[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14622-14628]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           BLUE DOG COALITION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 18, 2007, the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening, as I do most Tuesday 
evenings, on behalf of the 43-member strong, fiscally conservative 
Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. Some people may say, what's the Blue Dog 
Coalition and what's it all about?
  Well, Mr. Speaker, we're a group of fiscally conservative Democrats 
that are trying to restore fiscal discipline and common sense to our 
Nation's government. We're a group of conservative Democrats that were 
founded back in 1994 after the Republicans took control of the 
Congress. And at the time, it was a group that felt like they were 
being choked blue by the extremes of both parties. And today, we 
believe that we are in the middle, which is where we believe the 
majority of the people in America are.
  We talk a lot about fiscal discipline. We talk a lot about 
accountability, because it is important, Mr. Speaker, that this 
Congress and this administration is responsible and accountable for how 
your tax money is being spent.
  As you walk the halls of Congress, it is not difficult to know when 
you're walking by the office of a fellow Blue Dog Member, a fellow 
fiscally conservative, common-sense Democrat, because you will see this 
poster that says the Blue Dog Coalition, and it reminds Members of 
Congress and the constituents, the citizens of America who walk the 
halls of Congress that today the U.S. national debt is 
$8,831,299,779,793. Again, 8,831,299,779,793. That's a big number. But 
if you were to divide that by every man, woman and child living in 
America today, including those born today, every one of us, our share 
of the national debt is $29,242. It's what those of us in the Blue Dog 
Coalition refer to as the debt tax, D-E-B-T tax. And that is one tax 
that cannot be cut and that cannot go away until we get our Nation's 
fiscal house in order.
  So for the past 6 years we've seen record deficit after record 
deficit, which has resulted in this record debt. Now that the Democrats 
have a majority in this Congress, we, as members of the Blue Dog 
Coalition, are trying to put our Nation's fiscal house back in order. 
We are trying to restore fiscal sanity to our Nation's government. We 
are trying to restore common sense to our Nation's government.
  As a small child growing up, I always heard it was the Democrats that 
spent the money, and it was the Republicans that balanced the budget. 
And after 6 years of the Republicans controlling the White House, House 
and Senate, what did they leave us? They left us the largest debt ever, 
ever in our Nation's history and they gave us record deficit after 
record deficit.
  When I first came here in 2001, the first bill I filed as a Member of 
Congress was a bill to tell the politicians in Washington to keep their 
hands off the Social Security Trust Fund. Republican leadership refused 
to give me a hearing or a vote on that bill and now we know why, 
because they have continued to raid the Social Security Trust Fund to 
fund tax cuts for folks earning over $400,000 a year, and they have 
continued to pass record deficit after record deficit and leaving our 
children and grandchildren with the bill.
  The total national debt from 1789 to 2000 was $5.67 trillion. But by 
2010, the total national debt will have increased to $10.88 trillion. 
Mr. Speaker, this is a doubling, a doubling of the 211-year

[[Page 14623]]

debt in just 10 years. Interest payments on this debt are one of the 
fastest growing parts of the Federal budget, and the debt tax, D-E-B-T 
is one that cannot be repealed until we get our Nation's fiscal house 
in order and return to the days of a balanced budget.
  At the Ross household in Prescott, Arkansas, my wife makes sure that 
we live within our budget. And I can assure you that most of the people 
in America live within their budget. Small businesses, big businesses, 
the majority of businesses in America live within their budget. Farm 
families live within their budget, and I don't believe it's asking too 
much to ask our Nation to do what 49 States are doing, and that's 
living within their means, requiring a balanced budget.
  Why do deficits matter? Deficits reduce economic growth. They burden 
our children and grandchildren with liabilities.
  They increase our reliance on foreign lenders who now own 40 percent 
of our debt. Let me repeat that. They increase our reliance on foreign 
lenders who now own 40 percent of our debt. The U.S. is becoming 
increasingly dependent on foreign lenders. Foreign lenders currently 
hold a total of about $2.199 trillion of our public debt. Compare this 
to only $623.3 billion in foreign holdings in 1993.
  Who are they? Our Nation continues to borrow money not only from the 
Social Security Trust Fund, but under the past 6 years of Republican 
rule, not only have they borrowed money from the Social Security Trust 
Fund, with absolutely no provision made on how it's going to be paid 
back or when it's going to be paid back, but they've also borrowed 
money from foreign central banks and foreign investors.
  And much like David Letterman, we have a top 10 list. The top 10 
current lenders, countries loaning money to the United States of 
America that, for the past 6 years, under these failed policies of the 
Republican leadership, have given tax cuts to people earning over 
$400,000 a year leaving the rest of us to foot the bill.

