[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 24470-24491]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN SECURITY 
                AND RECONSTRUCTION ACT, 2004--Continued


                           Amendment No. 1830

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There are 4 minutes equally divided on the 
Bingaman amendment.
  Mr. STEVENS. This is a very serious amendment.
  Parliamentary inquiry. There are 2 minutes on each side on the 
Bingaman amendment?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.
  Mr. STEVENS. Does the Senator wish to speak first?
  Mr. BINGAMAN. I will defer to the Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. STEVENS. I will yield our time to Senator Warner, chairman of the 
Armed Services Committee.
  Mr. WARNER. Go right ahead.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, in previous military campaigns such as 
the first gulf war and Kosovo, and many before that, the Pentagon has 
issued campaign medals to service men and women who served in those 
conflicts. We need to do the very same in the case of our service men 
and women who are serving in Iraq.
  The amendment I am proposing says the Secretaries of the respective 
services may issue an appropriate medal or campaign designation to any 
person who serves in any capacity in the armed services in connection 
with Operation Iraqi Freedom. In my view, this is much preferable to 
the Pentagon's current policy, which is that everyone should get a 
Global War on Terrorism Medal instead of a medal that relates to their 
service in Iraq.
  The service men and women who are risking their lives in Iraq deserve 
to be recognized for their service in that country. This is a major 
military engagement we have gotten into here and there will be a lot of 
service men and women involved. We definitely should make this a 
separate medal.
  That is the thrust of the amendment. Senator Lugar is a cosponsor, 
along with many others. I ask unanimous consent to add Senators Byrd, 
Leahy, and Jeffords to those who are already listed as cosponsors.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I say to my colleagues, I would like to 
think of myself as the last person to ever take the floor of the Senate 
and say a man or a woman proudly wearing the uniform of the United 
States should not receive everything that is offered. But in this 
instance--I do not oppose this--I simply ask you to examine it in the 
sense of fairness. What do you say to the widow of someone who lost his 
life in Afghanistan? What do you say to those who have injured soldiers 
in the Horn of Africa, Liberia, Philippines, Colombia, and other 
places, all engaged in the war on terrorism?
  I do not understand this. I have read it. I have reread it. It says, 
for example, to those serving in Iraq, prohibition of concurrent award 
of Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. They cannot receive it. 
For what reason, I do not know.
  I say to my dear friend, a former member of the Armed Services 
Committee, this is a matter that requires close examination. This issue 
of awarding men and women of the Armed Forces is properly reposed in 
the chairman and the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They acted 
in March of this year to create the Medal for the Global War on 
Terrorism. Our distinguished Senator from South Carolina, while serving 
in the Army, got a star for the European theater for engagements; those 
who crossed the Anzio Beach, those in Africa, a star. There was one 
theater medal with stars given for the various engagements. That is not 
this situation. That says the one who served in Iraq should get 
something special the others do not receive. That is not fair, I say to 
my good friend.
  Accordingly, at the appropriate time, I will move to table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is advised a motion to table is 
not in order.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, this is not intended to prevent the 
Pentagon from issuing any other awards they wish with regard to 
Afghanistan or other locations, but it is clear to me that issuing a 
Global War on Terrorism Medal is not adequate for the service we are 
calling on our men and women to perform in Iraq. We should give them a 
medal for that campaign. That is all the amendment does.
  I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The yeas and nays have already been ordered.

[[Page 24471]]


  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, there is substantial interest in this 
amendment. I don't know if the Senator wishes to have any more time.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I have had plenty of time. I suggest we 
vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time is expired.
  Mr. NICKLES. I ask unanimous consent the Senator from Arizona be 
allowed to speak for 3 minutes and the opposing side be allowed to 
speak for 3 minutes.
  Mr. REID. Reserving the right to object, we are working very hard 
before the White House meeting to get in another vote. Could we limit 
this? I know everyone wants to hear these speeches, but could we try a 
minute or so on each side. Otherwise, we will waste the entire 
afternoon with White House meetings.
  Mr. NICKLES. I renew my request to 2 minutes on each side.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, none of us understands a prohibition on a 
concurrent award of any other medal. This is unprecedented. Never in 
the history of our military has the Senate or Congress mandated the 
awarding of one medal or the prohibiting of an awarding of another 
medal.
  We all want to honor the men and women who have served in the 
military and have sacrificed. Where is it that the Senator from New 
Mexico gets the expertise or the knowledge to deny any medal that is 
judged by the leaders of the military and the President of the United 
States? It is very laudable to award a medal to people who served and 
sacrificed. Instead, the Senator from New Mexico has to complicate it 
to the point where the Senator from Virginia and I have to stand and 
say: What is this all about?
  Mr. NICKLES. Will the Senator from Arizona yield?
  Mr. McCAIN. So the point is, the Senator from New Mexico complicated 
an otherwise straightforward issue by deciding who is in what theater 
of war and what the war on terrorism is about. And the Senator from New 
Mexico should have left it alone.
  Mr. NICKLES. Will the Senator from Arizona yield?
  Mr. McCAIN. I am glad this is a bicameral legislature we have because 
I do not think the House of Representatives would ever agree to such a 
thing, nor would the leaders of our military.
  I yield to the Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. NICKLES. The Senator from Arizona----
  Mr. WARNER. What do you say to the widow of someone who has lost 
their life in Afghanistan?
  Mr. NICKLES addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma is recognized.
  Mr. NICKLES. Correct me if I am wrong. It is my understanding the 
Department of Defense opposes this amendment.
  Mr. WARNER. Correct.
  Mr. NICKLES. For the reasons stated by the Senator from Virginia and 
the Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. That is correct.
  Mr. WARNER. That is correct.
  Mr. McCAIN. I say to the Senator from New Mexico, we should be able 
to work this out to everyone's satisfaction, but if you insist on 
micromanaging to the degree of where people serve and what they are 
eligible for, then we will never be able to honor those men and women 
who serve.
  Why didn't the Senator from New Mexico leave this alone?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time of the Senator has expired.
  The Senator from New Mexico has 2 minutes.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, the Senator from Arizona raises a valid 
point about the prohibition section, which is subsection (d). And I ask 
unanimous consent that be deleted from the amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. STEVENS. Reserving the right to object, I will object because--I 
do object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, the only argument I have heard against 
the amendment that, to me, made good sense was a concern about the 
prohibition provision, subsection (d) of the amendment. I have asked 
permission to delete that and it has been denied.
  So I would just simply suggest to my colleagues that it is more 
appropriate and more consistent with the policy of this country to give 
awards for major military conflicts such as what we have been engaged 
in in Iraq than it is to give a Global War on Terrorism award to 
everything that happens from 9/11 forward. The reality is, the people 
who are serving in Iraq deserve to be recognized for that. That is all 
we are trying to do with this amendment.
  I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.
  Mr. WARNER. How can you elevate a death or a loss in Iraq over one in 
Afghanistan?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will be in order.
  The Senator from New Mexico has the floor.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, let me say in response to my colleague 
from Virginia, if he would like to offer an amendment to give an award 
to those who served in Afghanistan, I will cosponsor and support that.
  I have proposed something for the men and women who have served in 
the conflict in Iraq. And I think it is an appropriate thing for the 
Congress to do.
  I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I have a parliamentary inquiry.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, are we going to have more debate on this 
amendment?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time on the majority side has expired.
  Mr. STEVENS. Time has expired.
  Mr. President, I call for a vote.
  I opposed this before. The Department opposes it. I call for a vote.
  Mr. GREGG. Parliamentary inquiry.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator may state his inquiry.
  Mr. GREGG. Is this motion divisible?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment is divisible.
  Mr. GREGG. I move the item be divided. I ask for a division. I ask 
that the division be on subsection (d).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has to give specifics on the 
division.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I would ask that----
  Mr. STEVENS. Parliamentary inquiry.
  Mr. GREGG. All items after subsection (d)--page 3, line 8--be 
deleted, the question be divided on that point.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Will the Senator restate the specifics of the 
division?
  Mr. GREGG. Yes. My point is, on page 3, line 8, section (d), I ask 
that the motion be divided and that the motion be a separate motion on 
that section and everything that follows it within section (d).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment is divided.


                 Vote On Amendment No. 1830, Division I

  The question is on the first division. The yeas and nays have already 
been ordered.
  Mr. STEVENS. Parliamentary inquiry: What are we voting on now, Mr. 
President?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The vote now occurs on agreeing to division I, 
which is pages 1 and 2 and 3 through line 7 of the original amendment. 
The yeas and nays have previously been ordered. The clerk will call the 
roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Minnesota (Mr. Dayton), 
the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry), the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. 
Lieberman), and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Miller) are necessarily 
absent.
  I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) would vote ``yea.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 47, nays 48, as follows:

[[Page 24472]]



                      [Rollcall Vote No. 378 Leg.]

                                YEAS--47

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Clinton
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Daschle
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Graham (FL)
     Gregg
     Harkin
     Hollings
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Stabenow
     Wyden

                                NAYS--48

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Campbell
     Chambliss
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeWine
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Fitzgerald
     Frist
     Graham (SC)
     Grassley
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Kyl
     Lott
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nickles
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Voinovich
     Warner

                             NOT VOTING--5

     Dayton
     Edwards
     Kerry
     Lieberman
     Miller
  The amendment (No. 1830--Division I) was rejected.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. BOND. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry: What is the 
procedure now?


                Vote on Amendment No. 1830, Division II

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question occurs on division II of 
amendment No. 1830.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the yeas and 
nays be vitiated on this vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to division II of 
amendment No. 1830.
  The amendment (No. 1830--Division II) was rejected.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I simply say that I am sorry about this 
recent dispute. In the period of time before lunch, I made a statement, 
based upon a memo we got from the Department of Defense, that pointed 
out that the medals in question were authorized by the President at the 
request of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
  They had two reasons to oppose this Iraqi freedom medal. First, it is 
redundant to the general war on terrorism medal; second, it is devisive 
in that it inherently values participation in the Iraqi operation as 
opposed to Afghanistan and all others. In particular, the Department 
pointed out that, under the Global War on Terrorism Medals, there is an 
Expeditionary Medal that goes to those who serve in Iraq, Afghanistan, 
or in those places where there has been combat in the war against 
terrorism. The other medal is a Service Medal to recognize those people 
who are supporting personnel. It is not restricted by geographical 
boundaries. It is not only for the support of Operation Iraqi Freedom; 
it also applies to Operation Noble Eagle and airport security 
operations from September 27, 2001, to May 1, 2002.
  The Senate has defeated a proposal to go on record to issue an Iraqi 
medal only to those who served in Iraq, and the Department has taken 
the position--that is what really caused consternation because they 
want medals to recognize specific and general sacrifices and 
contributions made by all Armed Forces in the efforts to combat 
terrorism in all forms throughout the world, both in current and future 
operations.
  The Expeditionary Medal will continue to be issued to those who 
participate in the global war against terrorism and are involved in 
combat operations. I think what the Department has done at the request 
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is inherently fair and proper. I want to 
reassure those who supported the position I enunciated and are opposed 
to this amendment, I believe you have done the right thing by those 
people who are in uniform and are sacrificing themselves and really 
exposing themselves in harm's way throughout the world.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader is recognized.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, we have been discussing how we might 
proceed between now and 6:30. As I understand it, we have a unanimous 
consent request ready to propound. There is no objection to the request 
on this side. I see that the distinguished manager has the unanimous 
consent request, and I yield the floor so he can offer that.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished leader.
  I ask unanimous consent that there now be 30 minutes for debate in 
relation to the Stabenow amendment, with 20 minutes under the control 
of Senator Stabenow and 10 minutes under my control; provided that 
following the debate time, the Senate proceed to a vote in relation to 
the amendment, with no amendments in order to the amendment prior to 
the vote; that following that vote, the time until 6:30 this evening be 
equally divided in the usual form in relation to the Dorgan amendment 
No. 1846; and that the vote occur in relation to the Dorgan amendment 
at 6:30 p.m., with no amendments in order to the amendment prior to the 
vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                           Amendment No. 1823

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the pending 
amendments be set aside and I call up amendment No. 1823.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That amendment is already pending.
  Ms. STABENOW. I thank the Chair.
  Mr. President, I rise today to speak about an amendment I am calling 
``A Month for America.'' This amendment will delay approximately $5 
billion in Iraq reconstruction funds and put them into funding our high 
priorities at home, such as job creation, veterans health, health care 
for the uninsured, and education.
  I thank the cosponsors of this amendment--Senators Durbin, Boxer, 
Johnson, and Schumer--for their leadership and support.
  Two weeks ago, I was meeting with a group of constituents in 
Michigan, and we started to talk about the President's request for $87 
billion for Iraq and Afghanistan. I shared with my constituents that we 
were spending about $5 billion a month now, in addition to the slightly 
over $20 billion in reconstruction funds contained in the bill in front 
of us.
  My constituents in Michigan were startled at the enormity of this 
figure, as I believe our constituents are across the country, so much 
so that one gentleman who is on a local school board, sitting in the 
back, exclaimed: How about a month for America? This rang very true to 
me, and when I returned here, I decided to take this idea and draft an 
amendment focused on our needs at home called ``A Month for America.''
  Before I fully explain the details of my amendment, I wish to go 
through what this amendment does not do. This is very important.
  First, it does not cut 1 penny of funding for our troops.
  Second, it does not cut any funds for security in Iraq. It 
specifically exempts the approximately $5 billion in police and 
security funds for Iraq. I believe this is very important. The sooner 
they are able to have their own police force, their own security force, 
the sooner we will be able to bring our troops home, and I support that 
effort.
  Third, it does not cut any funds for reconstruction. It only delays 
them. Therefore, this money is fully offset.
  We are asking for $5.03 billion for America in this amendment and ask 
that we simply take a portion--the

[[Page 24473]]

equivalent of 1 month's spending, $5.03 billion--and delay it until 
next year.
  Even the administration admits that it does not need much of the $20 
billion in reconstruction until next year. So it is not an emergency. 
We do not need the full $20 billion right now, and yet we have real 
emergencies at home.
  There will be plenty of opportunities to provide this $5 billion for 
Iraq in the next appropriations cycle. In fact, last Thursday's New 
York Times reported that a team of World Bank economists has concluded 
that, as a practical matter, Iraq can absorb only about $6 billion in 
aid next year for its infrastructure needs. We are being asked to 
allocate more than $20 billion on reconstruction, and yet we are told, 
as a practical matter, they will not be able to use or spend over $6 
billion in the next year. One administration official was even quoted 
as saying:

       Where the Iraq aid numbers are not so reasonable is the 
     timeframe for how much can be spent. This money cannot be 
     spent overnight.

