[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9233]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  CONGRESS SHIRKING ITS RESPONSIBILITY

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, this last month has been a hard month: 
Hard for our soldiers in Iraq as we lost more lives than any previous 
month; it was hard on the people of that troubled country; and it was 
hard on the American public as citizens of conscience and people who 
are footing the bill. It has also been hard on Congress.
  I personally believe the Speaker and the chair of the key committees 
to be people of conscience, and they must be terribly embarrassed as 
the world sees what happens when Congress shirks its responsibility to 
set policy, control spending and provide oversight.
  It is as sad as it is outrageous that Congress and the President of 
the United States find out at the same time as millions of people 
around the world about the unconscionable abuses in Iraqi prisons.
  Now, the President will have to settle with Donald Rumsfeld as to why 
he has been kept out of the loop, but we in Congress have only 
ourselves to blame if we continue to avoid being a constructive 
partner, making sure that these abuses stop.

                          ____________________