                              {time}  2145

  So who are they? Rounding out the list, number one, Japan, our Nation 
has borrowed $637.4 billion from Japan; China, $346.5 billion; the 
United Kingdom, $223.5 billion; OPEC, imagine that, $97.1 billion; 
Korea, $67.7 billion; Taiwan, $63.2 billion; the Caribbean Banking 
Centers, $63.6 billion; Hong Kong, $51 billion; Germany, $52.1 billion.
  And rounding out the top 10 countries that lend money to the United 
States of America to help us pay off these massive debts: Mexico. That 
is right. The United States of America has borrowed $38.2 billion from 
foreign central banks and foreign lenders in Mexico to fund tax cuts in 
this country for folks earning over $400,000 a year.
  Record deficit after record deficit equals what? The largest debt 
ever in our Nation's history: $8,831,299,779,793. That is right. Today, 
the U.S. national debt, $8,831,299,779,793 and some change, but we ran 
out of room on our poster.
  Well, as I mentioned earlier, another reason deficits should matter 
is because interest payments on the debt are one of the fastest-growing 
parts of the Federal budget. In fact, our Nation is spending about a 
half billion dollars a day, that is with a ``b.'' Our Nation is 
spending about a half billion dollars a day paying interest on the 
national debt. And that, Mr. Speaker, is before we borrow an additional 
billion dollars every day. And that is money that cannot go to 
education, to homeland security, to veterans' benefits, to build 
highways and roads, that can create jobs and economic opportunities, 
because it is going to pay interest on the national debt. It is going 
to pay interest to Japan, China, United Kingdom, OPEC, Korea, Taiwan, 
Caribbean Banking Centers, Hong Kong, Germany, and Mexico.
  In my district, I represent about half of Arkansas, 29 counties. 
About 13 of them are in the delta region, one of the poorest regions in 
our country. A lot of hope in that region that I-69 will some day bring 
jobs and economic opportunities. I-69 was announced 5 years before I 
was born in Indianapolis; and with the exception of 40 miles in 
Kentucky and the section they are now building from Memphis to the 
casinos, there has not been any of it completed in 50 years south of 
Indianapolis.
  We need about $1.6 billion to complete Interstate 69 across my 
district in Arkansas. That is a lot of money. At least for a country 
boy from Prescott, Arkansas, that is a lot of money. But, Mr. Speaker, 
we will spend more money paying interest on the national debt in the 
next 4 days than it would take to build I-69 across the delta region of 
my district, the delta region of this country, creating jobs and 
economic opportunities for generations to come. That is on the eastern 
side of my district bordering Mississippi.
  On the western side of my district, bordering Texas and Louisiana to 
the south and also Oklahoma to the west, there is a lot of hope for the 
completion of Interstate 49. It will be the first north-south corridor 
through the middle of our country. We need about $2 billion to complete 
Interstate 49. They have been talking about it since I was a small 
child. About $2 billion is needed to complete Interstate 49. A lot of 
money. But, again, we will spend more money paying interest on the 
national debt in the next 4 days than it would take to complete I-49 
across Arkansas.
  There are a lot of people that would like to see U.S. Highway 82 
four-laned across Arkansas from Texas to Mississippi. It is the only 
section of U.S. Highway 82 that is not four-laned. I don't know. It 
would take $3 or $4 million to do it. We will spend more money paying 
interest on the national debt today than it would take to four-lane 
U.S. Highway 82.
  Interstate 530 is under construction in my district. We need $300 
million to complete it. It will connect I-30 and I-40 in Little Rock 
and Pine Bluff with someday I-69 between Monticello and Warren, 
Arkansas, and eventually, hopefully, find its way to connect with I-20 
in Louisiana at Bastrop, Louisiana. We need, depending on what section 
of it you want to complete, between $300 million and $800 million to 
complete that highway. A lot of money. But, again, we will spend more 
money paying interest on the national debt in the next 2 days than it 
would take to complete this interstate, creating jobs and economic 
opportunities.
  If you think back with me, the last two Presidents to make any 
significant investment in our Nation's infrastructure was Roosevelt 
with the WPA program and Eisenhower with the interstate program. It is 
time that we invest in this Nation's infrastructure. We can create jobs 
and put people to work to build this Nation's infrastructure; and, once 
it is completed, it will create economic opportunities and jobs for 
many generations to come. But as long as we are spending half a billion 
dollars a day paying interest on the national debt and borrowing 
another billion dollars each day from places like Japan and China and 
Mexico, we will continue to neglect our Nation's infrastructure. And 
that is one reason why it is important that we get our Nation's fiscal 
house in order.
  Let me tell you another reason that interest payments on our national 
debt do matter, and this chart makes it crystal clear. In the red, Mr. 
Speaker, you will see the amount of money that we spend each year 
paying interest on the national debt. That is the red bar. Contrast 
that to what we spend on education.
  We say we love our children. We talk about how we want to ensure that 
they receive a world-class education. We talk about making college 
education more affordable for our young people. We talk about giving 3- 
and 4-year-olds a fighting chance, and we should.
  We live among the freest of all people in the world. One of the few 
things in life we do not get to choose is who our parents are. Some 
children get really lucky; some don't. I did, and I can tell you that 
as an American citizen and as a Member of this House I believe that we 
have a duty and an obligation to be there for all of God's children. We 
can invest a little bit in them at an early age and have a good chance 
at turning a lot of children that have been neglected at home into 
productive, tax-paying adults. Or we can continue to neglect them and 
do what? Spend tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of