  They are admitting the fact this timeframe is not reasonable, and yet 
we know in ongoing debates in this Chamber with colleagues on every 
appropriations bill coming before us that we have critical needs for 
jobs and education, veterans health care, and those who are losing 
their insurance because of losing their job. We have many needs that 
are critical at home.
  Specifically, the ``A Month for America'' amendment would take this 
$5.03 billion and allocate it in the following ways: First, $1 billion 
for school construction; $1.8 billion for veterans health care; $103 
million for full funding of community health centers; and finally, $2.1 
billion for transportation projects and job creation, saving 90,000 
jobs.
  The United States is spending a little over $1 billion a week right 
now in Iraq, not counting the $87 billion. However, when an amendment 
was recently offered to the 2004 Labor-HHS appropriations bill to 
increase funding for school construction at home by $1 billion, it was 
defeated on a party-line vote with only one of our Republican 
colleagues supporting the increased funding. This is very unfortunate 
because investing in our schools and in education should not be a 
partisan issue.
  The ``A Month for America'' amendment will increase funding for 
school construction for the next year by $1 billion so that we can 
place more dollars into investing in our children walking into a 
quality school building with the technology and the infrastructure they 
need. Shame on us if we have even one classroom in America where there 
is a bucket in the corner to catch the water coming in. We have too 
many of those right now.
  This amendment will help eliminate those buckets of water and create 
the modern school buildings our children need now in America.
  Our schools are definitely in a state of emergency. According to a 
GAO report entitled ``School Facilities: America's School Report, 
Differing Conditions,'' at least one-third of schools are in need of 
extensive repair or replacement. This is not in Afghanistan or Iraq. 
This is in the United States of America. One-third of the schools are 
in need of extensive repair or replacement and at least two-thirds have 
unhealthy environmental conditions. So two out of three schools in the 
United States of America have unsafe environmental conditions. I argue 
this is an emergency equal to anything that is in front of us that 
relates to Iraq.
  An estimated 14 million American children attend deteriorating 
schools. According to the National Education Association's 2000 survey, 
Michigan schools need at least $9.9 billion in building improvements. 
That is just in my State, given all of the needs we have from one end 
of Michigan to the other. Many Michigan educators believe that estimate 
in fact is too low, considering the Detroit public schools alone need 
an estimated $5 billion to fix leaky roofs, replace boilers, wire 
computers, and other repairs. This is truly an emergency.
  How do we tell our children to stay in school, do not go on drugs, do 
not drop out of school and move to a life of crime, stay with it 
because education is so important, and then they walk into a building 
that is falling down, they walk into a building that does not have the 
computers they need in this day and age to be successful? What message 
are we sending to our children? This is an emergency.
  These poor conditions also affect how well our children learn. A 
recent study showed students learning in substandard classrooms have 
test scores that are anywhere from 5 to 17 percent lower than their 
peers who are in good buildings. So when we are talking about leave no 
child behind and raising test scores and standards, the quality of the 
building, the science labs, the math labs, the technology that is 
available, makes a difference in a child's ability to learn. In 
addition, without this additional $1 billion in funding and with the 
significant State cuts in education funding, Americans will have to pay 
more in property taxes just to maintain the current level of services. 
Schools will not have the resources to make the necessary repairs. I 
argue this is an emergency for America.
  Now on to veterans health care, which is of deep concern to me as 
well. The administration's budget for veterans health care falls far 
short of needs. We all know this. Despite the current crisis in 
veterans health care, some 130,000 are waiting 6 months or more for 
appointments at VA hospitals or clinics. President Bush submitted a 
budget for next year that is $1.8 billion below what is needed, 
according to the independent budget produced by AMVETS, Disabled 
Americans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Veterans of Foreign 
Wars of the United States.
  In this legislation, we are funding efforts to support the men and 
women who are fighting overseas on our behalf, who are on active duty. 
They come home, they become veterans, and they have to wait 6 months to 
see a doctor. What sense does this make? If we cannot keep basic 
promises to our veterans to make sure they have the health care they 
need, deserve, and we said they would receive, how in the world are we 
going to be credible in meeting other commitments?
  Unfortunately, the House bill included the same shortfall, which is 
$1.8 billion lower than the budget resolution promise of a $3.4 billion 
increase over last year's level. The VA health care system is strained. 
Its budget has consistently been underfunded and does not address the 
health needs of our service men and women.
  I am pleased to support Senator Johnson's bill to make health care 
spending for our veterans mandatory. This needs to happen, instead of 
being slighted by the administration and the Congress year after year. 
Right now, over 130,000 veterans wait 6 months or more for their 
primary care appointments. The system is so underfunded that category 8 
veterans, nonservice-connected veterans who make above a certain income 
threshold, are prohibited from enrolling for benefits.
  In my State, veterans officials are talking about losing another 
hospital, Saginaw VA facility, which means that some veterans in 
northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan will have to 
drive over 200 miles to Ann Arbor or Detroit for inpatient care. I am 
extremely hopeful they will not proceed with this proposal.
  This amendment commits Congress to keeping our promises to our 
veterans who have earned the right to access to health care that was 
created to serve their needs. Our veterans deserve better than a 
chronically underfunded system, long waits for care, and a Nation that 
has asked them to pay the price for our freedom, only to be 
shortchanged at home.
  Item 3 in Month for America, according to the recently released U.S. 
Census Report, the number of Americans without health care has jumped 
5.7 percent to 43.6 million Americans. This is the largest single 
increase in the number of the uninsured in the last decade. According 
to Families USA, a health care consumer organization, there were 2.3 
million people in my own State of Michigan under the age of 65 who went 
without health insurance some time in the past year. That means one in 
four

[[Page 24474]]

people in Michigan under the age of 65 was uninsured. Think about that. 
In the greatest country in the world, those without insurance often 
delay or avoid needed services, which results in a direct increase in 
more costly emergency room care.
  Who are these people? Seventy-five percent of them are working. They 
are working in small businesses that would provide health insurance but 
for the explosion in prices. These are people who work in every part of 
our economy. In recent studies, the sagging economy suggests these 
numbers are only going to increase if relief is not in sight. I tell 
folks we are going to be funding a Government-funded universal system 
in Iraq for every Iraqi to have health care and yet in my home State, 
and I would venture it is comparable across the country, one out of 
four people does not have health care. Last year, community health 
centers across the country served nearly 5 million uninsured Americans. 
Community health centers have a 30-year track record of success, and 
that is where these dollars would go. Study after study has shown that 
health centers effectively and efficiently improve our Nation's health.
  In the last 3 years, they have served nearly 800,000 American 
citizens. We need to fully fund community health centers at the level 
necessary for them to do their work and serve working families who are 
not lucky enough to have health insurance from their employers.
  The Month for America amendment would provide $103 million for full 
funding of federally qualified community health centers to help deal 
with the number of Americans who lack health insurance. This is such a 
small investment that obviously yields great rewards. For every $100 
the Federal Government has been able to allocate to community health 
centers, these centers have been able to serve one additional new 
patient. Think about that. For $100, another child can be served, 
another mom, or another dad who has lost his job or lost his insurance.
  The Month for America amendment would allow an additional 1.03 
million Americans to receive access to primary care services; 1.03 
million people could have access to a doctor and the health care they 
need.
  We know this is not a complete solution to the issue of health care. 
I certainly have been very involved in a number of ways to bring down 
costs and to address the concerns of small and large businesses and 
those who do not have insurance, but it surely would help to be able to 
fully fund our health centers.
  As my colleagues know, in the final item in the Month for America, 
the TEA-21 transportation bill expired at the end of September, but 
Congress has not passed a new 6-year bill which is critical to the 
needs of communities, to jobs, and to the economy. A new 6-year bill 
would provide hundreds of thousands of jobs to help the economy and 
improve the safety of our Nation's roads and bridges. Instead, Congress 
passed a short-term, 5-month extension of TEA-21. According to the 
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, a 
short-term extension rather than passage of the 6-year bill will 
compound State budget problems and result in delayed projects, added 
project costs, and lost jobs. They indicate that a delay in passing a 
new 6-year bill would mean the loss of more than 90,000 jobs and $2.1 
billion in project delays.
  This is about jobs. We need those jobs for American citizens. A 6-
year bill would create hundreds of thousands of jobs. We know that 
passing a 6-year $311 billion highway bill would create more than 
650,000 jobs in America and almost 23,000 jobs in Michigan alone.
  Our Nation's transportation infrastructure needs our help now. This 
really is an emergency.
  According to the Texas Transportation Institute's 2003 Urban Mobility 
Study, the cost of congestion continues to skyrocket, and in 2001 
traffic congestion cost the Nation $69.5 billion--$4.1 billion more 
than in the year 2000--5.7 billion gallons of wasted fuel, and 3.5 
billion hours of lost productivity sitting in our cars on those roads. 
We each understand that. Traffic congestion cost southeastern Michigan 
over $2.1 billion in 2001 and cost the average Detroiter $523 per 
person.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Dole). The Senator's time has expired.
  Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent for 5 
additional minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, I yield the Senator 5 minutes of my 
time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the Senator is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Ms. STABENOW. I thank the chairman very much for his graciousness.
  The Month for America amendment will provide $2.1 billion in highway 
and transit funds to high-priority projects that can begin within 90 
days. This will create immediate jobs. Not only will this prevent the 
project delays resulting from the lack of a 6-year transportation bill, 
but it will, again, create over 90,000 jobs. We all know we need more 
jobs in America, and we need them now. This is an emergency for every 
single individual and every family who finds themselves in a situation 
now where there has been a job loss in the family.
  Some people will say that modernizing our schools, providing health 
care to veterans and those without insurance, and creating jobs is not 
an emergency. I completely disagree. These are crises in America that 
need immediate attention.
  At the same time, when I looked through Ambassador Bremer's report 
entitled ``The Coalition Provisional Authority Request to Rehabilitate 
and Reconstruct Iraq,'' I found billions of dollars for projects which 
neither I nor the American people believe are emergencies. They may be 
worthy, but they are not as much of an emergency as these needs here at 
home. I want to point out just a few to my colleagues.
  The first item I found was $161 million for wireless networks, 
computer training, and equipment. We would love to have this in 
Michigan. I have many businesses that would love to have wireless 
networks. There is no question that this is a laudable goal. But is it 
an emergency? I don't think so. Couldn't this wait until next year 
while we try to establish security and basic services in Iraq?
  The second item is $20 million for business training for Iraqis. This 
money will provide 4 weeks of business courses to Iraqis for a whopping 
$10,000 a person. If I might plug my alma mater, this is more than it 
would cost for a full year at the Michigan State University Business 
School. We welcome people coming to Michigan State.
  The third item is $43 million for job training and 22 new Iraqi job 
employment centers. Iraq may have a problem with unemployment, but we 
also have a problem with unemployment here at home. Since 2001, we have 
lost 2.5 million manufacturing jobs in this country, many of them in my 
home State--162,300 of them, in fact, in Michigan. This is a loss of 18 
percent of Michigan's manufacturing employment--one out of six of our 
manufacturing jobs.
  Other items include $9 million to establish ZIP Codes in Iraq--a nice 
thing to do, but I think it could wait--and $50 million for marshes. I 
am anxious to go see them since I thought this was a desert.
  These do not seem to be emergencies. We are saying, can these please 
wait until next year so that health care for our families and jobs for 
our families will not have to wait and veterans will not have to wait a 
month to see a doctor.
  School construction and jobs are certainly a high priority. Why 
should these Iraqi projects get special treatment in an emergency 
supplemental bill while funds for our infrastructure and our needs have 
to wait and compete with other priorities next year? It seems to me the 
money for our roads and schools should get special budgetary treatment 
and Iraq projects can wait.
  We are not asking for all of them to wait. The administration has 
indicated they can use about $6 billion in the coming year. I am 
suggesting they get the $15 billion. We are just asking for $5 
billion--1 month for America. I

[[Page 24475]]

 think these so-called emergency items for Iraq can wait and we can 
involve ourselves in the normal budget process to determine whether 
they are needed.
  We need to act now here at home. We need jobs now. We need health 
care now. We need to rebuild our schools now and we need to support our 
troops when they come home and put on their veterans hats when they 
will need health care.
  Some people say we can't do both. I believe we can. Let us send a 
message today that while we support our troops unanimously, we want to 
have 1 month of funding for America here at home. If we agree to this 
amendment, we can do both. I ask my colleagues before they vote on this 
amendment to think about those who would be impacted by this.
  I urge support for this amendment.
  Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, I am proud to support the amendment 
offered by the Senator from Michigan to provide funding for important 
domestic priorities. This amendment is called ``A Month for America.''
  Each month, the U.S. is spending roughly $5 billion for operations in 
Iraq and Afghanistan at a time when important priorities here at home 
go unmet. This amendment would take $5 billion of the reconstruction 
money earmarked for Iraq and allocates it in the following way: $1 
billion for school construction, $1.8 billion for health programs for 
our veterans, $103 million for community health centers, and $2.1 
billion for highways and public transit.
  These domestic priorities are an emergency now. Surely we can delay 
$5 billion in Iraqi reconstruction funds until the fiscal year 2005 
when even the World Bank says that only $5.8 billion can be absorbed by 
Iraq next year to rebuild its infrastructure.
  I want to talk about the need for new Federal spending to help 
rebuild and rehabilitate schools in California. These are the current 
conditions: 87 percent of schools report a need to upgrade or repair 
building to good overall condition; 71 percent of schools report at 
least one inadequate building feature, such as the roof, plumbing, 
electrical systems, windows, or heating and air conditioning; and 87 
percent of schools report at least one unsatisfactory environmental 
factor, such as air quality, ventilation, heating, or lighting.
  This is an emergency. Yet when an amendment was offered by Senators 
Clinton and Harkin to the fiscal year 2004 Labor-HHS bill to increase 
funding for school reconstruction by $1 billion for the entire year, it 
was defeated on a party-line vote with only one Republican supporting 
the increased funding.
  It is a shame that this supplemental bill will spend in excess of 
$100 million for education in Iraq but not one penny for education in 
California.
  The Bush administration wants to spend $10,000 per month for business 
school in Iraq--more than double the monthly cost of Harvard Business 
School--but there is no funding for the children in California.
  This amendment also provides $1.8 billion for health care to our 
veterans so that we can fulfill the commitment made to them for their 
sacrifices.
  President Bush submitted a fiscal year 2004 budget request for VA 
health that is $1.8 billion below the Independent Budget produced by 
AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and 
the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. It would be a great 
comfort for those fighting now to know that the U.S. Congress is 
serious about meeting the needs of those who fought before them.
  On healthcare, the supplemental provides $850 million for Iraq to 
construct a new hospital and replace medical equipment. And while we 
should help those in need throughout the world, we should also provide 
for those at home. That is why the Stabenow amendment provides $103 
million for federally qualified community health centers that have been 
shown to reduce inpatient admission rates for their patients by 
anywhere from 22 percent to 67 percent, and have reduced the number of 
patients admitted per year and the length of stay among those who were 
admitted.
  Finally, this amendment would provide $2.1 billion for highway and 
public transit programs. Transit is so important for my State. We have 
so much congestion that we must improve our highways and roads and 
build public transportation.
  According to the Texas Transportation Institute, Los Angeles and the 
San Francisco-Oakland region are ranking No. 1 and 2 for the worst 
roadway congestion in this country. California has two more cities in 
the top 5 with San Jose ranked 4 and San Diego ranked 5.
  The Inland Empire of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties is ranked 
12 and Sacramento is ranked 13.
  What does this congestion translate to? Delays. In the Los Angeles 
area: 136 hours per year, on average per driver, in peak hours. San 
Francisco-Oakland drivers put up with 92 hours of delays, and San Jose 
drivers endure 74 hours of delays. Inland Empire drivers are delayed by 
64 hours, and San Diego drivers are delayed by 51 hours a year.
  Californians are trying to reduce congestion. More Californians are 
using alternative forms of transportation. Public transit carries over 
1.2 billion passengers a year in California.
  Transit ridership is up in California. The number of miles traveled 
annually by transit passengers grew by 20 percent between 1997 and 
2001. The number of annual passenger trips was up 14 percent. In the 
San Francisco Bay Bridge corridor, 38 percent of all trips are on 
transit. And, 30 percent of all trips into central Los Angeles are on 
transit.
  Like the other domestic priorities outlined in the Stabenow 
amendment, we need to fund transit so we can improve our infrastructure 
in this country. I thank the Senator from Michigan for her amendment 
and urge its adoption.
  Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, do I have 10 minutes remaining?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, the Senator from Michigan has been 
talking about veterans health care and school construction. We are 
talking about Iraq and how to get our people home. We get them back by 
assisting the Iraqis in taking over the management of their own 
country. We do that by providing an infusion of capital to help restore 
that government to operation so it can take over and provide the 
security services, provide for the economic management services, and 
provide the army. It takes money to do that.
  As I pointed out before we went on recess, the President has chosen a 
unique approach. We could have gone in with the military and occupied 
that country for 4 to 5 years, as we did in Germany and as we just did 
in Kosovo. We are still bringing people out of Bosnia and Kosovo 
because we did not do that. This time we are going in to try to help 
them get in the position to take care of themselves and bring our 
people back.
  This is at the request of the other side of the aisle. The President 
has sent us a unique supplemental. The Democratic Party commanded that 
the President give us a budget for 2004 for Iraq. This is it.
  No President has done this in history. President Clinton did not do 
it. In fact, President Roosevelt did not do it. President Eisenhower 
did not do it. President Johnson did not do it.
  This President budgeted ahead of time for war, for a concept of 
finishing what we started. Part of what we started was to put in place 
a government in Iraq that would not be the despotic regime of Saddam 
Hussein.
  Argue all you want about the need for money. I agree, there is 
certainly a need for more money for veterans health care. I disagree 
about the statement concerning the need for new public school 
facilities. I am informed that in 2002 alone, school districts 
completed $11.7 billion of new construction.
  The recent study of the General Accounting Office and the National 
Center for Education Statistics indicates that schools are in better 
condition than they have been in the past; 81 percent of the schools 
reported their buildings were in adequate or better condition, 84 
percent reported them to be in adequate or better condition. It is a 
minority of schools that are not in adequate shape.
  One place where there are no schools without our assistance is Iraq. 
How

[[Page 24476]]

will our men and women come home unless the schools are functioning, 
unless the police are functioning, unless the army is functioning, 
unless the economy is functioning? That is the way to get them home.
  If we do not provide this $20.3 billion, we can increase the money 
for the occupation and occupy that enormous country for 4 to 5 years. 
We know what it is costing. Look at the budget we have: $66 billion for 
defense, $20.3 billion for assisting Iraq to become a nation. The $66 
billion will go on and on and on, a demand for more and more money for 
the military in Iraq unless we take the action the President has 
requested and provide the $20.3 billion necessary. The amendment of the 
Senator will take over $5 billion out of that. It will cripple that 
program.
  We will have to send more and more people in uniform to do for Iraqis 
what they could do for themselves if they had the money to start their 
economy, start their security systems, start their military systems, 
start their whole governmental systems and make them work. That is what 
we should do. Some people call it nation building; I call it nation 
reconstructing. But in any event, it is an absolute necessity at this 
time to put the Iraqis back in control of their own affairs. It will 
not happen if the Stabenow amendment is adopted.
  I yield back the remainder of my time. I move to table the amendment 
of the Senator, and I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The question is on agreeing to the motion. The clerk will call the 
roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Minnesota (Mr. Dayton), 
the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry), the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Kohl), the 
Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Lieberman), and the Senator from Georgia 
(Mr. Miller) are necessarily absent.
  I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry), would vote ``nay.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 59, nays 35, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 379 Leg.]

