[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12462-12468]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            BLUE DOG COALITION DEFICITS AND DEBT BACKGROUND

  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. Madam Speaker, this evening, as most Tuesday evenings, I 
rise on behalf of the 43 member strong, fiscally conservative 
Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. We are 43 fiscally conservative 
Democrats that are committed to restoring common sense and fiscal 
discipline to our Nation's government. We are not from one particular 
region of the country. Members of the Blue Dog Coalition stretch from 
California and Utah to New York, and we are united in trying to restore 
fiscal sanity to our Nation's government. Why? Because today, the U.S. 
national debt is $8,821,563,738,020. And I ran out of room, but right 
here it should say 12 cents. And for every man, woman and child in 
America, your share of the national debt is $29,225.95. It is what we 
refer to as the debt tax, d-e-b-t, which is one tax that cannot be cut; 
it cannot go away until we get our Nation's fiscal house in order.
  It is hard now to believe, but from 1998 to 2001, we had a balanced 
budget in this country of ours. And now, under the past 6 years of 
Republican rule, with the Republicans controlling the White House, the 
House and the Senate, after 6 years we've got the largest debt ever in 
our Nation's history and the largest deficit ever in our Nation's 
history. In fiscal year 2004, it was $568 billion. In fiscal year 2005, 
it was $493.6 billion. In fiscal year 2006 it was $434 billion. Fiscal 
year 2006 it was $247 billion, and the projected deficit for fiscal 
year 2007 is $172 billion, but not really. The projected deficit for 
fiscal year 2007 is $357 billion. When they tell you it's only $172 
billion, they're not counting the money they're borrowing from the 
Social Security trust fund.
  When I first came to Congress in 2001, the first bill I wrote was a 
bill to tell the politicians in Washington to keep their hands off the 
Social Security trust fund. The Republican leadership refused to give 
me a hearing or a vote on that bill, and now we know why, because they 
are using that money to fund our debt. $357 billion deficit projected 
for fiscal year 2007, and much of that is coming, about half of that is 
coming from the Social Security trust fund. Where is the rest of it 
coming from? It's coming from foreigners. In fact, this administration 
has borrowed more money from foreigners in the past 6 years than the 
previous 42 Presidents combined. Let me repeat that. This 
administration has borrowed more money from foreigners in the past 6 
years than the previous 42 Presidents combined. My good friend and a 
founder of the Blue Dogs, John Tanner, put it best when he said, If 
China decides to invade Taiwan, we will have to borrow more money from 
China to defend Taiwan.
  David Letterman has a top 10 list, and we've got one, too. 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 back in 1993. 
Again, this administration in the past 6 years has borrowed more money 
from foreign central banks and foreign investors than the previous 42 
Presidents combined.
  Japan, $637.4 billion. The United States of America has borrowed 
$346.5 billion from China. The United Kingdom, $223.5 billion. OPEC, 
yes OPEC, and we wonder why gasoline is approaching three bucks a 
gallon. Our Nation has borrowed $97.1 billion from OPEC to fund tax 
cuts in this country for folks earning over $400,000 a year. 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 list, and this will surprise some folks, the 
United States of America's 10th largest loanee to our government is the 
Government of Mexico and investors in Mexico. Mexico, investors have 
loaned the United States of America $38.2 billion. That's right, the 
United States of America has borrowed $38.2 billion from Mexico. And 
that rounds out the top 10 list of the foreign countries that our 
Nation is borrowing money from.
  We believe this is very critical to our Nation's security. That is 
why we are trying to restore fiscal discipline and common sense to our 
Nation's government, put an end to these massive debts and massive 
deficits. Our Nation is borrowing a billion dollars a day, but before 
we borrow a billion dollars a day, we're going to spend half a billion 
paying interest on a debt we've already got. And that's a half a 
billion that can't go for Social Security, it can't go for health care, 
it can't go for new roads and fixing roads and infrastructure. It can't 
go for education, it can't go for homeland security, and it cannot go 
for veterans benefits. Why? Because we are spending that money, a half 
a billion dollars a day, simply paying interest on the debt we've 
already got before we increase it a billion dollars today. I think we 
need that half a bill to invest in the best and most advanced 
technology out there when it comes to bullet-proof vests to protect our 
men and women in uniform, to give them the best and most advanced 
equipment they need.
  I've got a father, John Grant, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, that's very 
concerned about his son going back for a second tour of duty in Iraq 
and not having the most advanced body armor that's on the market today. 
A half a billion a day going to pay interest on the national debt, how 
many modern, state-of-the-art body armor vests could we buy with just 
the amount of money we're spending today paying interest on the 
national debt?
  I am joined this evening by a number of fellow Blue Dogs, and I am 
grateful they have come down to spend some time with me on the House 
floor this evening.
  At this time I would like to yield to a fellow Blue Dog, someone 
that's very active on the Blue Dog Coalition, someone that serves on 
the Armed Services Committee, among other important committees, and 
that is my friend from neighboring Oklahoma, Dan Boren.
  Mr. BOREN. Thank you. My colleague from Arkansas, Mr. Ross, is a 
great leader for us on the Blue Dog Coalition. I am now in my second 
term, and I tell you there is no better organization than the Blue Dog 
Coalition.
  When I was elected, and actually when I was running for Congress, I 
was able to sit down with a lot of the Blue Dog members. We had a lot 
of common interests, and one of those was fiscal responsibility.
  Many of us that serve in Congress are former members of State 
legislatures. I can tell you, I can remember being a freshman State 
legislator and dealing with a State budget. When I was elected, we had 
a $700 million shortfall. That doesn't sound like big numbers here in 
Washington, DC, but they're big numbers in Oklahoma. And we were able 
to balance our budget because we basically had an amendment to our 
State constitution saying you will balance that budget. You're going to 
have to cut services; you're going to have to do something to rein in 
that spending. In Washington we don't have that. That's why it is so 
important that we have groups like the Blue Dogs who are focused on 
fiscal responsibility.
  I can tell you, since this Democratic majority has taken hold, the 
Blue Dogs have been a key player in making sure that we have things 
like the PAYGO rules, PAYGO rules that make sure that whenever there is 
a new government program, we find a way to pay for it. We don't just 
write a hot check for it. So that is why I am proud to be a member.
  My friend from Arkansas has been on this floor many, many times 
talking about the waste, fraud and abuse. And we will make sure that in 
this defense authorization bill we cut out any unwarranted spending 
that is not going to the warfighter. That is something that I have been 
working very hard with Chairman Skelton on each and every day, and I 
appreciate his leadership. We've got many Blue Dogs on the