[[Page 14624]]

dollars warehousing them for a lifetime behind bars. I believe that we 
should commit ourselves to education.
  But look at the light blue bar. Look at how much we are spending on 
our children's education compared to the red bar, how much we are 
spending simply paying interest on the national debt.
  Homeland security, a lot of talk these days about homeland security. 
But look how much we are really putting into homeland security. Again, 
the red bar demonstrates the amount of money that we are spending of 
your tax money, Mr. Speaker, paying interest on the national debt. 
Contrast that to the light green bar, which demonstrates how much money 
we are spending protecting our homeland.
  And, finally, and very sad, the dark blue bar, look at the amount of 
money we are spending on our veterans, on our veterans. And we all know 
that we have got a new generation of veterans coming home from places 
like Iraq and Afghanistan. Contrast the dark blue box, the amount of 
money we are spending taking care of our veterans, keeping our promises 
to our veterans, ensuring that they receive health care, compare how 
much we are spending on our veterans to how much we spend paying 
interest on the national debt. And I believe that chart very clearly 
demonstrates why deficits matter, why debts matter, and why the 43 
members of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition are 
committed to commonsense principles that will help get this Nation's 
fiscal house back in order.
  One of the new Members of Congress and new member of the Blue Dog 
Coalition is my good friend from Indiana, Mr. Joe Donnelly. At this 
time, I yield to him and thank him for joining me this evening.
  Mr. DONNELLY. Thank you, Mr. Ross. It is a privilege.
  And as you look at that chart and you see the indicator of how many 
of our veterans are waiting for service, waiting for care, when we are 
spending $300 billion, Mr. Ross, on interest payments and on the 
veterans approximately $25 billion, I have the privilege of being on 
the Veterans Affairs Committee, and we have crying needs in almost 
every part of this country.
  We were blessed in my home area just this past week. We were able to 
announce that there will be a new veterans' clinic opening in 
approximately 8 months in Elkhart County, Indiana. But, Mr. Ross, we 
need so many more. There is a need in the southern part of my 
congressional district down around Cass County and Fulton County, but 
we have to plan so carefully because our financial needs require that 
we spend $300 billion on paying down interest.
  Mr. Ross, I ask you to think of what we could do for veterans, 
opening new clinics and new hospitals, if just a small portion of those 
funds could be used instead of paying down a national debt that has 
exploded over the last years.
  Mr. ROSS. The gentleman is correct. I mean, we talk a good game when 
it comes to our veterans, but then we saw the truth about what was 
really going on at Walter Reed. And tomorrow there will be a hearing 
with the Armed Services Committee that is a follow-up to a series that 
NBC News did about whether or not our men and women in uniform are 
really getting access to the very best body armor on the market today.
  I don't care who makes it. I don't care where it comes from. I would 
prefer for it to come from America. I believe that is important. But if 
our Nation is going to continue to send $12 million an hour, $12 
million an hour of your tax money to Iraq, I believe it is time to tell 
the Pentagon and this administration and the Iraqis that it is time for 
them to be accountable for how this money is being spent. And part of 
that is ensuring that our brave and dedicated men and women in uniform 
and, yes, my brother-in-law is in his 18th year in the Air Force, and I 
am very proud of him. My first cousin is in the Army and getting ready 
to go back to Iraq for a second time.
  We all have been affected by this war. We all know someone who has 
been to Iraq. Unfortunately, too many of us know people who have been 
injured or have died; and I question this government on how many of 
those deaths and life-changing injuries could have been avoidable had 
we ensured that our men and women in uniform were properly equipped.
  So this hearing tomorrow is going to be about body armor. And, again, 
I don't care who makes it. I don't care where it comes from. I want it 
to come from America. But just because our men and women were receiving 
the very best body armor when the war began in 2003 does not 
necessarily mean that in 2007 that that is still the very best body 
armor on the market.
  And John Grant, I want to thank John Grant from Pearcy, Arkansas, in 
Garland County, the father of a soldier in the 39th Brigade of the 
Arkansas National Guard. His son has been to Iraq once. You know the 
deal with the Guard. You are supposed to go once every 5 years, but the 
President did that waiver thing, and now they are headed back again.