                                YEAS--59

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeWine
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Fitzgerald
     Frist
     Graham (SC)
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Nickles
     Pryor
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Voinovich
     Warner

                                NAYS--35

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Clinton
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Daschle
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Graham (FL)
     Harkin
     Hollings
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lincoln
     Mikulski
     Nelson (FL)
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Stabenow
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--6

     Dayton
     Edwards
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Lieberman
     Miller
  The motion was agreed to.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. REID. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. REID. What is the matter now before the Senate?


                           Amendment No. 1826

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time between now and 6:30 is equally 
divided with respect to amendment No. 1826.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, we understand that is the order that has 
been entered. Senator Dorgan squeezed his time previously from 3 hours 
to 2 hours, and now it is 45 minutes. That is because this vote took so 
long. I hope the majority will push the votes more quickly. That vote 
took 30 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  The Senator from North Dakota is recognized.
  Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, is my amendment now pending?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Yes.
  Mr. DORGAN. I yield myself such time as I may consume. We also have 
other speakers on this amendment.
  Mr. President, I have spoken about this amendment on previous 
occasions. The amendment directs the Coalition Provisional Authority, 
in cooperation with the Governing Council of Iraq, to create an Iraq 
Reconstruction Finance Authority. The purpose of the Iraq 
Reconstruction Finance Authority shall be to securitize future 
production of Iraqi oil, in order to finance the reconstruction of 
Iraq.
  In short, this amendment says that the reconstruction of Iraq should 
involve the Iraqi people, using Iraqi oil to reconstruct their country 
and that it should not be the American taxpayers reconstructing Iraq.
  This morning's Washington Post says that the Secretary of State is at 
the United Nations, attempting to get a resolution passed that would 
confer on the Iraqi Governing Council and its Ministers the sovereignty 
over the state of Iraq. Surely, if this administration is ready to 
recognize the Iraqi Governing Council as the sovereign of the state of 
Iraq, that body should have the ability to use future revenues from the 
sale of Iraqi oil, to reconstruct their own country.
  The fact is that, for months, this administration told us that Iraq's 
oil would allow the Iraqi people to finance their own reconstruction.
  Mr. Fleischer, the White House press secretary, said this in 
February:

       Iraq, unlike Afghanistan, is a rather wealthy country. They 
     have tremendous resources that belong to the Iraqi people and 
     so therefore a variety of means that Iraq has to be able to 
     shoulder much of the burden for their own reconstruction.

  Mr. Fleischer was followed by Mr. Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of 
State. He said that the oil revenues of that country could bring 
between $50 billion and $100 billion over the course of the next 2 or 3 
years and that we are dealing with a country that can really finance 
its own reconstruction, and relatively soon.
  The Defense Secretary himself, Donald Rumsfeld, in March, said:

       I don't believe the U.S. has the responsibility for 
     reconstruction, in a sense . . . and the funds can come from 
     those various sources I mentioned: frozen assets, oil 
     revenues, and a variety of other things.

  Well, that is at odds with the current request by the President to 
the Congress, saying we need to have $20-plus-billion for the 
reconstruction. The Deputy Secretary of State said oil revenue could do 
that. The Secretary of Defense said that oil revenue would be available 
for that.
  And then Vice President Cheney, on March 16, said:

       In Iraq, you've got a nation that has the second largest 
     reserves of oil in the world--second only to Saudi Arabia. It 
     will generate billions of dollars a year in cash flow in the 
     relatively near future. And that flow resources, which 
     obviously belongs to the Iraqi people, needs to be put to use 
     by the Iraqi people for the Iraqi people, and that will be 
     one of the major objectives.

  Then, the person at the State Department who is responsible for 
reconstruction, Mr. Natsios, had the following exchange on 
``Nightline'' with Ted Koppel.
  Koppel said:

       I understand that more money is expected to be spent on 
     that than was spent on the entire Marshall plan for the 
     rebuilding of Europe after the World War II.

  Natsios said:

       No, no, that doesn't even compare remotely with the size of 
     the Marshall plan.

  Koppel:

       The Marshall plan was $97 billion.

  Natsios:

       This is $1.7 billion.

  Talking about the reconstruction plan for Iraq.
  The program continued.

[[Page 24477]]

  Koppel said:

       When you talk about 1.7, you are not suggesting that the 
     rebuilding of Iraq is going to be done for $1.7 billion.

  Natsios:

       Well, in terms of the American taxpayers' contribution, I 
     do. This is it for the U.S. The rest of the rebuilding will 
     be done by other countries who have already made the pledges, 
     and by Iraqi oil revenues.

  Will you excuse a few of us for believing the Vice President, the 
Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and others, who 
repeatedly said this year that the American taxpayers won't be on the 
hook for the reconstruction of Iraq? Will you excuse us for believing 
we could use Iraq oil for this purpose? That is what they said would 
happen. Now the administration says that is not the case at all and 
they want to use the American taxpayers' dollars to shoulder the burden 
for reconstruction of Iraq.
  Mr. DURBIN. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. DORGAN. Let me make this one point. I asked Ambassador Bremer to 
explain whether it would be possible to securitize Iraq's future oil 
revenues to pay for Iraq's reconstruction. Ambassador Bremer's answer: 
You can't use Iraq oil because Iraq owes foreign debt.
  I said: Who to?
  He said: Russia, France, and Germany.
  Following that hearing, I checked. In fact, Russia, France, and 
Germany are indeed owed money by Saddam Hussein's regime. But the 
biggest creditors of Saddam Hussein's regime are Saudi Arabia and 
Kuwait.
  Wouldn't it be a perversity if, in fact, the American taxpayers are 
told that they have to pay taxes to ship $20 billion to Iraq to 
reconstruct Iraq--so Iraq can pump oil and send cash to Saudi Arabia 
and Kuwait in satisfaction of Saddam Hussein's debts?
  You talk about a perversity of public policy. That is it.
  My amendment is painfully simple. It says that the Iraqi Governing 
Council shall have a mechanism that would allow it to use Iraqi oil to 
reconstruct Iraq.
  One final point. During the recent military campaign in Iraq, we did 
not target Iraq's infrastructure. We didn't bomb its roads, bridges, 
dams, or electric grid. Now, Iraq does need reconstruction, no question 
about that, but the reconstruction is necessary because of decades of 
neglect. It is not because of any action by our military. And the fact 
is that the Iraqi people have a tremendous resource to finance that 
reconstruction, which they could and should use.
  So the President ought not be so quick to ask for $20 billion from 
the American taxpayers for reconstruction, when his Vice President, the 
Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and all the rest 
of them said this year that the reconstruction of Iraq would be 
financed with Iraqi oil. Now we are told it cannot be done and won't be 
done. I say with this amendment that it can be done and should be done.
  Mr. DURBIN. Will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mr. DORGAN. I am happy to yield to my colleague.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I want to make sure the point the 
Senator has just made is driven home for those following this debate.
  This administration told us we needed to invade Iraq because there 
were nuclear weapons there, which we cannot find.
  They told us we needed to invade Iraq because there was uranium, 
fissile material coming in from Africa to Iraq, which now they say did 
not exist.
  They told us we needed to invade Iraq because of weapons of mass 
destruction, which we cannot find.
  They told us we needed to invade Iraq because of their linkage with 
9/11 terrorists, which now the President has said is not a fact.
  They told us we didn't have to worry about rebuilding Iraq because of 
all the oil revenues.
  Is the Senator from North Dakota finding the same difficulty I am in 
following their logic? All the reasons to invade Iraq have disappeared. 
As I understand it, the oil is still there. The oil was supposed to be 
the source to rebuild Iraq. Is the administration suggesting there is 
no oil in Iraq?
  Mr. DORGAN. No. In fact, quite the contrary. Ambassador Bremer 
testified that by July of next year, they will be pulling 3 million 
barrels a day out of the sands of Iraq. There is liquid gold under 
those sands. Three million barrels a day by next July will net them $16 
billion a year in net export revenue from oil--$16 billion a year. That 
is $160 billion in 10 years. They can easily securitize a small 
fraction of that to fund all of the reconstruction that is necessary in 
Iraq. It can easily be done if there is a will to do it. But they will 
not do it if the President says: Let's have the American taxpayers do 
it.
  Mr. DURBIN. If the Senator will yield for another question, if I 
understand this, the President and the Bush administration are asking 
us to borrow money from the Social Security trust fund to increase the 
deficit of the United States, to cut back on spending on education and 
health care so that we can provide reconstruction funds for Iraq which 
can then pump the oil and sell it and with the revenues pay off their 
debt to Saudi Arabia; is that the logic behind the administration's 
position?
  Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, the two largest creditors of Iraq are 
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The Senator from Illinois is absolutely 
correct.
  Mr. DURBIN. Through the Chair, I would like to ask the Senator, so 
the administration is prepared to disappoint Social Security recipients 
in America rather than disappoint the Saudis who loaned money to Saddam 
Hussein and now want to be repaid?
  Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, Saddam Hussein has vanished. His 
government doesn't exist. The Iraqi people ought not be saddled with 
massive debts to countries like Saudi Arabia, some of the wealthiest 
countries in the world. The American taxpayer should not be told to pay 
for the reconstruction of Iraq, while Iraqi oil revenues are hauled off 
to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
  I yield 8 minutes to my colleague from Florida, Senator Graham.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. GRAHAM. I thank the Chair.
  Madam President, it is a pleasure to return to this great institution 
at a time when we are debating a truly significant issue for the future 
of our Nation.
  The fundamental question to me is what should be our standard in 
resolving the myriad of questions which surround the President's 
request for $87 billion in occupation and reconstruction expense in 
Iraq.
  My answer to that question is that we should test each of these 
proposals against the standards of: Will this give us an honorable and 
an expeditious exit from Iraq? Will this contribute to our ability to 
leave Iraq, to take American troops out of the quagmire and the killing 
field which Iraq has become, but to do so with honor?
  We basically have two options that are presently available to us as 
to how to reach that objective. One is the go-it-alone approach; that 
we will conduct the occupation and the reconstruction essentially 
alone, without significant allies. Second is that we should 
internationalize the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq. We should 
do this by increasing the control of Iraqis who have the confidence of 
their country men and women by involving other countries in the shared 
burden and responsibility of the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq, 
and we should be sensitive to the international presence that we are 
setting by our action.
  Why do I believe providing these reconstruction dollars through a 
loan rather than through a direct grant would more likely achieve the 
goal of internationalization and, therefore, the goal of an honorable 
and expeditious exit from Iraq?
  First, it will maintain American domestic support, or at least it 
will serve as a brake on what I sense is the increasing loss of 
American domestic support for the occupation and reconstruction of 
Iraq. We all can read the polls and see what the American people feel 
about this $87 billion request. They dislike it in overwhelming 
numbers, but there is even more than what you can state statistically. 
There is what you can feel intuitively.

[[Page 24478]]

  I sense all across the country an increasing question of what are we 
doing in Iraq? Why are we in a situation where one American is killed 
and 10 Americans are maimed every day, where we are spending $1 billion 
every week? What is our exit strategy?
  I believe this approach of providing that at least a part of these 
expenditures will be repaid to the American taxpayers will help to 
build some foundation under what now appears to be a straight tunnel 
toward the loss of public support.
  Second, this would not further add to the national debt. We have 
basically three choices as to who is going to pay for this war. The 
first choice is our generation. We are in the war for what we consider 
to be important national security reasons. If that is the case, we 
ought to be prepared to pay for it, not ask future generations to pay 
for it. But last week the Senate rejected the Biden amendment which 
would have caused our generation to pay for our occupation and 
reconstruction of Iraq. So that is off the table.
  The second is, we are going to ask our grandchildren to pay for this 
occupation and reconstruction. If we do this, we are engaged in a sharp 
break with tradition and precedent.
  Let me just state these numbers. The Marshall plan started in 1948. 
The public debt of the U.S. Government in 1948 was $216 billion. Four 
years later, as the Marshall plan was coming to a close, but the United 
States was at war in Korea, in 1952, the public debt of the United 
States was $214 billion. So we actually reduced the public debt of the 
United States during the period of the Marshall plan and the early 
phases of the Korean war. We are not following that precedent today. We 
are saying we are going to put all of these additional expenses into 
the most enormous annual deficits the United States has ever seen.
  Finally, we should do this because it will require Iraqis pay for the 
reconstruction and have a substantial amount of control over the 
reconstruction. One of the characteristics that made the Marshall plan 
so successful was that while we provided funds--and incidentally, on a 
$1-to-$1 matching basis, not a 100-percent to 0-percent basis, as is 
being proposed here--we provided funds on that basis and then let the 
leadership of the individual countries, whether it was our allies, such 
as France, or enemies, such as Germany, make the judgments as to what 
they believed the priorities should be for the use of those funds. Here 
we are unilaterally deciding by action of our administration and our 
Congress what the priorities should be.
  Finally, in another domain, I think this sets a dangerous precedent 
for our relations with other countries. In this same legislation, we 
are providing a relatively small grant to Afghanistan, both for 
security and for reconstruction. I think that is defensible. 
Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. Afghanistan 
is a country which is key to a victory on terrorism. But now we apply 
exactly the same standards to the country which sits on the second 
largest oil reserve on this planet and a country which, in my judgment, 
was not a legitimate part of the war on terror until we made it a part 
of the war on terror by the war itself.
  We also have Mexico. In the 1990s, Mexico was in very difficult 
financial status. There were some who speculated it might even go into 
bankruptcy. We came to Mexico's financial support. How did we do it? We 
did it by collateralizing the future oil revenue of Mexico to pay what 
we had advanced to give them greater fiscal solidity during a time of 
great instability. How do we tell the Mexicans that when we were 
lending money to them, a country which in natural resources is 
considerably less endowed than Iraq, we are going to give it to Iraq as 
a straight grant but for Mexico it was a loan with their oil revenue as 
the collateral for repayment?
  The question that is asked all over this country is, Why can we 
rebuild the roads, the bridges, the schools, the electric grid of Iraq, 
but we cannot do it in the United States? Why can we do it as a grant 
to one of the richest countries in terms of petroleum in the world, 
which will never be repaid to help us rebuild our own bridges, roads, 
and schools? This represents a key turning point, in my judgment, for 
the beginning of the 21st century. Will Iraq be the Germany of the 
1950s or will it be the Vietnam of the 1970s in terms of the United 
States?
  I believe voting for reasonable burden sharing between Iraq and the 
United States, and other proposals that will share the burden on a more 
international basis, will be a key to answering that question.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Chafee). The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. DORGAN. I yield 7 minutes to the Senator from Illinois.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from North Dakota for 
yielding and I rise in support of the amendment he has offered.
  Also, I say welcome back to Senator Bob Graham of Florida. We are 
glad to have him off the trail and back in the Senate where we need 
him.
  This is an interesting issue to bring to the American people because 
it is an issue where we ask this administration to stand by its own 
promises, to stand by its own words, and they cannot. They cannot 
because as recently as 6 months ago, the leaders of this administration 
said we would not be on the Senate floor today debating an $87 billion 
bill. They told not only the Senate and the House and the American 
people, they told the world that Iraq had the resources to take care of 
itself. It was part of the buildup to the war, a war which was built on 
false premises of nuclear weapons that did not exist, fissile material 
from Africa that did not exist, biological and chemical weapons which 
have not been discovered, and a link with al-Qaida which cannot be 
substantiated.
  All of these were part of the rationale for invading Iraq with the 
coalition of the willing, which contained Great Britain and precious 
few other countries with major resources or troops. So we invaded Iraq 
and then said to the American people: Do not worry about after the war. 
The Iraqis are really rife with all sorts of oil resources and 
revenues. They can take care of themselves.
  I am not making this up because if we followed the statements made by 
Paul Wolfowitz, the architect of the Iraq strategy, this is what Mr. 
Wolfowitz said in March:

       . . . the oil revenues of that country--

  Iraq--

     could bring between $50 and $100 billion over the course of 
     the next two or three years. . . . We're dealing with a 
     country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and 
     relatively soon.