[[Page 12463]]

Armed Services Committee, and we are going to keep working to make sure 
that we spend those tax dollars wisely.

                              {time}  1730

  We are joined also by our friend here, a new member who sits actually 
next to me on the Armed Services Committee, Mr. Brad Ellsworth from 
Indiana. I would like to turn it over to him for any of his thoughts on 
the Blue Dogs or what is going on in the defense authorization bill or 
any other topics he wants to discuss.
  Mr. ELLSWORTH. Madam Speaker, it is an honor for me to join you and 
the members of the Blue Dog Coalition in their mission to bring fiscal 
responsibility back to this House.
  As my friend from Oklahoma said, I am a new member. I have been up 
here approximately 5 months now, so it is easy for me to remember what 
the people of the Eighth District of Indiana said, their marching 
orders when they sent me here and elected me to the people's House. 
They told me to stay honest. They told me, don't let Washington change 
you. They said, in fact, you need to go and change the way Washington 
works. And they said ``spend my money wisely.''
  They have probably seen Mr. Ross on TV and saw the poster that showed 
that every person in this country, their portion of the national debt 
was $29,000, and it recently had to be added to. Over $29,000. Every 
man, woman, child, living person in this country, owes $29,000 of that 
debt. That is too much. Why are we strapping our children and 
grandchildren with that kind of debt?
  The people in Indiana are pretty smart. Nobody likes taxes, but they 
realize that taxes are a necessary, I might go as far and say, evil, if 
they want the services that the government provides. So they don't mind 
paying those taxes if they know that their Congress people are spending 
those taxes wisely.
  So when they hear about ``bridges to nowhere'' and fish museums and 
teapot museums in North Carolina, or maybe more serious than that, 
things like $38 million worth of weapons in Iraq and Afghanistan that 
have gone on the missing-in-action list, weapons that probably have 
fallen into our enemy's hands, or $9 billion in $100 bills on pallets 
that is gone. It is missing, and our great country, with all of our 
accounting, cannot account for $9 billion in cash that has gone over 
there on skids.
  That is not what the people of Indiana expect of this Congress. It is 
not what they expect of me, and I don't think they will tolerate it.
  That is why when I came to Congress, when I heard about the Blue Dog 
Coalition, the Blue Dog Caucus, that it was a pretty easy group to 
join. When I checked on them, and I assume they checked on me, we had 
those same values and ideals. We were fiscally conservative. We want to 
spend the people's money wisely. We weren't going to waste it. We 
actually worked to balance the budget, that we wouldn't spend money we 
didn't have.
  I have a credit card. Probably most people in the audience here, 
Madam Speaker, you may have a credit card, I am sure. But I don't run 
up those totals to the amounts that our country has run up, into 
foreign countries. My wife and I work hard. We charge things, and then 
we pay off that card. That is what the people expect us to do here.
  So it is going to take tough decisions. It is going to take the tough 
calls. But we have got that. A group of 43 have that internal fortitude 
to put those tough decisions on the front. The people understand that. 
They will let us do that, that we will make wise decisions with their 
money.
  So I stand here tonight, not only in the Armed Services Committee, 
but in every committee, whether it is Agriculture, Small Business, 
Armed Services, no matter what the committee is, this Congress, the 
people's House, has a responsibility to spend their money wisely. I 
pledge to do that, I know the Blue Dogs pledge to do that, and I think 
the other 434 Members of Congress need to do that, too.
  With that, I yield back to the gentleman from Arkansas.
  Mr. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Indiana, a new 
member of the fiscally conservative, Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, Mr. 
Ellsworth, for joining us for the discussion this evening here on the 
House floor, as we are every Tuesday night, here talking about 
restoring fiscal sanity to our national government.
  Public opinion polls indicate that the American people really aren't 
concerned about the debt, which is approaching $9 trillion. But I am 
here to make the case that every one of us in America should be 
concerned about the national debt, because despite what some people may 
believe, despite what the Republicans have believed for the past 6 
years, money does not grow on trees in Washington, DC, and we have got 
to begin to run this government the way that I can assure you Holly 
Ross makes sure that we run the Ross household in Prescott, Arkansas, 
and that is living within our means.
  We cannot continue to borrow $1 billion a day. We cannot continue to 
spend half a billion dollars a day paying interest on the debt we have 
already got.
  Why should it matter to every American? Look at this chart right 
here. Interest payments on the debt dwarf other priorities. For 
example, in the red you can see the amount of money we are spending of 
your tax money, Madam Speaker, paying interest on the national debt. 
You compare that to education in the light blue, compare it to homeland 
security in the green, compare it to veterans benefits in the blue.
  You can see where the priorities lay with this administration for the 
past 6 years. The majority of our money is being spent paying interest 
on the national debts, not going to educate our children, not going to 
keep our homeland safe, not going to fund veterans healthcare.
  At this time I yield to the gentleman from Georgia, a fellow Blue Dog 
member, Mr. Scott.
  Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Thank you very much, Mr. Ross. As always, it is 
indeed a pleasure to be with you on this occasion.
  I want to talk about two areas, the debt, and, of course the big 
elephant in the room which all of America is concerned about, the 
situation in Iraq and Iraq accountability.
  I happen to serve on the Financial Services Committee and on the 
Foreign Affairs Committee, so in terms of foreign policy and in terms 
of our finances, those are the two major critical cross-sections we are 
in at this point.
  Concerning the debt, it is very important that we point out, Mr. 
Ross, that the fastest growing area in our budget is the interest that 
we are paying on this debt, which is more than what we are spending 
combined for education, the environment and for veterans affairs.
  As we segue that into our international situation, when you look at 
the debt that we have gotten into as a result of the carelessness and 
the ineffective, inefficient foreign policy as it relates to our debt; 
for example, under this President and under this previous Republican-
controlled Congress, this country has borrowed more money from foreign 
governments than all of the preceding past Presidents have done since 
1789, since the foundation of this country. It has placed us in a very 
perilous position. And we are fighting this war in Iraq and Afghanistan 
on borrowed money that our children will have to pay back and the 
children of our soldiers will have to pay back.
  Mr. Ross, what is on the minds of the American people is 
accountability in Iraq. It is very important that we mention two major 
bills that we are moving in that direction. First is our own troop 
readiness and Iraqi accountability bill that passed this House, the 
basic framework of which after the President vetoed the first go around 
is now in the bill we passed last week, and it is in the conference 
report that we hope we will be sending back. It is important that the 
American people understand what the Democrats have put forward in this 
measure.
  Our other bill is the Accountability Act, in terms of financial 
accountability, that we in the Blue Dog Coalition of Democrats have put 
forward to