                              {time}  2200

  They haven't even been home 3 years. It is my understanding that by 
Christmas, or shortly thereafter, they will be back for a second tour 
of duty. These are not full-time military, these are members of the 
Arkansas National Guard, 39th. John Grant wants to ensure that his son 
and all soldiers, not just the 39th, but all soldiers in Iraq are 
receiving the very best body armor possible.
  This hearing tomorrow before the Armed Services Committee tomorrow 
will be very important. I am committed, as are some 42 Members of 
Congress that signed a letter with me to the Pentagon, in ensuring that 
our brave men and women in uniform are provided the very best in 
equipment and the very best in body armor so that we can ensure their 
safe return.
  I yield to the gentleman from Indiana.
  Mr. DONNELLY. We, in my hometown of South Bend, just this past 
weekend, last Saturday, sent off 175 young men and women who will be 
going over to serve in Iraq, and again, a number of them on their 
second tour of duty. The best, the bravest, the finest you could ever 
see. I want to make sure that they have the finest body armor that they 
could possibly have; the best vehicle protection that they could have; 
the best equipment; the best training. All of that costs funds. We want 
to make sure those funds are there, and we will.
  But think, Mr. Ross, of $300 billion just to pay down a debt that 
never should have been run up in the first place. Those Guardsmen, as 
they were leaving, I was telling them all good luck, Godspeed. And they 
said, sir, it's our privilege to serve this country. It is a right that 
we look at and cherish, and it is a great honor for us to have this 
opportunity. Well, our obligation is to make sure they have everything 
they need. As you said, there is a hearing tomorrow on body armor.
  I have been fortunate enough over the last few months to have gone to 
Walter Reed Army Hospital on a number of occasions. I went through 
Building 18. I saw the holes in the ceiling; I saw the mold on the 
wall; I saw the wallpaper peeled off and hanging down. I saw plastic 
buckets along the floor because the roof was leaking in a United States 
medical facility, an outpatient housing center. And living in there 
were our brave Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who had been wounded and 
come back, and what they received when they came back was a room with a 
leaking roof, with mold. This facility is being closed in 2011, but 
part of the concern is do we have enough funds to cover everything? And 
here we are sending $300 billion a year to the Chinese, to the 
Japanese, to the Mexicans because they are holding our paper.
  Our obligation is to clean up this mess. That is what we are trying 
to do with PAYGO and similar systems that the Blue Dogs have sponsored 
and have brought to the floor of this House. So, I am proud to be an 
Indiana Blue Dog, along with my fellow Hoosier Blue Dog, Brad Ellsworth 
of Evansville, Baron Hill of the Ninth District, along with my 40 other 
colleagues. And I know we

[[Page 14625]]