  Hello. Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz, how can you rationalize coming to 
Congress 6 months later and asking for $20 billion after you told us 
that Iraq could finance its own reconstruction?
  He was not alone in these pronouncements. This is Secretary of 
Defense Don Rumsfeld saying at about the same time:

       I don't believe the United States has the responsibility 
     for reconstruction in a sense . . . And the funds can come 
     from those various sources I mentioned: frozen assets, oil 
     revenues and a variety of other things.

  What they were trying to do was paint a picture to the American 
people that there was no pain, all gain: We will remove Saddam Hussein 
and, frankly, the world will greet us as heroes, as will the Iraqi 
people, and then they will use their revenues to rebuild the country 
and prove you can have a much better government in Iraq.
  I certainly hope for the Iraqi people they do have a better 
government, but should it not be at their expense rather than our 
expense?
  The point that was made by the Senator from North Dakota is a telling 
point. We are borrowing money in the United States from Social 
Security, from American taxpayers, and from our children; we are 
increasing the deficit of this country to come up with $87 billion, $20 
billion of which is going to rebuild Iraq.
  We are going to have that debt when it is over, according to 
President Bush and his supporters on the Senate floor.

[[Page 24479]]

Yet the reason we cannot ask Iraq to shoulder this burden itself, 
despite all of these pronouncements from Secretary Rumsfeld and 
Assistant Secretary Wolfowitz, is that Iraq has its own obligations to 
countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
  Look at the debt of Iraq that we are protecting by borrowing money 
from Social Security. Their biggest creditors include Saudi Arabia, the 
gulf states, Kuwait, Russia, Japan, France, and Germany. Frankly, I 
care less about the royal family in Saudi Arabia than I do about 
American families counting on Social Security.
  Why doesn't the President? Why doesn't the President of the United 
States believe that Saudi Arabia, which trusted Saddam Hussein to lend 
him millions of dollars, should frankly be the ones to lose in any 
bargain about Iraq's future? No. From the Bush administration 
viewpoint, the losers should be the American taxpayers, our children, 
and people counting on Social Security.
  So the Senator from North Dakota asked an obvious question: If they 
have all of this oil revenue, why can't they pledge that revenue to 
raise the money to rebuild their own country? It is just that simple. 
Someone has to borrow the money to rebuild Iraq. It will either be the 
American taxpayers or the people of Iraq. I think the answer to that 
particular challenge is very obvious, and the Senator from North Dakota 
has hit the nail on the head with his amendment.
  Let me add something else. This administration has really been 
floundering when it comes to the plans after the invasion of Iraq. I 
give credit to the military. In 3 weeks they did an extraordinary job. 
Since then, things have been just fumbled around. We went from General 
Garner to Ambassador Bremer, and while we were out last week and the 
Senate was back home, Condoleezza Rice was given the authority for 
rebuilding Iraq. This is getting hard to follow. It frankly betrays the 
fact that this administration does not know which way to head.
  Here is the fundamental problem: We want Iraq to be a stable and 
secure nation. We would like to see them move toward self-government 
and toward a market economy, but all of this will take an enormous 
amount of money and time, and an enormous departure from a country 
which has no history of any of the things I just mentioned.
  Iraq was created by the British colonial empire. They drew a line on 
a map and said: We will call this Iraq. Up until that point in time, 
there was little to trace the history of anything called Iraq. Now we 
are trying to make this into a nation state. First we have to establish 
not only a national identity that is not from the command and control 
of a dictator, but also we have to establish an economy that can build 
a middle class that can participate in democracy as we know it. This is 
a long, expensive process.
  Who should pay for it? American taxpayers or the people of Iraq? I 
think the answer to that question is very obvious. I hope my 
colleagues, who feel duty bound to stand by the Bush administration no 
matter what, will only stand by the statements made by the Bush 
administration to the American people 6 months ago. If the people in 
this Chamber will stand by the promises of Secretary Wolfowitz, Vice 
President Cheney, and Secretary Rumsfeld, then Senator Dorgan is going 
to be successful. However, if this turns out to be a partisan rollcall, 
take it or leave it, you are with the President or not, then the losers 
are going to be families across America. Families are going to see 
Social Security trust funds used to build Iraq while oil revenues in 
Iraq are used to pay off the Saudis who loaned money to Saddam Hussein. 
That I think is an outrageous outcome.
  I think the Senator from North Dakota has it right. We have done a 
great deal for Iraq to date. We are spending $1 billion a week. We have 
lost over 300 brave American soldiers. Walter Reed Hospital, not far 
from Capitol Hill, has rooms filled with soldiers, men and women, who 
went to Iraq who came back wounded with grievous injuries. We have 
given a lot. We should not ask the American taxpayers to give up more.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. DORGAN. Let me inquire of the Senator from Mississippi. We have 
used--might I ask how much time we on this side have used? We have had 
several speakers. Might I inquire?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Twenty-seven minutes.
  Mr. DORGAN. I don't know whether the Senator from Mississippi intends 
to speak or has speakers at this point. If he does not intend to speak, 
I will make some additional comments. If he does, I certainly will 
yield the floor to him.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi?
  Mr. DORGAN. I was inquiring; I will yield the floor to the Senator 
from Mississippi if he is intending to speak.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, we have a certain amount of time under 
the agreement. We will use that time when we choose. I do not intend to 
use any at this time. If you want to continue to debate your amendment, 
it is your amendment. I am for the committee bill. I think the 
committee made the right decision. I am going to say that and cite the 
provisions of the report underlining the rationale for the bill and the 
support we are trying to provide the President. So you have the 
laboring oar, in my view.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Mississippi. I am 
well aware it is my amendment, of course. Normally in the debate on 
amendments, we try to go back and forth to be fair. I was simply 
inquiring whether he intended to speak. He apparently will speak at 
another time.
  I will make a couple of additional comments. We have some other 
Senators who are coming to the floor to comment as well.
  Let me describe in more detail the comments by the Vice President 
because my colleague indicates the administration is very much opposed 
to this.
  The administration has not been opposed to it in the past. In fact, 
they represented to the American people that Iraq oil shall be used to 
reconstruct Iraq, so apparently it is a changed position. Let me 
describe in more detail the comments of the Vice President on ``Meet 
The Press.'' This occurred in March of this year. Quoting Tim Russert, 
he says:

       Every analysis said this war itself would cost about $80 
     billion, recovery of Baghdad, perhaps of Iraq, about $10 
     billion per year. We should expect as American citizens that 
     this would cost at least $100 billion for a two-year 
     involvement.
       Vice President Cheney: I can't say that, Tim. There are 
     estimates out there. It's important, though, to recognize 
     that we've got a different set of circumstances than we've 
     had in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan you've got a nation 
     without significant resources. In Iraq you've got a nation 
     that's got the second-largest oil reserves in the world, 
     second only to Saudi Arabia. It will generate billions of 
     dollars a year in cash flow if they get back to their 
     production of roughly three million barrels of oil a day, in 
     the relatively near future. And that flow of resources, 
     obviously, belongs to the Iraqi people, needs to be put to 
     use by the Iraqi people for the Iraqi people and that will be 
     one of our major objectives.

  That is the Vice President.
  Ambassador Bremer said in the last 2 weeks they will be producing 3 
billion barrels a day in July. That is what he testified before the 
Appropriations Committee. If that in fact is the case, apparently there 
has been a change of mind here in the administration about whether Iraq 
oil should be used for Iraq reconstruction. It was alleged by Secretary 
Wolfowitz it should be, it was alleged by Secretary Rumsfeld it should 
be, by the Vice President it should be and would be. Now, apparently, 
they have changed their mind.
  Second Rumsfeld also said to me in testimony:

       What that country is suffering from [speaking of Iraq] is 
     30 years of a Stalinist-type economy and starvation of the 
     infrastructure of the needed investments. That is not the 
     obligation of the United States of America to repair.

  So the 20-plus-billion-dollars request we have for reconstruction of 
Iraq includes the replacement and the rehabilitation of power 
distribution networks that were in a highly deteriorated condition 
before the war, $50 million to restore marshland water

[[Page 24480]]

projects, $125 million to restore railroad tracks that suffered from 
severe neglect. Locomotives and railcars were in a deplorable state; 
backup generators were inoperative due to lack of maintenance and spare 
parts.
  But more Members of the House of Representatives of the majority 
party saw fit to eliminate some of them--$9 million to study a ZIP Code 
for the Iraq Government or for the country of Iraq; $50,000 apiece for 
garbage trucks, $150 million for a children's hospital, and the list 
goes on and on.
  Clearly, some of it is not urgent. Some of it is not an emergency. In 
my judgment, it ought to be paid for with Iraqi oil. That was what was 
promised and alleged by the Vice President, by the Secretary of 
Defense, and the Assistant Secretary of Defense.
  We are told by the President and others as well--the Secretary of 
State and Secretary of Defense--the question is, What will strengthen 
the Iraq economy? That is an important question. I believe 
reconstruction will strengthen the Iraq economy. I believe that ought 
to be done and paid for with Iraq oil.
  But a more important question is, What will strengthen the U.S. 
economy? We are borrowing $20 billion. Will borrowing $20 billion and 
sending it to Iraq so Iraq can pump oil and send cash to the Saudis and 
Kuwaitis strengthen the United States economy? Absolutely not. That is 
why I offer this amendment. This amendment failed in the Appropriations 
Committee by a vote of 15 to 14.
  I don't diminish the arguments of those who oppose it, but, frankly, 
I think they are wrong. I believe this was represented by the 
administration to be the right course. I now offer it as an amendment 
and will hope when we have a vote at 6:30 it will prevail.
  I yield the floor and I make a point of order a quorum is not 
present.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I am waiting for a couple of speakers 
whose offices have told me they are on the way. It is my understanding 
from the Senator from Mississippi that he or others will be speaking as 
well. I will put us in quorum call. I ask unanimous consent that the 
quorum call be charged equally against both sides.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Is the Senator from North Dakota suggesting a quorum call?
  Mr. DORGAN. Yes. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DORGAN. I yield 8 minutes to the Senator from New York.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I come to the Senate in support of the 
Dorgan amendment to this supplemental appropriations. I come also 
having been the beneficiary of the week-long recess, traveling 
throughout my State talking to many people, hearing what is on their 
minds, trying to answer their questions and drawing some conclusions 
about where we stand in our country on the important issue concerning 
the mission in Iraq and the President's request for $87 billion. I 
talked with New Yorkers from Syracuse to Staten Island. At every stop, 
I had questions and concerns expressed about this request for $87 
billion.
  New Yorkers are concerned that this money is being asked for and will 
be spent with no real plan for how we move toward the goal in Iraq to 
create an independent, functioning government that is able to stabilize 
the situation there with adequate security, begin providing services to 
the Iraqi people, and move toward self-sufficiency.
  I also was faced with many questions about how we intend to pay for 
our commitment to Iraq and to our military forces since we are faced 
with record deficits and increasing debt. Time and time again, I heard 
my constituents echo the concerns of the senior Senator from Florida, 
Mr. Graham, who pointed out eloquently in the Senate a short while ago 
how in effect we are asking our children and their generation to pay 
for the decisions we make today because we refuse to take 
responsibility for them.
  This is a difficult situation to describe and explain to my 
constituents. I am asked how we can ask our taxpayers to contribute 
over $20 billion for the reconstruction of Iraq when that was never 
presented to the American public or even to the Congress. Time and time 
again the Congress was told by administration officials that it would 
not cost very much money, it would not take very long, and besides, we 
could expect Iraqi oil revenues to pay for Iraqi reconstruction, and 
other nations would join us in shouldering the burden.
  Now, of course, we are told by the administration not to expect very 
much from anyone else, and we cannot even look to the Iraqi oil 
revenues at some point in the future. We should not be asking anything 
of the Iraqi people and their soon-to-be new government with respect to 
the American taxpayers and to the sacrifice that our American men and 
women in uniform have made for Iraq's freedom.
  The administration argues that this $20 billion must be given in 
grants and not loans. The logic escapes me. Part of this money will go 
to rebuild the oil industry of Iraq. There are estimates ranging from 
hundreds of billions of barrels of recoverable oil to a trillion. There 
is no doubt that if we get this oil industry up and going, Iraq stands 
to be one of the richest nations in the world. The per capita income 
can be expected to shoot past most of the rest of the inhabitants of 
this globe. And I am all for it. That is wonderful. But not at the 
expense of the American taxpayer and not at the expense of an 
increasing deficit and debt burden on our children.
  I am wondering how we can justify putting money in a grant to rebuild 
an oil industry that will start producing revenues that will then be 
used in part to pay back nations in the gulf and in Europe and 
elsewhere who have lent tens of billions of dollars to the former 
regime to do things like build palaces. Those who worked with, 
collaborated with, and supported the Saddam Hussein regime could 
conceivably be paid back from the fruits of the labor of American 
taxpayers who have gotten the oil flowing again. I, for one, cannot 
explain that in any audience I find myself.
  Some in the administration have argued our aid to Iraq is analogous 
to the Marshall plan. But, of course, we know it is not.
  That is a good rhetorical point to make, but it is not historically 
accurate. The U.S. did provide funds to both allies and enemies after 
World War II based on a matching program of contributions from those 
nations. We did not offer reconstruction funds without qualification. 
We required a commitment for some contribution from the receiving 
nation.
  I saw a list of talking points distributed by the administration, 
apparently out of the Pentagon, that listed all the reasons why loans 
were a bad idea: We would not want any other entity, such as the new 
Iraqi Government or the Coalition Provisional Authority, to be deciding 
where any of the money went; we would not want any, other than 
American, contractors to get any of the contracts; we would not want 
anybody to think we were in it just for the oil, which they might 
somehow believe if we had some responsible, mature relationship that 
expected some repayment.
  I read those talking points. I looked at those arguments, and, 
frankly, they are not very convincing. I am still having trouble trying 
to figure out how we went from a position in the spring where 
administration official after administration official would not tell us 
how much it was going to cost, would not tell us how long it was going 
to take, would not tell us how long we were going to be there, and 
always reassured us that it was going to be paid