[[Page 12464]]

bring some fiscal responsibility and soundness and transparency to the 
moneys that we are spending in Iraq and Afghanistan. We know about the 
Halliburtons, we know about all the war profiteering. We hear about 
that in the news accounts.
  It is our bill that we are pushing forward that will give some 
transparency and accountability. Two important facts that I think the 
American people need to know about that bill is that, one, it will 
require that the Inspector General from both the Defense Department 
over at the Pentagon, will have to come before this Congress quarterly 
to explain and to account for the moneys that are spent on that basis, 
as well as the Inspector General from the rebuilding program in Iraq, 
where so much loss of funds, unaccountability, outright stealing and 
theft is going on of the taxpayers' money. So we are bringing 
accountability to that.
  But we also have got to do more, and that is what is contained in the 
conference report that we are sending to the President. Not only do we 
have benchmarks, but there must be accountability to the Iraqi people. 
They have this opportunity and they must step up to the plate to assume 
their end of the bargain. There is a government in place, and the 
benchmarks we have put in, there is no better way to do that.
  Now, Mr. Ross, I think much has been said about Congress and the role 
that we have to play in foreign policy. Unfortunately, this President 
has said time and time again that he is in control of foreign policy; 
that he is the Commander in Chief, and that the Congress is just here 
to do pretty much as he wants us to do. And for 5 years, for the first 
5 years, that happened, where this Congress just rolled over and gave 
the President everything that he wants.
  When we had that change in November and the people went to the polls 
to put Democrats in charge, they wanted to see a change in direction, 
and the Democrats are giving the change in direction in the bills that 
we have sent forward to the President.
  You talk about fiscal accountability. Yes, indeed, we have that in 
there. We have put more money in this budget for our troops, $4 billion 
more, than the President has asked for. But it is so important also 
that we have accountability when the money gets over, to make sure that 
the Iraqi people understand, we don't have an endless supply of money 
to go down over into Iraq, and most certainly we do not have an endless 
supply of the precious blood and the lives of our soldiers to 
continually be going down the pike in the Iraqi situation. The American 
people are saying this situation has to end. We must get our men and 
women in uniform out of the middle of the crosshairs of what is a civil 
war.
  Madam Speaker, we realize that we are in this because of mistakes. 
More importantly, Mr. Ross, when you talk about accountability, it is 
important that we realize now that not only have mistakes been made, 
but we got into Iraq based on not just bad intelligence, but warped 
intelligence, and we got in there on deceit and lies. All of that is 
there now.
  It is very important for us if we want to effectively be able to 
determine how to get out of Iraq, we must be honest about how we got 
into Iraq. So it is very important that we do that.
  The American patience is running out on those two measures of Iraqi 
accountability, in terms of the money we are spending, in terms of the 
benchmarks we have put into this effort, and for the transparency that 
we put in our bill. We, as Democrats, are being very responsive.
  We do have security in that region. We are not going to abandon our 
troops, but we are going to get them out of the crosshairs of this 
civil war and get into a position of containment. That is the direction 
that we have to go in as we formulate a new, much more effective 
foreign policy in the Middle East.
  Mr. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his 
work with the Blue Dog Coalition, 43 of us, fiscally conservative 
Democrats. I welcome the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Scott, to remain 
on the floor with me, if time will permit for him, for a discussion 
more in depth over the next 40 minutes as we talk about restoring not 
only fiscal sanity, but also accountability to our government, not only 
here at home but to the money being spent in Iraq.
  We all support our troops, Democrats and Republicans alike. Up until 
now, the President would have you believe that we are sending $12 
million an hour to Iraq, and if you question how any of it is being 
spent, he would tell you you are unpatriotic.
  Well, the Blue Dogs have said enough is enough. It is time to demand 
accountability for how that money is being spent, to ensure it is being 
spent to provide the very best equipment and the best of the best for 
our brave men and women in uniform serving us abroad today, not only in 
Iraq but also Afghanistan.
  I am joined this evening by the gentleman from North Dakota, Mr. Earl 
Pomeroy, and a fellow Blue Dog member. Welcome.
  Mr. POMEROY. Thank you very much for allowing me to participate in 
this Special Order. I want to congratulate you and all who have 
impacted the national defense authorization bill we will be voting on 
towards the end of the week.
  You know, the principles of sound budgeting have got to apply to the 
administration of our government, and that means all facets of our 
government. We have had leadership at the White House that has 
basically said we can have a war, and we are going to have it off 
budget. We don't have to account for it in terms of our efforts toward 
reaching a balanced budget, our efforts in terms of reducing the 
deficit. We are going to have it off budget.