are hoping next week to add approximately five more. We will continue 
to try to bring common-sense, moderate policies, not partisan fights, 
to this country so we can restore sanity back to the operations of this 
country again.
  I yield to my good friend, Mr. Ross.
  Mr. ROSS. Well, I thank the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Donnelly) for 
his insight and for his work on the Veterans Committee, among others. 
We appreciate what he's doing there to try to help our veterans and our 
men and women in uniform.
  These are examples of why it is important that we get our Nation's 
fiscal house in order. As long as we've got record debt after record 
debt and record deficit after record deficit that the Republicans have 
given us, and we can't turn this thing around overnight, but we've got 
a budget that's going to put us back in balance by 2012, perhaps 
sooner. That is important if we are going to meet America's priorities, 
improving our infrastructure, improving and making health care more 
affordable and more accessible, funding education at the level it 
deserves to ensure our children receive a world-class education, 
keeping our homeland safe, making homeland security a lot more than 
just a buzz word. Let's put our money where our mouth is and ensure 
that every American citizen in this country is safe from terrorists. 
And of course, making sure that our veterans have the health care and 
have the things they need and were promised for their service to our 
country.
  A lot of talk about Iraq. If you ask a hundred different people what 
they think about this Iraq policy, you get about a hundred different 
answers. I can tell you one of the things that the Blue Dog Coalition 
is united on is demanding accountability for how your tax money, Mr. 
Speaker, is being spent in Iraq. Now, for the last 4 years, if you had 
questioned the funding in Iraq, the President would tell you you're 
unpatriotic. Well, members of the Blue Dog Coalition are now standing 
up and saying enough is enough, and we demand accountability for how 
your tax money, Mr. Speaker, is being spent in Iraq.
  What are the Iraqis doing with your tax money, some $12 million an 
hour? Is enough of it going to protect our men and women in uniform? Is 
enough of it going to provide them the most advanced body armor on the 
market today? Well, we all know that waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer 
dollars has happened in the Iraq war. In fact, over the past several 
years, media and government reports have detailed examples of the abuse 
of taxpayer dollars in the government's funding of military operations 
in Iraq and Afghanistan. As recently as April of this year, the 
Government Accountability Office, GAO, has released reports detailing 
examples of how long-standing problems with the management of 
government contracts, yes, government contracts, continue to provide 
opportunities for fraud, waste and abuse in the funding of the war in 
Iraq. Specifically, the GAO identifies the following major factors 
contributing to the mismanagement of contracts and ultimate waste of 
taxpayer dollars.
  Number one, military commanders and senior officials at the 
Department of Defense do not have visibility over contractors, which 
prevents the Department of Defense from knowing the extent to which it 
is relying on contractors for support in Iraq. Also, the Department of 
Defense lacks clear guidance and leadership for managing and overseeing 
contractors. The Department of Defense personnel lack the most basic 
ability to make sure that government contractors even provide the 
services they are being paid to provide. The report finds that the 
Department of Defense's limited visibility has unnecessarily increased 
contracting costs to the Federal Government and introduced unnecessary 
risk.
  For example, one Army official estimates that about $43 million, $43 
million is lost each year on free meals provided to contractors' 
employees at deployed locations who also receive a per diem, food 
allowance. Additionally, the GAO found that the Department of Defense 
and its contractors all too often do not have a clear understanding of 
reconstruction objectives and how they translate into the terms and 
conditions of a contract. As a result, at least $1.8 billion of 
taxpayer money has been obligated on contracts without Department of 
Defense and the contractors reaching an agreement on the final scope 
and cost of the work.
  The report gives one particularly shocking example of this, where the 
government allocated $84 million for an oil mission and never agreed 
upon the final terms of the task order until more than a year after the 
contractor completed the work. The GAO estimates that the United States 
has obligated about $14 billion to restore essential services such as 
oil, electricity and water, and more than $15 billion to train, equip 
and sustain Iraqi Security Forces. However, the Iraqi government 
continues to be fraught with corruption, operating ineffectively and 
inadequately resourced accountability institutions.
  U.S. officials estimate that a shocking 20 to 30 percent of the Iraqi 
Ministry of Interior personnel are ``ghost employees,'' nonexistent 
staff paid salaries with your tax money, Mr. Speaker, that are 
collected by other corrupt officials in Iraq.
  The GAO also highlights in its report the weaknesses in the $15.4 
billion program to support the development of Iraqi security forces. 
Consequently, poor security conditions have hindered the management of 
the more than $29 billion that has been obligated for reconstruction 
and stabilization efforts since 2003. Additional government and media 
reports have exposed equally as outrageous examples of waste, fraud and 
abuse in the funding of the war in Iraq. Is this $12 million an hour we 
are sending to the Iraqis being used to protect and equip our brave men 
and women in uniform?
  One such report details an instance where U.S. administrators could 
not account for $20.5 million in development funds for Iraq grants. 
Another government report exposed a situation where $7.3 million was 
mismanaged, and $1.3 million entirely wasted during construction of a 
police academy in Iraq. The Office of the Special Inspector General for 
Iraq Reconstruction just recently released its quarterly report to 
Congress. As in previous reports, this most recent one again describes 
continued abuses in the government's funding of the war in Iraq. And we 
are going to go into more of this in just a little bit. We are going to 
provide specific examples of what was contained in that report.
  But at this time I want to yield to my fellow Blue Dog, a new Member 
of Congress from Pennsylvania, a veteran of the Iraq war, a captain 
that served in Iraq, and that is the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Murphy).
  Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Thank you, Congressman Ross.
  Last month, the Blue Dogs joined a wide bipartisan margin of our 
colleagues in passing the National Defense Authorization Act. This bill 
funds defense spending at a level 10 percent higher than in 2007. It 
also calls for a much needed pay raise for our troops, and a benefit 
boost to spouses who had to face the worst news of all.
  The other thing this bill does is it institutes some much needed 
accountability into the management of the war in Iraq. We owe special 
thanks to Chairman Ike Skelton, and to our fellow Blue Dogs who worked 
so hard to introduce this long overdue accountability and fiscal 
discipline over Iraq war operations.
  Mr. Speaker, report after report has shown that billions of dollars 
have vanished, and thousands upon thousands of weapons have gone 
missing. And until recently, there have been no tough questions and no 
accountability. With this bill, we said that it will no longer be 
acceptable for blatant mismanagement to take place when our soldiers' 
lives are on the line.
  As a former soldier who fought in Iraq, it makes me very proud to be 
able to fight for accountability and oversight in Iraq and to demand 
answers here at home. It is astonishing to me that until now no one has 
tried to establish a clear sense of which American agency carries out 
contracts in Iraq. I assure you, to our troops in harm's way, missing 
money and missing weapons translate into increased danger. It

[[Page 14626]]

is that simple. Having these rules and procedures in place will be very 
important to our troops.
  This is a war that is perhaps different than any other; there is no 
front line. The enemy doesn't belong to a single country. They don't 
wear a uniform. And they are willing to sacrifice themselves and even 
their children to kill Americans.
  Understanding the rules of engagement and knowing exactly who is on 
the ground and what they are allowed to do will be vitally important in 
keeping American service men and women safe.
  The accountability provisions also establish a database so that 
everyone knows which American agency is servicing a contract. These 
provisions that all of us fought for and Chairman Skelton thought were 
worth including in the defense bill will establish the necessary 
oversight and fiscal discipline we have needed for a long time in Iraq.