[[Page 24481]]

for with the revenues from Iraqi oil once it began flowing, to where we 
cannot even ask for any kind of repayment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has consumed the 8 minutes yielded 
to her.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for 1 additional 
minute.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. CLINTON. I strongly support the Dorgan amendment. I think it is 
the right thing for Iraq. I think it is the right thing for our 
country. It sets the right tone about how we are going to be dealing 
with this situation going forward. It lays down a marker that we are 
willing to shoulder this burden, but we expect at some point in the 
future for the American taxpayers of this or the next generation to be 
given some repayment opportunity from a new nation that we helped to 
create that, hopefully, will have the kind of future we are counting on 
and that many of us support.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota no longer has 
adequate time to suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The Senator from Mississippi.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. COCHRAN. I yield 10 minutes to the distinguished Senator from 
Arizona, Mr. McCain.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the Dorgan 
amendment. It is unwise and uncharacteristic of the greatness and 
strength of America and in many ways could increase the risk that we 
may cause to young Americans who are fighting in defense of freedom in 
Iraq and trying to help that country begin the process of democracy and 
a free society. It is an extremely difficult task and one which will 
require a long period of time.
  I don't share the view of some that the situation in Iraq is bright 
and wonderful. I don't agree with the opinion of some others who think 
that things are in a very bad state. I think progress is being made. In 
the northern part of Iraq there is real stability. In the southern part 
of Iraq there is significant progress.
  All you have to do is pick up a newspaper or turn on the television 
or radio and hear that things are not so good in some parts of the 
country, particularly in the area we refer to as the Sunni Triangle. 
Every day there is some kind of attack mounted against American troops, 
against installations, car bombs. Our military leaders have stated that 
the attacks, primarily aimed at American soldiers and installations, 
are becoming more and more sophisticated.
  In my view--and my view is shared by many others who are more expert 
and more knowledgeable than I--the battle for the hearts and minds--
dare I use that phrase--in Iraq is still going on. We are winning that 
battle in some parts of Iraq. In other parts, it is still up for grabs.
  Those who are the former Baathists, the terrorists, the extremists, 
this rather unusual combination of opponents of the United States and 
opponents of the democratization of Iraq, are echoing a similar theme: 
The United States is not in Iraq to free the Iraqi people. The United 
States is in Iraq for the oil.
  That theme is being echoed and re-echoed throughout the Middle East, 
not just in Iraq but in every extremist Muslim madras in the Middle 
East, every dictatorship, in every oppressive regime that recognizes if 
democracy and freedom comes to Iraq, then their days are numbered, they 
are through, they are finished because we can prove in Iraq that 
democracy and a free and open society can grow and prosper anywhere in 
the world, including the Middle East.
  Here is what they are saying. They are saying: Here is the history of 
the United States involvement with Iraq. All during the 1980s, the 
United States Government propped up Saddam Hussein and did a lot of 
business with him. He had a war with Iran. We took his side in the war 
with Iran. In 1991, in the gulf war, we defeated Saddam Hussein soundly 
and we told the Iraqi people that he would be gone. He wasn't gone. In 
fact, he went into these very same areas and slaughtered thousands of 
people as he reasserted his grip on power. I have seen one of the mass 
graves. No, Saddam Hussein, they are saying, was left in power by the 
United States of America and allowed to freely oppress the people of 
Iraq and brutally repress and murder and commit unspeakable atrocities 
on the Iraqi people, when the United States told the Iraqi people that 
he would be gone.
  They are also saying: Do you know why the economic conditions in Iraq 
were so terrible all during the 1990s? Do you know why you have an 
airport out here at Basra that is in mint condition but has never been 
used? Because of American economic sanctions imposed through the United 
Nations on Iraq.
  Now the United States finally overthrew Saddam Hussein and they are 
going to demand our oil. In return for money, they are going to take 
our oil, the oil which we need, we, the Iraqi people, in order to 
rebuild the infrastructure of our country.
  Mr. President, that argument is going to gain traction in some parts 
of Iraq--that the United States came for the oil and now we are asking 
for them to pay up. If we are concerned--and I know we all are--about 
the lives and safety of the young men and women serving in Iraq in the 
military, I can tell you this will put them in greater danger. If the 
opponents--this unusual combination of extremists and Baathists and 
terrorists, and this unusual but lethal cocktail of opponents of Iraqi 
freedom--are given additional propaganda, then I think it is going to 
be obviously very harmful to our effort to democratize and free Iraq.
  I ask my colleagues to consider the fact there is no possibility that 
the Iraqi people and government--when it comes into being--could pay 
back any debt in the short term. It is not possible. If we want to 
condition future aid at a future time on a loan, or some kind of 
repayment, then I think it should be discussed and debated given the 
climate of the times at that time. But to at this moment in time, when 
we still have not gained the support of the Iraqi people that we need 
not only to ensure further democratization and freedom of Iraq--to 
protect the lives of the young men and women who are serving so nobly 
in Iraq, let's not do it at this time. Let's reject this amendment.
  I don't impugn the motives or the patriotism of the sponsors of this 
amendment. I think it is hard to answer to our constituents why we are 
spending so much money there and not getting it back. I understand that 
and sympathize with that argument. One of my colleagues recently talked 
with great emotion about the loss of jobs in his State. These are all 
compelling problems. But I don't see how anyone could argue coherently 
that, at this moment, to send the wrong signal would be the right thing 
to do to achieve any of those goals.
  I repeat that the battle is still on for the hearts and minds of the 
Iraqi people. We are a great and generous nation. We have proven that 
time after time after time. I think it is time for this body to express 
that generosity, that commitment--which only the United States has ever 
really displayed--to freedom and democracy in Iraq and tell these 
people we are going to do everything we can to help rebuild their 
country, we will help them on the road to freedom and democracy, and at 
the end of the day, years from now, that gratitude on the part of the 
Iraqi people will be displayed to us in many ways, that will far exceed 
any benefits that might be accrued from this being some kind of a loan 
that would be paid back.

[[Page 24482]]

  I hope my colleagues will understand the seriousness of this issue. 
It won't stop us from going about the work of securing the peace in 
Iraq, but it will set it back and it will send the wrong signal at the 
wrong time about the United States, true commitment in this country.
  Mr. President, too many young Americans have already made the supreme 
sacrifice for us to go back on that commitment now.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cochran). The Senator from Mississippi is 
recognized.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  To refresh the memory of the Senate, it is good to look at the exact 
wording of this amendment that was offered by the Senator from North 
Dakota and others. The amendment provides that:

       The President shall direct the head of the Coalition 
     Provisional Authority in Iraq, in coordination with the 
     Governing Council of Iraq or a successor governing authority 
     in Iraq, to establish an Iraq Reconstruction Finance 
     Authority. The purpose of the Authority shall be to obtain 
     financing for the reconstruction of the infrastructure in 
     Iraq by collateralizing the revenue from future sales of oil 
     extracted in Iraq. The Authority shall obtain financing for 
     the reconstruction of the infrastructure in Iraq through
       (1)(A) issuing securities or other financial instruments; 
     or
       (B) obtaining loans on the open market from private banks 
     or international financial institutions; and
       (2) to the maximum extent possible, securitizing or 
     collateralizing such securities, instruments, or loans with 
     the revenue from the future sales of oil extracted in Iraq.

  My personal impression from the reading of this amendment is that the 
$21 billion that is struck from the bill by this provision--because the 
amendment begins by striking that $21 billion and substituting this 
provision that I just read. My impression is that this is smoke and 
mirrors, pure and simple. What the amendment would really do would be 
to prevent making available to the Coalition Provisional Authority, 
trying to guarantee the reconstruction of Iraq and the possibility for 
the Iraqi people to live in peace and security and in an environment 
where democracy would be possible, self-government probable--that you 
could do it for nothing. That is what the assumption is that underlies 
this amendment. The assumption is that you can do it for nothing. No 
private bank is going to make a loan in the environment that exists 
today in Iraq, with the threats to the security of the people who are 
cooperating in the reconstruction of Iraq, the threats to the Iraqi 
people who are cooperating with the coalition to reconstruct Iraq--as 
they are. People are being shot at in the streets. There is an 
atmosphere where there is a great deal of fear and suspicion.
  We have to, if we are to succeed in helping create this new Iraq--
which I applaud the President for trying to do; it will be a 
contribution to the peace and stability of not only that region but the 
world, in my opinion. If we want to support the President's efforts, we 
will vote against this amendment and permit the funds that were 
approved by the Appropriations Committee when it rejected this 
amendment in the committee after hearing testimony from an array of 
witnesses who are familiar with the situation in Iraq. The committee 
recommended the approval of these funds--the total appropriation asked 
for by the President--for the military operations, the increase in the 
equipment, ammunition, other resources that our troops need to protect 
themselves and to carry out their mission and to bring it to a 
successful conclusion. Those funds are included in this bill, but also 
additional funds that are the target of this amendment, which will help 
in the reconstruction and make it possible to reconstruct the country 
so that the people of Iraq can take care of themselves in a military 
sense, with officers involved in police activity, patrolling the 
streets to help guarantee that those who are engaged in positive, 
constructive work there in Iraq can do so with security and without 
fear of their lives.
  That is what the bill is for. That is the goal of the mission of our 
troops, working with the other nations. Some 30 other nations are 
actively involved with people there, risking their lives trying to help 
this country rebuild itself from the ravages of the Saddam Hussein 
regime.
  So if we vote for this amendment and if we reject the decision the 
Appropriations Committee made, we are putting in jeopardy all of the 
effort and all of the investment that has gone on, all of the risks 
taken by so many to make this a successful operation to help establish 
an atmosphere for freedom, democracy, self-government, for an economy 
that can be successful in Iraq so that we can see our direct support of 
this new Coalition Provisional Authority and the government that will 
be formed as a result of its efforts.
  I am hopeful we will recognize the fact that we had solid convincing 
testimony before our committee at the hearings. Ambassador Bremer 
testified, the Secretaries of State and Defense testified, and the 
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Abizaid, in charge of 
the military operation there, all in support not just of the military 
aspect, the $80 billion plus for military activity in direct support of 
our military forces, but the additional funds which are the target of 
this amendment.
  Schools have started throughout Iraq. Hospitals have been reopened 
throughout Iraq. That will all come to an end. The continuation of the 
recovery effort and the progress being made will be put in jeopardy if 
these funds are not approved.
  Not only are banks unwilling to make direct loans to this new 
government under the security situation that now exists, but nobody 
will securitize or collateralize future revenues from any source, oil 
or anything else. To assume this oil has a great monetary value right 
now to anybody is just a false assumption. It is in the ground, right, 
but it is not being produced. It is not being transported or marketed 
in sufficient quantities that anyone would be willing to take the risk 
of making a loan to a provisional authority created at this time in 
Iraq. It is just not possible to expect that.
  Nobody testified before our committee that I can remember saying that 
would be a good idea. I don't recall a single financial expert coming 
in to dispute this administration's recommendation that funds be made 
available to help reconstruct the capacity to produce oil and to get 
Iraq's economy moving. Nobody suggested an alternative, certainly not 
this one. I don't recall hearing a witness. Maybe in the time remaining 
to the Senator from North Dakota he can cite that effort, he can cite 
that testimony.
  We heard political arguments preying on the suspicions of others, 
preying on the political aspirations of others who may challenge the 
administration's policies, and we can have that debate, but this is not 
a good substitute for the provisions that we have in the bill today 
before the Senate.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. COCHRAN. We have looked through the administration's request very 
carefully, and there were some disagreements about specific items. The 
other body has completed action in its committee on this appropriations 
request, and there are some differences. We will have an opportunity in 
conference to look at some of the specific suggestions the House has 
made, and I think they have made some good ones. We will work together 
with our House colleagues and counterparts to prepare a conference 
report that we hope will meet the approval of the Senate, as well as 
the House, and that the President can sign, and we can move forward.
  This is a smoke-and-mirrors amendment, Mr. President, purely and 
simply. You cannot have it both ways. As I remember, one of my good 
friends on the other side, after looking at a proposal that we had 
before us one time, said: This is like smoke and mirrors. In fact, 
there is so much smoke; you can't even find the mirrors; you can't see 
the mirrors.
  I am not trying to be too cute. I don't want to try to create that 
impression, but I am very serious in my suggestion that it would be a 
big mistake if we adopted this amendment. I hope the

[[Page 24483]]

Senate will reject the amendment. The committee looked very carefully 
at the amendment when it was offered in our markup session and rejected 
the amendment.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mr. COCHRAN. I am hopeful, as we proceed to a final discussion, that 
the Senate will look at the testimony we had before our committee, 
consider carefully the implications of denying these funds to the 
administration and the fact that it would contribute to a greater 
degree of instability in that country with a greater degree of risk for 
our troops who are now there, the civilians who are there from some 30-
odd countries trying to be helpful in the reconstruction of this 
country. It would create a much more dangerous situation, and I don't 
think we want to be a party to that. That would be a result, unintended 
of course, that would flow from the adoption of this amendment.
  I reserve the remainder of the time on our side.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  Ms. Landrieu addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields to the Senator from Louisiana?
  Ms. LANDRIEU. I believe we have 1\1/2\ minutes. I wanted to ask the 
Senator----
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  Ms. LANDRIEU. I ask unanimous consent to speak for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard. Who yields to the Senator?
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, how much time remains?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota has 1 minute 37 
seconds.
  Mr. DORGAN. My hope had been the normal courtesy of the Senate to 
have the offeror of the amendment close debate. That may not be 
possible because of the strategy of the quorum call here, so I don't 
know what the intention of the Senator from Mississippi is. In most 
cases, those who offer the amendment are allowed to close debate. I 
hoped to do that for 5 minutes. If I am prevented from doing that, we 
will deal with that at a later time.
  But in the remaining time, I wish to make one point. The Senator from 
Mississippi says he didn't hear any witnesses describe this approach to 
reconstruction. You know why they didn't hear any witnesses? Because 
Senator Byrd asked again and again to bring witnesses before the 
committee and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle decided they 
would not allow it to happen. They would not allow other witnesses to 
come before the committee. So it is curious now to hear people complain 
about not hearing other witnesses when they, in fact, prevented them 
from testifying before the committee.
  I yield the floor, and reserve the remainder of my time.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, as we continue to debate this 
supplemental, we continue to find ourselves dancing around a very 
important question that we've been asked--the one that Senator Dorgan 
raises today: how is reconstruction in Iraq to be paid for?
  First, let me say that it is clear that we unequivocally support our 
troops and nearly all of us support their mission. I voted to support 
the President in this effort a year ago this month and continue to 
support our efforts to liberate Iraq from the terror that continues to 
grip its citizens.
  But, the answer to the question of cost is much less clear.
  Last week I came to the Floor in support of Senator Biden's amendment 
to rollback a small portion of the President's May 2003 tax cut. 
Senator Biden's amendment would have paid for this supplemental while 
protecting every American from undue hardship.
  That amendment failed to gain the necessary support that would have 
made it part of this supplemental. And, those who voted against that 
amendment have yet to tell the rest of us how it is that we can afford 
to spend $20 billion on Iraqi reconstruction and pass that cost onto 
our children.
  So, as of today, we still have not figured out how to pay for our 
efforts in Iraq.
  For a moment, let us set aside the portion of the supplemental that I 
believe has nearly universal support here in the Senate--that being the 
portion to pay for ongoing military operations.
  Let us focus instead on that portion of the supplemental that deals 
exclusively with reconstruction in Iraq.
  The administration would like us to approve more than $20 billion for 
projects we all consider necessary for any fledgling nation, but should 
the American public or the Iraqi people pay for these types of 
improvements? Should the American people be paying for pickup trucks, 
radios and computer training? Remember, these are improvements that 
were, in large part, needed prior to our arrival in Iraq.
  Let me be clear, I am not questioning the need for these 
improvements, but rather who ultimately pays for them.
  In February 2003, and on at least three other occasions, we were told 
by the White House that ``Iraq, unlike Afghanistan, is a rather wealthy 
country. Iraq has tremendous resources that belong to the Iraqi people. 
And so there are a variety of means that Iraq has to be able to 
shoulder much of the burden for their own reconstruction.''
  The White House knows, as we do, that Iraq is in control of the 
second largest proven oil reserve on the planet and modern financing 
techniques will allow Iraq to leverage these natural resources to 
rebuild its nation.
  Senator Dorgan's amendment encapsulates an idea that is proven and at 
work all over the globe. The worldwide securitization market is in 
excess of $2 trillion.
  We have heard from several experts, including the Export-Import Bank, 
that securitization is workable and, in this case, desirable.
  Securitization is the most legitimate way to provide reconstruction 
dollars and to foster a sense of Iraqi ownership in the outcome of this 
process of liberation, and I urge my colleagues to support this 
amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time? Time will run equally against 
both sides if no side yields time.
  The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, can you tell me how much time is 
remaining?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired. All remaining 
time is controlled by the Senator from Mississippi.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The hour of 6:30 having arrived, the Senate 
will move to a vote in relation to the amendment of the Senator from 
North Dakota.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I move to table the amendment and ask for 
the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The question is on agreeing to the motion to table amendment No. 
1826. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. 
Edwards), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry), the Senator from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Kohl), and the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Lieberman) 
are necessarily absent.
  I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) would vote ``nay.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Talent.) Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 57, nays 39, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 380 Leg.]