                              {time}  1745

  All it means is our kids are picking up every nickel of this war, as 
it goes straight on the national debt. That is why I appreciate the 
principles advanced by the Blue Dogs in H. Res. 97, the Operation Iraqi 
Freedom Cost Accountability Act, and I applaud you and all who worked 
so hard to get major portions of it included in the Defense 
Authorization Act.
  The four significant provisions of the bill: transparency in how the 
war funds are being spent. This isn't a black-box proposition. The 
money is appropriated; the money flows. Where does it flow?
  I believe we have at the rate of $2 billion per-week burn rate, we 
are entitled to know. We are entitled to know in much greater detail 
than we have had before. The Blue Dogs would go so far as to have a 
Truman Commission looking at war profiteering.
  If in the depths of World War II, the face-down with Hitler, we could 
recognize that there were inappropriate funds being spent and worked to 
get a handle around them, as Senator Truman led with his committee, 
certainly the same holds true with the war on terror and with Operation 
Iraqi Freedom.
  There is a book that I recommend and bring to your attention, 
``Imperial Life in the Emerald City.'' It is an outstanding inside 
account of the administration of the Green Zone in the early days after 
the conflict and into this postwar period in Iraq. It will raise in 
your mind, as it has raised in mine, any number of deep and troubling 
questions about how this whole matter has been administered, and that 
goes to war contracting, and that means we need to take a thorough look 
at all of that.
  Part three of H. Res. 97, running the future funding of this war 
through the regular appropriations process, a principle adopted now 
both in the budget and the Defense Authorization Act, and the fourth 
essential component of this bill, moving greater Iraqi responsibility 
for their policing and security.
  Now we have a unanimous vote of the Armed Services Committee with the 
defense authorization bill, and I believe the Blue Dogs can be very 
happy that the principle of funding this war through the normal 
appropriations process and greater transparency in how the funds are 
spent will be the policy of this House, a policy adopted I am happy to 
say with bipartisan measures.

[[Page 12465]]