                              {time}  2215

  Clear rules and accountability are vital to winning the war on 
terror. It has been more than 4 years since we invaded Iraq and since 
President Bush declared ``mission accomplished,'' and yet our troops 
are still refereeing a religious civil war, while too many Iraqis 
continue to sit on the sidelines.
  While Iraq continues to smolder, Osama bin Laden, the murderer of 
more than 3,000 innocent Americans, is still at large. President Bush, 
when asked recently why bin Laden hadn't been brought to justice yet, 
said, ``Why is he still at large? Because we haven't got him yet. That 
is why. And he is hiding, and we are looking, and we will continue to 
look until we bring him to justice.'' That is unacceptable.
  Meanwhile, the Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan, and American 
commanders on the ground there are asking for more troops to fight 
terror, hunt down al Qaeda and kill Osama bin Laden.
  We need to win the war on terror, and that means being successful in 
Afghanistan. Our troops over there are doing an amazing job and they 
deserve our continued support. It is getting harder for them, 
especially along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan and some of the 
areas where we believe bin Laden is still at large.
  Mr. Speaker, when I was elected, I said that we need to be tough and 
smart in fighting the war on terror, and I also promised to ask the 
tough questions of this administration. One question that needs to be 
asked is about Pakistan President Musharraf. Right now we can count 
President Musharraf as an ally, but is he doing all he can to hunt bin 
Laden? We need to jump-start this debate, because we cannot afford to 
let a mass murderer slip through our fingers again.
  The U.S. has sent $5.6 billion in military reimbursements to Pakistan 
for counterterrorism efforts. That is $80 million per month. Just as we 
demanded accountability in Iraq, we have some benchmarks and goals for 
this funding as well.
  In the early days in the war in Afghanistan, President Bush decided 
to outsource the hunt for bin Laden in Tora Bora, and he escaped. Now 
we need to examine are we relying too much on Pakistan and their accord 
with tribal warlords near the Afghan border for the same reason? Why is 
the United States continuing to make large payments, roughly $1 billion 
per year, to Pakistan, even though Pakistan decided to slash patrols 
through the area where al Qaeda and the Taliban fighters are the most 
active?
  Why, as Senator Reid said, are we not paying for specific objectives, 
rather than reimbursing Pakistan for their efforts?
  Is it true, as two American analysts and one American soldier 
reported, that Pakistani Security Forces fired in direct support of 
Taliban ground attacks on an Afghan army post?
  Blue Dogs have a long tack record of asking the tough questions and 
demanding accountability. I hope over the coming weeks and months this 
Congress gets answers to these vital questions, so we can effectively 
prosecute the war on terror.
  Blue Dog Democrats know how to win the war on terror, and part of 
that is by demanding results after more than 4 years in Iraq and nearly 
6 years in Afghanistan. We cannot let Afghanistan become the forgotten 
war. We cannot stop asking the tough questions and demanding answers 
from this administration. Our troops are fighting bravely over there 
and they need all the help we can give them.
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. 
Murphy, an Iraq war veteran, for his insight and leadership within the 
Blue Dogs and within this Congress on restoring accountability, on how 
our tax money is being spent in Iraq, and ensuring that it is being 
spent to protect our men and women in uniform.
  The gentleman raised an interesting point. We are in year five of 
this thing now, and a recent survey indicated that 71 percent of the 
Iraqi people don't want us there. In fact, 60 percent of them think it 
is okay to kill a U.S. soldier. You contrast that with Afghanistan, 
where 80 percent of them are glad we are there. The last time I 
checked, Osama bin Laden was spotted closer to Afghanistan than he was 
to Iraq.
  So, while we continue, and I think this is just me personally, I 
think we have got to demand more from the Iraqi government to train 
Iraqis to be on the front lines, providing the police and military 
force for them in this civil war.
  This line that it is better to fight the terrorists there than here, 
I don't buy that. If there are some 10 to 14 to 20 million illegal 
immigrants in this country, do you think we only allowed illegal 
immigrants into this country? Terrorists are already here in America, 
and that is why we need to do more to protect our homeland by properly 
funding the Department of Homeland Security. That is why we need to 
demand more of the Iraqis and to do more in Afghanistan, that is 
becoming more and more neglected every day.
  I yield to the gentleman from Indiana, Mr. Donnelly.
  Mr. DONNELLY. Mr. Speaker, it was interesting over Memorial Day 
weekend, I was back home and went to a Memorial Day service in Rolling 
Prairie, Indiana, which is in LaPorte County, a beautiful county right 
next door to where I live, and some of the World War II veterans said 
to me, ``You know, Joe, when we went to war, everyone sacrificed. We 
were all in this together.''
  Then I was fortunate enough a few days later to read a book called 
``The Price of Liberty'' by Robert Hormats. This book explained a 
simple factor, that in this war we have been asked to go shopping, 
while the military sacrifices every day and their families sacrifice 
every day.
  Mr. Speaker, what was pointed out in the book is that this is the 
first war in history where at a time we were going to war, we also 
decided to cut taxes and increase other spending, and this formula has 
resulted in explosive deficits.
  My good friend from Arkansas, next to him is a poster detailing the 
cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom, close to $400 million, heading to $500 
billion. When this was first discussed, the Office of Management and 
Budget some years ago said the top cost we would have was $50 billion 
to $60 billion. We were told, my dear friend from Arkansas, that the 
oil revenues would cover all the costs.
  Look where we are some years later. There has been an air of 
unreality from the start in facing up to the fact that, in the past, 
all Americans sacrificed together. And instead of sacrificing, we 
borrowed the money from the Chinese, we borrowed the money from the 
Mexican government, we borrowed the money from the Japanese government.
  My good friends throughout my district, the veterans in Cass County 
and in Carroll County, would roll their eyes if they knew that we were 
funding our war by borrowing money from the Chinese. They would say, 
``Joe, how crazy is this? How does this make any sense at all?'' And 
the answer is, it doesn't.
  Instead of looking each other square in the eye and saying we have 
obligations, we have responsibilities, we have a sense of shared 
sacrifice, this administration has told us we can take a pass. Well, my 
good friend, we cannot take a pass, and the policy of cutting