                                YEAS--57

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     Dayton
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Fitzgerald
     Frist
     Graham (SC)
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     McCain
     McConnell
     Miller

[[Page 24484]]


     Murkowski
     Nickles
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Voinovich
     Warner

                                NAYS--39

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Clinton
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Daschle
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Graham (FL)
     Harkin
     Hollings
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lincoln
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Stabenow
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--4

     Edwards
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Lieberman
  The motion was agreed to.
  Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the vote and move to lay that 
motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I strongly support the amendment of 
Senators Daschle and Graham of South Carolina to close an unfortunate 
and unacceptable gap in health insurance coverage for families of 
Reserve and Guard members called up for active duty. The amendment is 
especially important now, when so many Reserve and Guard members are 
being called up for duty in Iraq.
  We all know that our Armed Forces are stretched thin. They are paying 
a heavy price for the Bush administration's gross miscalculation about 
Iraq. The burden is now falling heavily on the Reserve and National 
Guard as well. Over 215,000 Guard and Reserve men and women have not 
been mobilized to ease the burden on our regular forces in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, and in homeland security as well.
  One challenge they should not have to face is maintaining health 
insurance for their families. The immediate problem is that, too few 
private employers are willing to continue coverage for Guard and 
Reserve employees and family members when the employees are activated.
  According to the General Accounting Office, nearly 80 percent of all 
reservists have health coverage through their jobs in the private 
sector. They far prefer to continue that coverage when they are 
activated. The military's TRICARE coverage works well for the 
reservists themselves when they are activated. But it is often not 
practical for their family members, since their homes are often too far 
from the military bases where the TRICARE doctors have their medical 
practices and doctors in the area near their homes often do not accept 
TRICARE coverage.
  Even when TRICARE coverage makes sense, it is often difficult to 
transfer to TRICARE for a year and then transfer back to their 
employer-sponsored plan after their deactivation, especially if they 
have a so-called preexisting condition that could make them 
uninsurable.
  I recently met with an Air Force family in Boston who had lost their 
health care as a result of the mobilization for Iraq. The family joined 
TRICARE, but few physicians and even fewer specialists were willing to 
take their insurance.
  Clearly, we need to do more to guarantee that good health insurance 
coverage is available. All our military families, including members of 
the Reserve and Guard deserve good coverage. We need to do everything 
we can to avoid unnecessary upheaval in the lives of these families who 
are sacrificing so much for our country.
  I thank my colleagues for their support of this proposal to make 
TRICARE available to Reserve and Guard personnel and their families. It 
is a problem we should have corrected long before now and we could have 
avoided this sudden crisis for so many of these families.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I would like to yield to the Senator from 
Nevada for purposes of offering some amendments, and then I would like 
to get a time agreement, if we can, on the amendments that we are going 
to lay down and debate tonight.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, if I could respond to my friend, the manager 
of the bill, I am going to send a couple amendments to the desk. 
Thereafter, Senator Corzine is going to offer an amendment, and he 
wishes 12 minutes tonight. The Senator from Rhode Island, Mr. Reed, is 
going to offer an amendment. He is going to speak for up to 20 minutes.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, we are preparing a unanimous consent 
request. May we----
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am advised Senator Durbin wants to lay 
down an amendment following Senator Reed and wants to speak for 10 
minutes.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I would like to start the process of 
having amendments offered from this side, too. So we are going to have 
two from that side. Can we reserve a time for people to offer 
amendments over here and decide about--I do not have any problem with 
Senator Durbin offering an amendment, but the order of presenting them 
we will decide tomorrow.
  Mr. DURBIN. Absolutely.
  Mr. STEVENS. Let me yield to the Senator to offer amendments.
  And may I ask Senator Corzine to hold off until we get an agreement 
concerning these two amendments we are going to consider?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada is recognized.


                           Amendment No. 1835

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of 
Senator Reid and Senator Lincoln.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the pending amendments are 
set aside, and the clerk will report the amendment.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid], for himself and Mrs. 
     Lincoln, proposes an amendment numbered 1835.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

  (Purpose: To permit retired members of the Armed Forces who have a 
 service-connected disability to receive both military retired pay by 
 reason of their years of military service and disability compensation 
     from the Department of Veterans Affairs for their disability)

       At the end of title I, add the following:
       Sec. 316. (a) Restoration of Full Retired Pay Benefits.--
     Section 1414 of title 10, United States Code, is amended to 
     read as follows:

     ``Sec. 1414. Members eligible for retired pay who have 
       service-connected disabilities: payment of retired pay and 
       veterans' disability compensation

       ``(a) Payment of Both Retired Pay and Compensation.--Except 
     as provided in subsection (b), a member or former member of 
     the uniformed services who is entitled to retired pay (other 
     than as specified in subsection (c)) and who is also entitled 
     to veterans' disability compensation is entitled to be paid 
     both without regard to sections 5304 and 5305 of title 38.
       ``(b) Special Rule for Chapter 61 Career Retirees.--The 
     retired pay of a member retired under chapter 61 of this 
     title with 20 years or more of service otherwise creditable 
     under section 1405 of this title at the time of the member's 
     retirement is subject to reduction under sections 5304 and 
     5305 of title 38, but only to the extent that the amount of 
     the member's retired pay under chapter 61 of this title 
     exceeds the amount of retired pay to which the member would 
     have been entitled under any other provision of law based 
     upon the member's service in the uniformed services if the 
     member had not been retired under chapter 61 of this title.
       ``(c) Exception.--Subsection (a) does not apply to a member 
     retired under chapter 61 of this title with less than 20 
     years of service otherwise creditable under section 1405 of 
     this title at the time of the member's retirement.
       ``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
       ``(1) The term `retired pay' includes retainer pay, 
     emergency officers' retirement pay, and naval pension.
       ``(2) The term `veterans' disability compensation' has the 
     meaning given the term `compensation' in section 101(13) of 
     title 38.''.
       (b) Repeal of Special Compensation Programs.--Sections 1413 
     and 1413a of such title are repealed.
       (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of such chapter is amended by striking the items 
     relating to sections 1413, 1413a, and 1414 and inserting the 
     following:


[[Page 24485]]


``1414. Members eligible for retired pay who have service-connected 
              disabilities: payment of retired pay and veterans' 
              disability compensation.''.
       (d) Effective Date; Prohibition on Retroactive Benefits.--
       (1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall 
     take effect on the first day of the first month that begins 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (2) Retroactive benefits.--No benefits may be paid to any 
     person by reason of section 1414 of title 10, United States 
     Code, as amended by subsection (a), for any period before the 
     effective date under paragraph (1).


                           Amendment No. 1836

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the pending 
amendment be set aside, and I send another amendment to the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the clerk will report the 
amendment.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 1836.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

  (Purpose: To express the sense of Congress on damages caused by the 
          regime of Saddam Hussein during the First Gulf War)

       On page 22, between lines 12 and 13, insert the following 
     new section:
       Sec. 316. (a) Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) During Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert 
     Storm (in this section, collectively referred to as the 
     ``First Gulf War''), the regime of Saddam Hussein committed 
     grave human rights abuses and acts of terrorism against the 
     people of Iraq and citizens of the United States.
       (2) United States citizens who were taken prisoner by the 
     regime of Saddam Hussein during the First Gulf War were 
     brutally tortured and forced to endure severe physical trauma 
     and emotional abuse.
       (3) The regime of Saddam Hussein used civilian citizens of 
     the United States who were working in the Persian Gulf region 
     before and during the First Gulf War as so-called human 
     shields, threatening the personal safety and emotional well-
     being of such civilians.
       (4) Congress has recognized and authorized the right of 
     United States citizens, including prisoners of war, to hold 
     terrorist states, such as Iraq during the regime of Saddam 
     Hussein, liable for injuries caused by such states.
       (5) The United States district courts are authorized to 
     adjudicate cases brought by individuals injured by terrorist 
     states.
       (b) It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) notwithstanding section 1503 of the Emergency Wartime 
     Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2003 (Public Law 108-11; 117 
     Stat. 579) and any other provision of law, a citizen of the 
     United States who was a prisoner of war or who was used by 
     the regime of Saddam Hussein and by Iraq as a so-called human 
     shield during the First Gulf War should have the opportunity 
     to have any claim for damages caused by the regime of Saddam 
     Hussein and by Iraq incurred by such citizen fully 
     adjudicated in the appropriate United States district court;
       (2) any judgment for such damages awarded to such citizen, 
     or the family of such citizen, should be fully enforced; and
       (3) the Attorney General should enter into negotiations 
     with each such citizen, or the family of each such citizen, 
     to develop a fair and reasonable method of providing 
     compensation for the damages each such citizen incurred, 
     including using assets of the regime of Saddam Hussein held 
     by the Government of the United States or any other 
     appropriate sources to provide such compensation.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, there is a unanimous consent request being 
typed now, but for the information of Senators, what we would like to 
do tonight on the first two amendments we have spoken about, the 
Corzine and Reed amendments--the majority has had an opportunity to 
review those amendments. They know what is in those. I do not think we 
are in a position at this time to make an agreement on the amendment by 
the Senator from Illinois because they have not seen his amendment.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I have no problem with Senator Corzine, 
Senator Reed, and Senator Durbin offering their amendments, but in the 
line here of being pending, of amendments being set aside temporarily, 
I would like the right tomorrow to suggest the order in which these 
will be presented following the votes on Senator Corzine's and Senator 
Reed's amendments.
  Mr. REID. I think that is appropriate.
  Mr. STEVENS. It is just an understanding. I do not ask unanimous 
consent.
  Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that when the Senate 
resumes consideration of the Iraq supplemental on Wednesday, there be 4 
minutes equally divided prior to the vote in relation to the Corzine 
amendment No. 1811; provided further that following that vote there be 
7 minutes for debate in relation to the Reed amendment No. 1834, with 5 
minutes under the control of Senator Reed and 2 minutes under the 
control of the chairman; further, that following that debate the Senate 
proceed to a vote in relation to the Reed amendment, with no amendments 
in order to either amendment prior to the votes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, as I understand it, we have announced 
there will be no more votes tonight. Senator Corzine will offer his 
amendment first, and then Senator Reed will offer his amendment. We 
will vote on those amendments tomorrow. I am informed there probably 
will be a morning hour after our convening at about 9:30. We will 
announce that schedule later. That means the first vote will take place 
sometime around 10:40.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who seeks recognition?
  The Senator from New Jersey.


                           Amendment No. 1811

  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to lay aside the 
pending amendment, and I call up amendment No. 1811.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the amendment.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from New Jersey [Mr. Corzine] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 1811.

  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of 
the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

(Purpose: To amend title 10, United States Code, to reduce the age for 
 receipt of military retired pay for nonregular service from 60 to 55)

       On page 22, between lines 12 and 13, insert the following:
       Sec. 316. (a) Section 12731(a)(1) of title 10, United 
     States Code, is amended by striking ``at least 60 years of 
     age'' and inserting ``at least 55 years of age''.
       (b) With respect to any provision of law, or of any policy, 
     regulation, or directive of the executive branch, that refers 
     to a member or former member of the uniformed services as 
     being eligible for, or entitled to, retired pay under chapter 
     1223 of title 10, United States Code, but for the fact that 
     the member or former member is under 60 years of age, such 
     provision shall be carried out with respect to that member or 
     former member by substituting for the reference to being 60 
     years of age a reference to the age in effect for 
     qualification for such retired pay under section 12731(a) of 
     title 10, United States Code, as amended by subsection (a).
       (c) The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect 
     on the first day of the first month beginning on or after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply to retired 
     pay payable for that month and subsequent months.

  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, on behalf of myself and Senator Durbin, 
and hopefully others, this amendment is designed to reduce the 
retirement age for members of the National Guard and Reserves from 60 
to 55. This change would allow for an estimated 92,000 reservists, 
currently age 55 to 59, to retire with full benefits and would restore 
parity between the retirement systems for Federal civilian employees 
and reservists.
  Just to refresh my colleagues' memory, regular military personnel can 
retire after 20 years of service regardless of their age--38, 48, 55, 
or 60--and receive their retirement benefits at the time of retirement. 
As we reflect on the demands placed on our soldiers in Iraq, 
particularly our Reserve and Guard forces--of which there are roughly 
20,000 in theater--there is no more appropriate time to consider this 
important proposal to support these brave men and women.
  As a matter of basic fairness, it is only right to restore parity 
between the retirement age for civilian employees and their Reserve 
counterparts.

[[Page 24486]]

  When the Reserve retirement system was created in 1947, the 
retirement age for reservists was identical to the age for civilian 
employees. At age 60, reservists and Government employees could hang up 
their uniforms and retire with full benefits. However, since 1947, the 
retirement age for civilian retirees has been lowered by 5 years while 
the retirement age has not changed for reservists and guards.
  The disparate treatment of Federal employees and reservists would 
have been serious enough had the nature of the work performed by the 
reservists been steady over the past five decades, but today this 
country places an increasingly heavy demand on its Ready Reserve, more 
of a demand than has ever been the case in our Nation's history. Today 
more than 200,000 reservists have been called up to serve their country 
in the war on terrorism, and 170,000 of these reservists and Guard 
troops are now on active duty, here at home and abroad. America's 
dependence on our Ready Reserve has never been more transparent to the 
American people. Reservists are now providing security at our Nation's 
airports, and they patrol the air over our major cities. They provide 
caps, protection.
  With call-ups that last several months and take reservists far from 
home in serving our Nation, it is increasingly clear that reservists 
are performing the same role as those on active duty and any other 
service. Before the war on terrorism, reservists were performing 13 
million man-days each year--get the idea of how big that is--more than 
a tenfold increase over the 1 million man-days the Reserves averaged 
just 10 years ago. It has moved dramatically, even before the war on 
terrorism began.
  In fiscal year 2002, reservists contributed 41 million man-days. And 
this year, in fiscal year 2003, that number will be up again. So we are 
using our Reserve Forces dramatically more than was ever the case in 
the history of the Reserve and Guard units. These people are on active 
duty for an increasing amount of time, particularly as we justify and 
move forward with the war on terrorism. These are staggering increases. 
Those defenders of the American people should have that recognized by 
shortening their time before they are eligible for retirement. In my 
view, with additional responsibility should come additional benefits.
  I know this proposal is not without cost. But not improving the 
reservists' benefits also will have a cost, potentially a severe cost. 
After all, in recent years we have seen our military struggling to meet 
recruitment and retention goals. It has been even more severe sometimes 
with our Guard and Reserve. That has improved somewhat after 9/11. But 
unless the overall package of incentives is enhanced, there is little 
reason to believe we will be able to attract and retain highly trained 
Reserve personnel over the long run, particularly as their deployments 
and the number of man-hours has increased.
  Active-duty military personnel have often looked to the Reserves as a 
way to continue to serve their country while being closer to their 
families. We have been drawing people out of the active military into 
the Reserve. With thousands of dollars invested in training active-duty 
officers and enlisted soldiers, the United States benefits tremendously 
when personnel decide to continue with the Reserves. But with Reserve 
deployments increasing in frequency and duration, pulling reservists 
away from their families and civilian life, imposing real hardships on 
those families, the advantage in joining the Reserves has been 
dramatically reduced. There is no question about that.
  The more we depend on the Reserves, the greater chance we have of 
losing highly trained former active-duty service men and women and a 
number of people who have just joined the Active Reserve because they 
thought it was a way they could supplement income and be involved in 
supporting our Nation.
  In my view, the added incentive of full retirement at 55 might 
provide just the inducement some of them need to stay on despite the 
surge in deployments. By the way, to illustrate, in the period 1953 to 
1990, there were 11 deployments of reservists and guards. Between 1991 
and 2001, there have been 50 deployments of reservists and guards. Now 
those numbers are accelerating as we take on this war on terrorism.
  It is an enormous change in how we are utilizing our Reserve Forces. 
I hear from the guards and reservists in New Jersey to whom I spoke 
directly that one of those things they are most interested in is seeing 
a shortening of the period before they have access to retirement 
benefits. It will make a big difference in their lives. They consider 
it important.
  Enacting this legislation will send a clear message that our Nation 
values the increased sacrifice of our reservists during this trying 
time. This proposal has been endorsed by key members of a broad 
military coalition, including the Reserve Officers Association, 
Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Air Force Sergeants Association, the Air 
Force Association, and Retired Enlisted Association, the Fleet Reserve 
Association, the Naval Reserve Association, and the National Guard 
Association. All of the groups that represent these individuals in our 
system are strongly supporting this initiative. It would restore parity 
between the Reserves retirement system of our Guard and Reserve and the 
civilian retirement system, acknowledge the increased workload of 
reservists, and provide essential personnel with the inducement to join 
and stay in the Reserves until retirement.
  I do hope my colleagues will support this amendment. This is the 
appropriate time given what kind of challenge we are laying down for 
our National Guard and Reserve across this country. We have increased 
their responsibilities. We have put severe challenges in front of them 
and their families, and it is our responsibility, in my view, to 
recognize that and to address it. I think one of the best ways to do 
that is to reduce the retirement age for the Reserve and the Guard.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this amendment.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be allowed to 
speak for 5 minutes and lay down an amendment out of line before giving 
the floor to Senator Reed, who will do the same with his amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                           Amendment No. 1837

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Illinois [Mr. Durbin], for himself, Ms. 
     Mikulski, and Mr. Corzine, proposes an amendment numbered 
     1837.