  The essential management goals for this war will have to be 
established by the Department of Defense, and the Special Inspector 
General for Iraq Reconstruction will have a much greater say in 
bringing information on the expenditure of these dollars to this body. 
There have been efforts, frankly, to hamstring the Inspector General. 
We make clear in this legislation that the Inspector General's 
authority goes towards reconstruction funding regardless of the source 
or the fiscal year. We need to expand our efforts to get a handle on 
how in the world we have spent to date nearly $400 billion, and the tab 
flowing just as fast as ever.
  I think that this represents an important Blue Dog accomplishment. I 
look forward to voting on the defense authorization bill. Rather than 
take further time, I ask that Jim Marshall, a member of the Ranger Hall 
of Fame, a member of the defense authorization committee, be one that 
might further expand in this area. Obviously, his credentials are 
extremely well established.
  I would just conclude by saying that the Blue Dogs have stood for 
accounting principles and solid budgeting in the administration of this 
war, and we have prevailed with the bill coming out of the Armed 
Services Committee.
  Mr. ROSS. I thank Mr. Pomeroy for his active participation within the 
fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition and for his insight this 
evening.
  The gentleman is referring to H. Res. 97, which is the Blue Dog bill 
providing for Operation Iraqi Freedom Cost Accountability; and today, 
Chairman Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, 
announced that key provisions of that bill demanding accountability on 
how your tax money is being spent in Iraq, Madam Speaker, will be 
included in the defense authorization bill that is scheduled to come to 
the floor.
  A leader within the Armed Services Committee, someone who is a member 
of the Ranger Hall of Fame, who served our country in the Vietnam War, 
Mr. Marshall, is here, and I yield to you at this time.
  Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. Ross, you are wonderful to do these hour-long Blue 
Dog sessions here to give people an idea what Blue Dogs are all about 
as far as fiscal responsibility is concerned.
  I think you and Mr. Pomeroy give me a little too much credit. If you 
label somebody a Ranger, it reminds me of the joke about the Ranger 
library down in Eglin Air Force Base having burned down. That was the 
bad news. The good news was that both books were already colored in. We 
don't expect our Rangers to be particularly good at math or education 
subjects, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out there 
has been an awful lot of waste in Iraq. It is not just waste on our 
side; we excessively rely upon contractors. I think we have moved too 
far in that direction, and we limit our capacity within our own 
military forces to provide services that ought to be provided by 
military folks and could be provided by military folks at a much lesser 
expense to the taxpayer.
  Spending less, stretching your dollars means you are going to be more 
effective at whatever you are doing, and that includes an effort like 
Iraq. I think we have inappropriately moved too far in the direction of 
relying upon contractors. That is one thing. The other place where we 
have seen dramatic waste is on the Iraqi side.
  The American taxpayers and the American people with their sons and 
their daughters who are in this war and in harm's way at risk of being 
killed or being severely harmed expect that the Iraqi people and the 
Iraqi Government will step up and do its part. We all know that this is 
something that cannot be won by an American conventional force. We are 
not simply going to go in and raze whole villages to force people to 
comply with us and our view of the way things ought to be.
  The local population has to deal with the security situation in Iraq. 
We can help and we must help or they will be unsuccessful, but we can't 
succeed without them.
  Our Iraq accountability legislation specifically provides that 
further assistance and support to the Iraqi people should be 
