since there 
has been no real accountability for the already provided $63 billion 
for Iraq. And especially with frequent reports of equipment failure, 
and our men and women not getting the level of protection they should.
  It is true that we have a responsibility to rebuild the 
infrastructure in Iraq, with emphasis on ``re,'' but we must also 
remember that we have many unmet needs here at home.
  We need to make investments in health care and my colleagues on the 
other minority caucuses and I are working on a comprehensive bill to 
address the causes of health disparities in our communities which will 
require at least the same $900 million proposed for health in Iraq, to 
make the kind of investment in prevention, and control and treatment of 
the chronic diseases and to close the gaps that are driving up the cost 
of health care. And we need to include a comprehensive prescription 
program and mental health party.
  In my own area, my constituents are severely challenged when it comes 
to access to health care because we have a large low income population 
and a Medicaid program which places a cap on payments to us and 
requires us to adhere to a local match which treats as though we were 
one of the wealthiest areas of the country.
  In announcing our statement of principles, we in the Congressional 
Black Caucus, are also very concerned about reports which suggest that 
the reconstruction of Iraq is being done in a cost efficient manner 
through the utilization of local Iraqis in the rebuilding process, for 
example, which is apparently being rejected in favor of very expensive 
projects that only certain companies can do. It is important that the 
American people have the assurance that we are not, through this 
process, just making friends of the Administration wealthy or more 
wealthy, which appears to be the current goal.
  If the President truly needs this money, then there should be no 
problem or barrier to his giving the Congress and the American people 
an accounting of how previously appropriated funds for Iraq were spent, 
a plan for future spending and an exit strategy. And the administration 
should be willing to pay for it out of the high end of the tax cut.
  It is irresponsible for the President and his supporters to continue 
to call for and threaten to increase tax cuts after getting us into 
this war and rebuilding effort on flimsy evidence and with so many 
needs here at home going unaddressed.
  This Body gave a blank check before without adequate information. We 
cannot and must not do it again.

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