[[Page 14627]]

taxes and increasing spending on other government programs while 
funding this war continues on, the hole gets bigger, and the burden we 
are passing on to our children grows every day.
  So I yield back to my good friend from Arkansas, with the hope that 
at some point we will understand that we are all in this together and 
that not all the burden should be placed on our military families.
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Indiana, a fellow 
Blue Dog Member, Mr. Donnelly, for his insight, and invite him to 
continue to stay with us for the remaining 15 minutes or so we have got 
here this Tuesday evening on the House floor to talk about 
accountability, on how your tax money, some $12 million an hour of your 
tax money being spent to Iraq is being spent.
  You can see the cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Starting in 2001-
2002, $2.5 billion; $51 billion in 2003; $77.3 billion in 2004; $87.3 
billion in 2005; $100.4 billion in 2006; and $60 billion in 2007. That 
was before the supplemental that we passed about a week ago which was 
about $100 billion. So we are actually up to about $160 billion for 
2007, which brings this number not to nearly $400 billion, but to now 
nearly $500 billion, nearly half a trillion dollars.
  Now, I promised to show a few of the examples of the waste, fraud and 
abuse of taxpayer dollars that was detailed in the report from Iraq.
  Number one, of 150 primary healthcare centers that were originally 
planned to be built, only 15 have been completed. Of those 15, only 
eight are currently open to the public. In addition, eight primary 
healthcare centers have stopped work altogether.
  Number two: The U.S. Agency for International Development Office of 
Transition Initiatives was supported by $350 million to focus on 
democracy building, human rights, civic programs and investigations of 
crimes against humanity. However, USAID could not determine whether the 
intended outputs of the 4,789 grants under this contract were even 
accomplished because of ``insufficient documentation.''
  Number three: The report also found water damage in one healthcare 
facility that caused bathroom floor tiles to break and ceilings in 
lower floors to leak and collapse, increasing the health risk to 
patients.
  Number four: A shortage of sinks and toilets combined with 
workmanship deficiencies, inferior materials and insufficient 
maintenance, caused significant deterioration to the barracks at one 
military base, a facility which cost our government $119.5 million.
  The report also details construction and equipment installation at 
the Iraq Civil Defense Headquarters that did not comply with the 
international standards required by the contract and task order. This 
particular project cost the Federal Government, our government, our tax 
money, Mr. Speaker, some $3 million. We will come back to this in a 
little bit.
  Number six: At the Baghdad International Airport, an enhancement 
project costing the Federal Government $11.8 million required the 
installation of 17 new generator sets. However, when the airport was 
recently inspected, 10 of the 17 generator sets were not even 
operational.
  And the list goes on and on. We will come back to it.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield back to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy).
  Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I would like to 
thank the gentleman from Arkansas, and point out when I was in an 
earlier deployment before Iraq, I was in Bosnia in 2002. Our soldiers 
on the ground there would often call the contractors Kellogg Brown & 
Root ``Kellogg Brown & Loot,'' because of the looting, of what they 
were doing to their own country when it comes to our fiscal dollars. 
And I am not trying to be cute or funny. That is a sad commentary on 
what is really going on over there in these deployments.
  Mr. Speaker, when I heard my colleague, Mr. Donnelly, here from the 
great State of Indiana, and I know he went to the University of Notre 
Dame, I was with a colleague of mine on the phone yesterday. I was 
driving back from a memorial service for Private First Class Bobby 
Dembowski, who was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division who was 
killed recently in Iraq. He was from Bucks County, in my district.
  When I was driving back from his memorial service yesterday with a 
heavy heart, I called my buddy, who is also a University of Notre Dame 
graduate, Captain Kobe Langley. I called Kobe, Mr. Speaker, and I said 
to him, ``Kobe, I am coming back.'' He said, ``How are you doing, 
Murph?'' I said, ``Kobe, not too good. I am coming back from another 
memorial service for one of our heroes that gave the ultimate 
sacrifice.'' He said, ``Well, you got to keep fighting. You got to keep 
doing what you are doing.''