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that further 
reading of the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

(Purpose: To ensure that a Federal employee who takes leave without pay 
   in order to perform certain service as a member of the uniformed 
services or member of the National Guard shall continue to receive pay 
  in an amount which, when taken together with the pay and allowances 
such individual is receiving for such service, will be no less than the 
basic pay such individual would then be receiving if no interruption in 
                        employment had occurred)

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:
       Sec. __. (a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the 
     ``Reservists Pay Security Act of 2003''.
       (b) Nonreduction in pay While Federal Employee Is 
     Performing Active Service In the Uniformed Services or 
     National Guard.--
       (1) In general.--Subchapter IV of chapter 55 of title 5, 
     United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:

     ``Sec. 5538. Nonreduction in pay while serving in the 
       uniformed services or National Guard

       ``(a) An employee who is absent from a position of 
     employment with the Federal Government in order to perform 
     active duty in the uniformed services pursuant to a call or 
     order to active duty under a provision of law referred to in 
     section 101(a)(13)(B) of title 10 shall be entitled, while 
     serving on active duty, to receive, for each pay period 
     described in subsection (b), an amount equal to the amount by 
     which--
       ``(1) the amount of basic pay which would otherwise have 
     been payable to such employee for such pay period if such 
     employee's

[[Page 24487]]

     civilian employment with the Government had not been 
     interrupted by that service, exceeds (if at all)
       ``(2) the amount of pay and allowances which (as determined 
     under subsection (d))--
       ``(A) is payable to such employee for that service; and
       ``(B) is allocable to such pay period.
       ``(b)(1) Amounts under this section shall be payable with 
     respect to each pay period (which would otherwise apply if 
     the employee's civilian employment had not been 
     interrupted)--
       ``(A) during which such employee is entitled to 
     reemployment rights under chapter 43 of title 38 with respect 
     to the position from which such employee is absent (as 
     referred to in subsection (a)); and
       ``(B) for which such employee does not otherwise receive 
     basic pay (including by taking any annual, military, or other 
     paid leave) to which such employee is entitled by virtue of 
     such employee's civilian employment with the Government.
       ``(2) For purposes of this section, the period during which 
     an employee is entitled to reemployment rights under chapter 
     43 of title 38--
       ``(A) shall be determined disregarding the provisions of 
     section 4312(d) of title 38; and
       ``(B) shall include any period of time specified in section 
     4312(e) of title 38 within which an employee may report or 
     apply for employment or reemployment following completion of 
     the service on active duty to which called or ordered as 
     described in subsection (a).
       ``(c) Any amount payable under this section to an employee 
     shall be paid--
       ``(1) by such employee's employing agency;
       ``(2) from the appropriation or fund which would be used to 
     pay the employee if such employee were in a pay status; and
       ``(3) to the extent practicable, at the same time and in 
     the same manner as would basic pay if such employee's 
     civilian employment had not been interrupted.
       ``(d) The Office of Personnel Management shall, in 
     consultation with Secretary of Defense, prescribe any 
     regulations necessary to carry out the preceding provisions 
     of this section.
       ``(e)(1) The head of each agency referred to in section 
     2302(a)(2)(C)(ii) shall, in consultation with the Office, 
     prescribe procedures to ensure that the rights under this 
     section apply to the employees of such agency.
       ``(2) The Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
     Administration shall, in consultation with the Office, 
     prescribe procedures to ensure that the rights under this 
     section apply to the employees of that agency.
       ``(f) In this section--
       ``(1) the terms `employee', `Federal Government', and 
     `uniformed services' have the same respective meanings as 
     given them in section 4303 of title 38;
       ``(2) the term `employing agency', as used with respect to 
     an employee entitled to any payments under this section, 
     means the agency or other entity of the Government (including 
     an agency referred to in section 2302(a)(2)(C)(ii)) with 
     respect to which such employee has reemployment rights under 
     chapter 43 of title 38; and
       ``(3) the term `basic pay' includes any amount payable 
     under section 5304.''.
       (2) Technical and conforming amendment.--The table of 
     sections for chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, is 
     amended by inserting after the item relating to section 5537 
     the following:

``5538. Nonreduction in pay while serving in the uniformed services or 
              National Guard.''.

       (3) Effective period.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall apply with respect to pay periods (as described in 
     section 5538(b) of title 5, United States Code, as amended by 
     this section) beginning on or after the date of enactment of 
     this section and ending September 30, 2004.

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank my colleague, who is a Boston Red 
Sox fan, for allowing me an opportunity to present this amendment so I 
can watch the Cubs in a few minutes. I owe him big for this one.
  This amendment takes into consideration that we have 1.2 million 
members of the National Guard and Reserve. Of that number, some 120,000 
are also Federal employees--10 percent of the National Guard and 
Reserve--and 14,000 of the Federal employees are currently mobilized 
and serve on active duty.
  All across the United States, States, local governments, and private 
corporations have said to the men and women in the Reserve and Guard: 
If you are activated and mobilized, we will hold you harmless in terms 
of your salary. We will make up the difference between your military 
pay and what you would have made at home so that your family won't 
suffer a hardship and have to make a sacrifice.
  Sadly, we do not make the same concession for Federal employees. My 
Reservist Pay Security Act of 2003 is legislation that will help 
alleviate the problems faced by many Federal employees who serve in the 
Reserves and must take time off from their jobs when our Nation calls. 
It allows these citizen-soldiers to maintain their normal salary when 
called to active service by requiring Federal agencies to make up the 
difference.
  This amendment is affordable. A recent Department of Defense survey 
of 35,000 reservists found that 41 percent lost income during 
mobilization and deployment, while 59 percent either broke even or 
increased their income on active duty. Of those who reported losing 
income, most--70 percent--said their income was reduced by $3,750 or 
less while serving on active duty.
  Based on CBO estimates, this measure to protect the income of Federal 
employees who are activated and mobilized in Guard and Reserve units 
would cost us approximately $75 million for the next fiscal year. That 
seems like a very small amount in an $87 billion supplemental.
  I think we need to provide these Reserve employees financial support 
so they can leave their civilian lives and serve our country without 
the added burden on their families.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island is recognized.


                           Amendment No. 1834

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to lay aside the 
pending amendment, and I call up amendment No. 1834.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Rhode Island [Mr. Reed], for himself and 
     Mr. Hagel, proposes an amendment numbered 1834.

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that further reading 
of the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

(Purpose: To increase the end strength of the Army and to structure the 
                additional forces for constabulary duty)

       On page 22, between lines 12 and 13, insert the following:
       Sec. 316. (a) In addition to the strengths authorized by 
     law for personnel of the Army as of September 30, 2004, 
     pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 115(a) of title 
     10, United States Code, the Army is hereby authorized an 
     additional strength of 10,000 personnel as of such date, 
     which the Secretary of the Army may allocate as the Secretary 
     determines appropriate among the personnel strengths required 
     by such section to be authorized annually under subparagraphs 
     (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) of such section and paragraph 
     (2) of such section.
       (b) The additional personnel authorized under subsection 
     (a) shall be trained, incorporated into an appropriate force 
     structure, and used to perform constabulary duty in such 
     specialties as military police, light infantry, civil 
     affairs, and special forces, and in any other military 
     occupational specialty that is appropriate for constabulary 
     duty.
       (c) Of the amount appropriated under chapter 1 of this 
     title for the Iraq Freedom Fund, $409,000,000 shall be 
     available for necessary expenses for the additional personnel 
     authorized under subsection (a).

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I offer this amendment with Senator Hagel of 
Nebraska. It would increase the end strength of our Army so we can deal 
with the increasing turbulence throughout the world that we have been 
confronting since 9/11--indeed before then.
  Our military forces are without equal. They combine superb technology 
with bravery and devotion to the Nation. They are well led, 
particularly by extraordinary noncommissioned officers and junior 
officers. These qualities extend to both Active and Reserve components. 
History has never seen such a formidable force. However, history is 
replete with examples of superb military forces worn down because they 
were overextended.
  Today, that danger is approaching our Army as it copes with worldwide 
commitments and the difficult challenge of a violent insurgency in Iraq 
and a resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
  This chart depicts the deployment of soldiers. There are 325,000 
soldiers in 120 countries. In Iraq, there are about 120,000; in Kuwait, 
about 22,000; in Afghanistan, approximately 11,000. They are all across 
the globe performing missions that are important to us and our national 
security and our safety.

[[Page 24488]]

This situation of an extended Army has been developing over many years. 
Since 1989, the Army's military end strength has been cut by more than 
34 percent and civilian strength by 45 percent, while undergoing a 300-
percent increase in mission rate. Fewer people, more demand. That has 
been the record since 1989 and before that even.
  This operational tempo certainly became acute after September 11 and 
the commencement of the global war on terrorism. A respected voice who 
devoted his life to serving the nation, GEN Frederick Kroesen, wrote in 
November 2002, before the initiation of operations in Iraq:

       It appears to this interested observer that we are 
     expending the force and doing little to ensure its viability 
     in the years to come, years we have been assured it will take 
     to win the war on terrorism. The quality of our effort, high 
     and commendable during the first year and showing no signs of 
     deterioration, can in the long run only be sustained by 
     preparing now for the force we will need then. Barring the 
     unlikely scenario of an all-out war and full mobilization, 
     soldiers now fighting the war on terrorism, with few 
     exceptions, will not be available for fighting two years from 
     now. Units and organizations of the reserve components, 
     mobilized for the first year of war, will not be available 
     for more of the same service off into the indefinite future. 
     It might be prudent now to ask the managers who decreed the 
     current second-year Reservists' extensions what they plan for 
     the third year.
       The answer, of course, is to increase the size of the Army. 
     On September 10, 2001, the Army was too small for the 
     missions with which it was charged--a fact reported by both 
     the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Army in congressional 
     testimony of that year.
       On September 11, Army mission requirements grew 
     significantly; the Army did not. It instead begins the 
     expending of it and establishes the need to begin planning 
     for the replacement of that which is being used up.

  General Kroesen, a distinguished soldier, commanded the 82nd Airborne 
Division when I served as a young lieutenant. His insights are both 
profound and to me compelling.
  Again, these words from General Kroesen were written before Operation 
Iraqi Freedom and before we found ourselves in a prolonged and costly 
effort to defeat an insurgency and rebuild a nation. The added stress 
of Iraq has made the acute absolutely critical.
  James Kitfield of the National Journal wrote an insightful analysis 
of the stresses affecting the Army. He points out how this breakneck 
operational tempo is imposing great burdens throughout the Army. In his 
words:

       To understand why, shift the focus from individual soldiers 
     to major units such as the 82nd Airborne Division. 
     Traditionally America's quick reaction division, the 82nd 
     currently has a brigade in Iraq and another in Afghanistan. 
     The 3rd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne, however, is the one 
     that most concerns Army planners. After leaving Afghanistan 
     earlier this year, the 3rd Brigade was home only about 6 
     months before being sent to help relieve the 3rd Infantry 
     Division.

  Then there is the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division. Having 
returned recently from Germany from an extended peacekeeping deployment 
in the Balkans, the soldiers of the 3rd Brigade are becoming 
reacquainted with their families and relearning the kinds of high-
intensity combat skills the Army put to such impressive use during the 
Iraq war. That training cycle itself requires weeks away from home. The 
1st Infantry soldiers will not have much time before turning their 
focus to deployment preparations, however, because the 3rd Brigade is 
heading to Iraq next March to relieve elements of the 4th Infantry 
Division.
  What we are seeing every day is an increasing cycle of deployment and 
redeployment of brigades and divisions being shuffled about to cover 
all of these tremendous worldwide domains. This tempo and this stress 
is beginning to show in terms of our soldiers and in terms of the Army. 
Unless we provide additional soldiers for the Army, these stresses will 
be manifested in growing problems, such as difficulties in recruitment 
and retention and difficulties in adequately and thoroughly training 
the force.
  The Army has begun to cancel or postpone many exercises and training 
rotations. The Los Angeles Times recently reported that since October 
1, 2002, the Pentagon has canceled or postponed 49 of the 182 training 
exercises scheduled for this fiscal year.
  The superb force that entered Iraq was forged through intensive 
training. Without such training, we will lose the edge in a world where 
there are other potential adversaries, such as North Korea whose army 
is more tenacious than the Iraqis under Saddam.
  The effects on recruitment and retention are likely to be seen first 
in the National Guard and Reserves. Indeed, unless we add more active 
component soldiers, we will continue to rely on the National Guard and 
Reserves to fill the gaps. Such a policy is unsus-
tainable over an extended period.
  National Guard men and women and Reserve forces are dedicated 
patriots and skilled professionals, but they have lives outside the 
Army. If we continually force them to choose between service to the 
Nation and supporting their families, they will ultimately and 
invariably choose their families.
  Moreover, the stresses on the Guard and Reserves are not localized in 
a few communities. These stresses are transmitted to every corner of 
the country, and we will have great difficulty maintaining public 
support for an extended operation in Iraq if the public sees that 
operation through the prism of neighbors repeatedly called to service 
and sacrifice without relief.
  There has been much discussion about the adequacy of our force 
structure in Iraq, and I have become increasingly skeptical of the 
adequacy of the force structure in Iraq. You just have to pick up 
today's New York Times where there is an article that describes the 
fact that there is approximately 1 million tons of ammunition in Iraq, 
much of it unsecured because, frankly, we don't have enough troops 
there. We don't have enough American troops. We have not received our 
international reinforcements, and we have not yet effectively trained 
and deployed Iraqi troops.
  What is also frightening is the fact that apparently the Saddam 
Hussein regime stockpiled at least 5,000 shoulder-fired missiles, air 
defense missiles, capable of bringing down aircraft. Only about a third 
of these missiles are accounted for. There is the alarming possibility, 
because we are unable to secure these ammo dumps, that literally 
thousands of shoulder-fired air defense missiles are in Iraq or, even 
more alarming, have filtered outside the country to terrorist groups. 
So there is increasing evidence that the forces we have on the ground 
are not doing an essential job, which is to protect themselves from 
munitions going into the hands of terrorists and being used against our 
troops.
  Regardless of how one feels about the number of troops in Iraq, we 
simply will not be able to maintain even that level unless we increase 
the end strength of our Army. Increased reliance on Guard and Reserves 
is not a sensible long-term strategy, and the arrival of international 
reinforcements is problematic. The Army is trying to squeeze more boots 
on the ground from its current forces, but this improvisation is a 
quick fix, not a long-term solution.
  This amendment would authorize and would pay for an increase in the 
active duty Army end strength by 10,000 personnel and would focus on 
forces needed for constabulary duty, such as military police, civil 
affairs, light infantry, and special operations.
  The objective of end strength, meaning the number of personnel 
permitted to serve in the military, was succinctly summed up by retired 
GEN Gordon R. Sullivan:

       The objective is to have enough soldiers to execute Army 
     missions at the right time and the right place, have enough 
     in the total to have both tactical and operations flexibility 
     and to have adequate depth in numbers to support leader 
     development, required force structure manning and the 
     requisite balance needed across the ranks.

  Indeed, the current numbers are not giving the flexibility and the 
redundancy we should have built in to our military.
  Each year in the Defense authorization bill, Congress authorizes the 
end strength of each branch of the military service. There is a 
separate end strength number for the Active and Reserve component, 
which includes the National Guard.
  Presently, the authorized active duty end strength for the Army is 
480,000.