                              {time}  2230

  He asked, What was the press conference you gave the other day?
  I said I was standing up to this administration. I have the great 
honor of serving on the Armed Services Committee. I know my colleague 
and my fellow Blue Dog Representative Donnelly serves on the Veterans 
Affairs Committee. We were both cosigners for House Resolution 162 
because we want to hold this administration accountable when the Armed 
Services Committee says our troops deserve a 3.5 percent pay increase 
and there is already a wide gap between military pay and civilian pay.
  The people who join the military are not trying to get rich. But if 
you are a private in Iraq, I don't think making $18,000 a year is too 
much to ask for. We were trying to give those privates and everyone 
across the board a 3.5 percent pay increase to lessen that gap. 
President Bush in writing said a 3.5 percent pay increase for our 
troops is, I quote, ``unnecessary.'' Unnecessary. A private first class 
making $18,000 a year in Iraq is unnecessary. It is too much money to 
ask for.
  So this House bill in which the Speaker pro tempore, Mr. Ellsworth, 
and Mr. Donnelly cosponsored says a sense of the Congress is it should 
be a 3.5 percent pay increase. We support the troops and understand 
their sacrifice. We can find the money through PAYGO rules which the 
Blue Dogs believe in. As the gentleman from Arkansas says, $9 trillion 
is what we owe in debt.
  So my daughter Maggie, who is home with my beautiful wife, when my 
daughter was born in Lower Bucks Hospital 6 months ago, she was born 
$29,000 in debt, a debt that we all owe combined, every man, woman and 
child, $9 trillion.
  Some folks, when I am meeting folks in my district, they would say, 
Patrick, we are at war. Of course, it is going to cost money. I tell 
them this Iraq war has cost $450 billion, now up to maybe $500 billion. 
We owe $9 trillion to Communist China, to Mexico and to Japan. In 
March, 2007, the interest that we pay on that debt was $21 billion.
  Now I know those folks at home who believe in what the Blue Dog 
Democrats believe in, of fiscal responsibility, of accountability. They 
say to themselves, wow, Congressman Murphy, $21 billion just in 
interest.
  When I tell them how I used to be an educator at West Point and how 
we need to be more and more competitive in a global economy, I show 
them the numbers, we only spent $5 billion in education in March, 2007, 
yet $21 billion on the interest rate and the debt that we owe that we 
continue to rack up and rack up.
  Finally, the Blue Dogs are taking such an incredible leadership role, 
establishing a PAYGO system and doing the things necessary to put our 
fiscal house back in order.
  Mr. Speaker, I know you cannot speak, but I know you are a Blue Dog, 
and I am proud that you are up there; and, Mr. Ross, I am proud you are 
one of our leaders of the Blue Dog Coalition. I am also proud of the 
freshmen Blue Dogs that I serve with, because we will demand answers 
and we will demand accountability of this administration and the next 
administration, hopefully a Democratic one, to make sure that we 
continue the progress that we are making in this 110th Congress.
  Mr. ROSS. I thank Mr. Murphy of Pennsylvania for joining us this

[[Page 14628]]

evening and for helping write House Resolution 97, providing for 
Operation Iraqi Freedom Cost Accountability. We are not just talking 
about this. We are trying to do something about it.
  In fact, some of these key provisions were included in the defense 
authorization bill, and we want to thank Chairman Skelton and members 
of Armed Services for doing that.
  It does four things. It calls for transparency on how Iraq war funds 
are spent. It calls for the creation of a Truman-like commission to 
investigate the awarding of contracts. It provides a need to fund the 
Iraq war through the normal appropriations process and not through the 
so-called emergency ``let's hide the real cost of the war'' 
supplementals. And, finally, it encourages the use of American 
resources to improve Iraqi assumption of internal policing operations. 
In other words, put Iraqis on the front line and get our soldiers off 
the front line and provide our soldiers to train their soldiers so they 
can fight their own civil war.
  I yield to Mr. Donnelly.
  Mr. DONNELLY. I know we are starting to run short on time, so I just 
want to sum up what I have been thinking and saying here tonight with 
this: How far have we gone askew? How confused have we become with this 
administration when a 3.5 percent pay raise is unnecessary, but we lose 
$12 billion in Iraq that there is no trace of, that was loaded onto 
skids into an airplane and can't even be found. But we can't give a 3.5 
percent pay raise to the best, the bravest, the finest who have ever 
served this country.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Ross, that's part of the reason we need this Iraq 
War Accountability Act, just one of the many glaring things, but I 
leave that with the American people and let them know these Blue Dogs 
are on the hunt to get that fixed.
  Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Indiana for his insight and the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania for his.
  Mr. Speaker, if you have any comments, questions or concerns, you can 
e-mail us at BlueD[email protected]. That is BlueD[email protected].
  I am talking about House Resolution 97, providing for Operation Iraqi 
Freedom Cost Accountability. We are not just talking about a problem. 
We are trying to fix the problem. There are only 43 of us in the Blue 
Dogs, a group of conservative Democrats, and yet we already have 63 
cosponsors on this bill.
  House Resolution 97 also calls for the Iraqi government and its 
people to progress towards full responsibility for internally policing 
their own country.
  Recently, members of the Blue Dog Coalition worked together with 
House Armed Services Committee Chairman, Ike Skelton, to include key 
provisions of House Resolution 97 in the fiscal year 2008 National 
Defense Authorization bill. With the passage of this bill, we took the 
first step towards ensuring complete fiscal transparency in the funding 
of the war in Iraq.
  The American people deserve to know that their tax dollars are being 
spent wisely and that our troops have the resources they need to 
succeed. The Blue Dogs are committed to passing legislation that 
accomplishes this goal.
  Members of the Blue Dog Coalition also believe strongly that funding 
requests for the Iraq war should come through the normal appropriations 
process, as I mentioned earlier. Since 2003, the Republican-held 
Congress has been funding the war through emergency supplemental 
requests, two of them in 2003, another one in 2004 and 2005 and 2006 
and 2007. It is time we stop hiding the cost of this war. We demand 
fiscal accountability in Iraq.

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