[[Page 24489]]

The authorized end strength for the Army National Guard is 350,000, and 
the authorized end strength for the Army Reserve is 205,000.
  In addition, there is a variance, which means the Secretary of 
Defense is authorized to exceed the active duty end strength by 3 
percent when necessary, and the Guard and Reserve end strength by 2 
percent.
  I would argue that the present authorized end strength today, even 
with the allowed variance, does not provide enough Army personnel to 
provide the depth, the flexibility, and the balance it needs to carry 
out the missions of today and the future. This Army is stretched across 
the globe. The demands increase and the number of soldiers who are 
available is not able to give that needed flexibility, that 
adaptability, and that balance.
  Five years ago in the Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 1999, 
Congress lowered the authorized active duty end strength from 495,000 
to its present 480,000. So there were at least 15,000 more soldiers 
several years ago before the war on terror, before the war in Iraq, 
before contingencies that have yet to present themselves to us.
  Soon after that, however, the discussions began when we lowered this 
end strength, focusing on the inadequacies of the number of people we 
had. During a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee in July 
2001--again, before September 11--General Shinseki stated:

       Given today's mission profile, the Army is too small for 
     the mission load it is carrying.

  At that time, both General Shinseki and Secretary White requested 
that end strength be increased to 520,000. Again, that was before 9/11 
and before Iraq.
  Since 2001, the Association of the United States Army has been 
advocating for increasing end strength by 30,000 to 40,000 additional 
soldiers. Again, my amendment would only call for a 10,000 increase in 
the number of soldiers.
  However, despite the views of these professionals, end strength has 
not been increased. Yet none of the Army's missions from 2000 have 
ended, and with the advent of September 11, the war on terror, the war 
in Afghanistan, and the war in Iraq, the burden has increased 
exponentially.
  Today, as this chart shows, the Army has 325,200 soldiers deployed 
and forward stationed in 120 countries. While some of these deployment 
numbers may vary in the future, there will not be any significant 
changes. No one, I think, reasonably expects that we will be 
withdrawing within a year or two a major force from Iraq or forces from 
Afghanistan or forces from even Kosovo, Bosnia, and Hungary. These 
commitments are there, and they must be met.
  Retired LTG Jay Garner, the first director of Iraqi reconstruction, 
told the National Journal that the active duty Army ``has already been 
burned out'' by trying to do too much with too few, and the ``reserves 
are going to be burned out'' by repeated activations.
  General Garner argues that the Army needs to expand by two light 
infantry divisions, about 20,000.
  The U.S. Army's Center of Military History has looked at the numbers 
and experiences of forces needed to remain in country after the 
conventional battle has ended--occupation forces, in other words. The 
center notes that you can look at historical examples, but you must 
also consider contemporary analyses and current capabilities.
  With this three-pronged analysis, the Army's Center of Military 
History posited that if ``we and our allies were to directly and 
effectively steer the course of events,'' 300,000 troops would be 
required in Afghanistan for a generation and 100,000 troops would be 
needed in Iraq for a number of years,'' assuming a modernized society 
and robust infrastructure. Without these numbers of military personnel, 
we may have influence but not control.
  I think we are seeing today in Iraq that we have influence and not 
control, certainly not in Baghdad. We have influence in Afghanistan, 
but not control. It is important to note that providing insufficient 
troops to both Afghanistan and Iraq not only has consequences now but 
well into the future.
  Today, the Army presently has 501,000 soldiers serving on active 
duty. Not only is this above the authorized end strength of 480,000, 
but it is also above the 3 percent variance rate. Indeed, the Army is 
so stretched at the moment, they are actually breaking the law on end 
strength. Isn't that enough evidence to suggest we need to raise the 
level?
  I also note that even when the Army is well over the authorized end 
strength, they are having an extraordinarily difficult time 
implementing a rotation policy for Iraq and other areas around the 
globe. This means that tours are being extended. More Guard and Reserve 
forces are being called up and our soldiers are getting tired by the 
daily stress they are enduring and frustrated by the lack of certainty 
of when they may return home.
  Currently more than 130,000 Guard and Reserve soldiers are deployed. 
Approximately 29,000 National Guard soldiers, infantry, signal 
transportation, military police are serving in Iraq and Kuwait. Among 
those are the 115th and 119th military police companies from Rhode 
Island, and the 118th military police battalion from Rhode Island. They 
are doing a magnificent job, but they are feeling the stress of this 
deployment.
  More than 10,000 Reserve soldiers are in Kuwait, Afghanistan, and 
Iraq. At this time, there are still requirements for National Guard 
soldiers in Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Sinai. In fact, the National Guard 
has taken command relationships in these countries--Bosnia, Kosovo, and 
the Sinai. This is a development that I think many National Guard 
soldiers did not anticipate when they joined the Guard several years 
ago, certainly if they joined the Guard 10 or 15 years ago.
  Since September 11, the Guard has mobilized 210,000 of its 350,000 
soldiers at one time or another. The Reserve has mobilized 85,000 of 
its 205,000 in that same time period.
  In addition, the activation of the Reserve component has a different 
effect than the deployment of an active-duty soldier. For active-duty 
personnel, the military is their primary employer and their families 
are prepared for the sacrifices required when their loved one is absent 
from home for a long period of time performing dangerous duty. With 
reservists, it is a different story. While slightly more than 50 
percent of the active-component Army is married, 74 percent of 
reservists have at least 1 dependent. About one-half of these soldiers 
work for employers with 1,000 or fewer employees and 15 percent work 
for companies with less than 50 employees, where their absence is 
sorely felt.
  While these soldiers are fighting for our country for at least a 
year, employers are understaffed and spouses are struggling as single 
parents, often under financial duress, since some soldiers take a pay 
cut when they give up their civilian salary for an Army wage.
  Goldman Sachs recently conducted a survey of Reserve component 
soldiers and their employers and found these disturbing results: 
Virtually all the reservists felt that the activation was having a less 
than favorable impact on their civilian careers. Nearly one-third of 
the reservists were not sure their jobs would be waiting for them when 
they came off active duty, and half believed there would be a negative 
effect on pay and promotion.
  Indeed, there is a dire need to expand the number of active-duty 
military personnel to avoid a future crisis in recruitment and 
retention in the military, specifically in the Reserve and National 
Guard units. With numbers like this reported by the Goldman Sachs 
survey, with the stress of a year deployment, with the additional 
burdens on spouses and children, I believe when these National Guards 
men and women and reservists return home the likelihood they would 
eagerly extend their careers in the Guard and Reserve is diminished 
significantly. Our soldiers need a break. They deserve better. We can 
help them and we should.
  Now some may oppose this amendment by stating that senior officials 
from the administration and the Army have repeatedly stated that if 
they needed more troops they would ask for them, and they do not need 
more

[[Page 24490]]

troops. I argue the administration is ignoring the facts I have just 
cited, and the simple and the obvious point that our Army is overworked 
and the work continues.
  I think they are ignoring these facts for several reasons. First, 
increasing end strength admits that we need more troops to create a 
reasonable rotation policy, which means we are going to be in Iraq for 
a long time. The only other country where we have a one-year rotation 
policy for troops is Korea, where we have been ensconced now for almost 
50 years. This administration simply must admit that a U.S. military 
presence in Iraq will be necessary for a very long time. Last 
Saturday's edition of the Washington Post quotes GEN Jim Jones, the 
U.S. European commander and NATO supreme allied commander, as saying 
U.S. soldiers may pull out of Bosnia in 2004--may. That is 8 years 
after they went in and were also going to stay for just 1 year. I argue 
that Iraq is likely a more difficult undertaking than Bosnia. Also, the 
only reason the U.S. is able to leave Bosnia is because troops from 
other nations are remaining, a luxury we unfortunately do not have in 
Iraq today.
  Once again, the United States Army Center of Military History has 
noted: Occupations have required not only manpower but also time to 
achieve success. In the Philippines, for example, the officers and NCOs 
of the Philippine constabulary were virtually all continental Americans 
in 1902. Yet, by 1935, 30 years later, everyone was a Filipino. The 
Philippines was a challenging proposition with respect to both manpower 
and time, and it took a generation to achieve a satisfactory outcome. 
Germany and Japan transitioned from being occupied to being allies in 
about a decade.
  So looking at history, challenging countries take at least a 
generation to stabilize, less demanding countries perhaps a decade. We 
are in Iraq for at least 10 years, and we have to have a force 
structure that will support that deployment. The Army must grow so they 
can rotate troops and avoid sending the units again and again to Iraq 
and Afghanistan.
  The second reason the administration is reluctant to increase end 
strength is that as the New York Times noted in July,

       . . . the concept on increasing troop numbers and its costs 
     contradicts a basic tenet of Secretary Rumsfeld's goal for 
     military transformation, which is to rely on new technology 
     and rewrite doctrine to allow smaller forces to attack with 
     greater speed and deadliness.

  I argue that Secretary Rumsfeld was able to test his theories of 
transformation during the period of conventional war in Iraq, and they 
were a success. But he risks losing that victory by refusing to see a 
war of this sort also requires nation building, and nation building 
requires many more boots on the ground to ensure security and 
stability.
  Retired LTG Walter Ulmer--and General Ulmer was one of the key 
leaders in the Army who analyzed and predicted the hollow Army of the 
1970s--stated recently:

       One of the lessons we learned in the past, and we're 
     relearning in dramatic fashion in Iraq and Afghanistan, is 
     that the U.S. military may be able to fight a war with slim 
     forces, but it takes a lot more troops to secure an unruly 
     nation with many diverse interest groups and antagonists.

  Ulmer argues the Army is short 40,000 to 50,000 troops. He said:

       The Army is a very elastic institution with a can-do 
     culture, and that's a wonderful attribute, but it is not 
     infinitely elastic and its can-do ethos makes it possible for 
     the Army to practically respond itself to death.

  Another senior Army official stated:

       Essentially, we fought a just-in-time war. A unit would 
     arrive, get a bullet, the enemy would pop his head up and 
     we'd fire the bullet. That puts a lot of stress on a 
     commander who is simultaneously trying to execute the forward 
     battle, carefully balance his resources, pull a company from 
     here to plug a gap over there, all the while looking back 
     over his shoulder at very exposed logistical lines.

  He asked:

       Why fight a war like that when we could have deployed 
     overwhelming combat forces in a way that would reduce risks 
     and possibly protect lives? We've also seen in Iraq that 
     while lean forces can be successful in combat by focusing on 
     an enemy's finite centers of gravity, in [postwar] stability 
     operations, there are no decisive centers of gravity. You 
     have to spread your forces throughout each city, and that 
     takes more of them.

  If we accept the need to increase the size of the Active Duty Army, 
we need to then focus on what types of forces would be most beneficial. 
The U.S. Army is the best in the world when it comes to skills and 
equipment needed to win on the battlefield, but the conventional battle 
in Iraq is over. Now I argue we need an occupation force, those who 
must remain to accomplish the U.S. objective once the conventional 
battle is finished. These forces must have different skills because 
they have different missions: defending against an insurgency, 
enforcing law and order, providing humanitarian relief, and 
reconstruction of infrastructure. They need the skills required for 
nation building.
  So my amendment directs that the Army should seek 10,000 soldiers who 
have the skills that are the highest demand in Iraq: military police, 
special forces, civil affairs officers, and light infantry. These 
forces travel lighter, so they are less expensive to transport and 
maintain. These forces will provide maximum effectiveness at minimal 
cost.
  In January, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or 
CSIS, released a report called ``A Wiser Peace: An Action Strategy For 
Post-Conflict Iraq.'' The first recommendation in the report is to:

       . . . create a transitional security force that is 
     effectively prepared, mandated and able to handle post-
     conflict security needs.

  The report states that:

       The United States must immediately identify and train a 
     core force of U.S. military troops to perform constabulary 
     duties in Iraq. Working with its coalition partners, the U.S. 
     must also identify and ready other constabulary forces--such 
     as the Italian Carabinieri and French Gendarmerie--to assure 
     their timely arrival in theater.

  We have yet to see the arrival of the French Gendarmerie and the 
Italian Carabinieri. There are Italian forces that are assisting there, 
but the French have not yet arrived.
  But the need the CSIS identified before the war ever began is clearly 
there, and the U.S. Army is struggling to meet it. Presently, the 
Active-Duty Army has 19,432 authorized positions for military policemen 
and there are currently 22,476 MPs serving, well over authorized 
capacity. There are 22,608 Reserve slots for military police and they 
are presently at 95 percent capacity. Clearly, there is a need for more 
military police. This amendment assures we start meeting this need.
  In addition, my amendment gives the Army the flexibility to either 
move Reserve slots to active duty or recruit new soldiers. I should 
make it clear that the positions move, not necessarily the people. No 
reservist can be forced to become an active-duty soldier.
  Most of the Army's military police are in Reserve units--12,800 are 
in the Active Force while 22,800 are in the Reserves. Most Civil 
Affairs Units, those soldiers who provide a link between the military 
and civilian population in an area of operations, are also in Reserves.
  Clearly, there needs to be a redistribution, given the demands on 
today's Army. In addition, if the Army has the flexibility to move 
reservists and guardsmen into the Active Force, these soldiers will be 
ready for deployment much more quickly than new recruits.
  The informal CBO cost of 10,000 additional soldiers is $409 million. 
That number includes military personnel and operational and maintenance 
costs of 10,000 additional troops for fiscal year 2004. I believe this 
is the most worthwhile expenditure.
  This amendment offsets this cost with funding from the Iraqi Freedom 
Fund. As we all know, the Iraq Freedom Fund was established in the 
fiscal year 2003 supplemental we passed in March. At that time, $15 
billion was set aside for Secretary Rumsfeld to use on emergency 
expenses for military personnel, operation and maintenance, 
procurement, or humanitarian assistance. Most of that funding has been 
expended. Therefore, an additional $1.9

[[Page 24491]]

billion for the Iraqi Freedom Fund is included in this supplemental for 
exigencies. I believe the exigency is here and we should pay for these 
troops now.
  Many would argue that while the costs are $409 million the first 
year, these troops will have to continue to be maintained in future 
years, and the actual cradle-to-grave costs are much higher. I would 
counter that this cost is minimal compared to what it will take if, in 
just a short time--2 or 3 years--the U.S. Army does not have the 
fighting force it needs to perform its mission because we squandered 
its strength.
  Let me show another chart, which again contrasts the Army in August 
of 2000, when some were criticizing it as being unprepared, and the 
Army in August of 2003.
  There were 144,000 soldiers deployed in 2000; in 2003, about 
370,000--over 370,000; 7 brigades in 2000, 30 brigades in 2003. No 
National Guard divisions deployed; 3 years later, 2 National Guard 
divisions deployed. In 2000, fewer than 25,000 National Guard and 
Reserve troops on active duty; today, 126,498 troops. This has an 
impact.
  These are the scenarios that are used as a template to plan our 
military forces, the ``two major theater wars'' scenario: MTW east, 
Iraq; MTW west, hypothetically Korea. This is the required order of 
battle that has been devised after careful study: six divisions here 
and four divisions for MTW west. The units available in August of 2000, 
again at a time when our Army was being criticized as not being up to 
the task of defending the Nation--six divisions and one armored cavalry 
regiment ready, four divisions at MTW west and one armored cavalry 
division. Today, only four divisions here for the east scenario and 
only three divisions here.
  There is an impact in terms of our capability to do what we planned 
for decades to do. We have to ensure that our Army is ready for any 
mission, and we have to ensure it today.
  In his farewell speech, when he was retiring as Army Chief of Staff, 
GEN Eric Shinseki said:

       We must ensure the Army has the capabilities to match the 
     strategic environment in which we operate, a force sized 
     correctly to meet the strategy set forth in the documents 
     that guide us. . . . beware the 12-division strategy for a 
     10-division Army.

  We are rapidly approaching a 12-division strategy with a 10-division 
Army.
  Our Army is fighting on many fronts for us right now. They are doing 
a magnificent job, as well as the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast 
Guard--all of our Defense Department personnel and related personnel. 
We are extraordinarily proud of them. But they are overtaxed, 
particularly so in the Army because of the nature of the Army. It is 
not only the combat arm of decision but also is the combat arm of 
duration. It is the Army that typically is charged with the aftermath 
of the battle as well as the battle.
  We have to help them. My amendment will provide a modicum of relief. 
I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.
  As a final point, ultimately we all respond, not just to our 
colleagues, not just to institutional pressures, but to our 
constituents. I would find it very difficult, this month or 6 months 
from now, to go back and to meet my neighbors, who are in the National 
Guard and the Reserve, and explain to them that we could not increase 
the size of our Army, that they are being deployed once again, after 
repeated deployments, because we couldn't find the way or the will to 
increase the size of our Army. I think we should. I think we must. And 
I hope we do.
  I ask unanimous consent that Senator Levin be added as a cosponsor of 
this amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of 
a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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