conditioned upon the Iraqi Government stepping up and meeting its share 
of the partnership. If the Iraqi people choose to do that, and 
obviously they have problems among themselves, far greater problems 
than Democrats and Republicans have here in the United States House of 
Representatives, and we often have a hard time coming together here in 
the House of Representatives, so it is not surprising that Sunni and 
Shiite and Kurds in Iraq are having a similarly difficult time, a more 
difficult time coming together and reconciling with one another so they 
can appropriately organize to address the internal security threats 
that they face. We can't force them to reconcile. We can't force them 
to build the institutions that they need to spend their oil money 
effectively and addressing the security threat. We can't force them to 
address the security threat.
  So in the partnership here in many ways we can help them, but there 
are things they must be doing. And as part of the financial 
accountability picture that Blue Dogs feel so strongly about, we have 
to add accountability of our partners. The Iraqi people are our 
partners. The Iraqi Government is our partner, and our partners need to 
be accountable for their side of the deal here or this is not going to 
come out well for the Iraqi people, the Middle East, or the United 
States.
  I appreciate the opportunity to voice my opinion with regard to that 
particular issue. I appreciate what the Blue Dogs do as far as debt is 
concerned and highlighting something our country should be very 
concerned about.
  They say that if there is a moral or ethical obligation one 
generation has to the next generation, it is to leave the world in at 
least as good a state as that generation found it when we pass it to 
the next generation. What we ought to be trying to do is make it a 
better world; and in so many different ways this generation is failing 
that ethical or moral responsibility to the next generation, and the 
amount of debt that we are adding to their shoulders is one of those 
ways.
  Mr. Ross, I appreciate what you do for the Blue Dogs and for the 
Congress of the United States.
  Mr. ROSS. I appreciate the gentleman and his leadership within the 
Blue Dog Coalition and his work on the House Armed Services Committee 
and for his insight this evening.
  We all support our troops, Republicans and Democrats alike. As 
members of the Blue Dog Coalition, we want accountability for how your 
tax money is being spent. In 2001 and 2002, $2.5 billion was being 
spent in Iraq. In 2003, $51 billion. In 2004, $77.3 billion. In 2005, 
$87.3 billion. In 2006, $100.4 billion. And 2007 to date, $60 billion, 
for a total of $378.5 billion.
  We are currently spending about $10 billion a month, about $2.5 
billion a week. You do the math. It is about $12 million an hour of 
your tax money we are sending to Iraq. What are they doing with it? 
Number one, they ought to be ensuring that our brave men and women in 
uniform get the best body armor available to them. There are reports 
out that indicate maybe that is not exactly the case.
  This was brought to my attention by John Grant from Pearcy, Arkansas, 
just outside of Hot Springs, in Garland County. His son is getting 
ready to go back for a second tour of duty. He visited a National Guard 
Armory where he actually saw body armor that was stamped ``Fragile, 
Handle With Care.'' It is time we did right by our brave men and women 
in uniform and provide them with the resources they need.
  The Blue Dogs have written a bill with the help of Captain Patrick 
Murphy, a veteran of the Iraq war and fellow Blue Dog member, and Jane 
Harman, former ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, 
among others, and our bill demands accountability on how our tax money, 
your tax money, is being spent in Iraq.
  One of the reasons that we decided to do this bill was because of 
reports like this: Washington Post, Monday, April 30, a story by Dana 
Hedgpeth, entitled, ``U.S. Rebuilding in Iraq is Missing Key Goals, 
Report Finds.'' Less than a third

[[Page 12466]]

of Iraq's 3.5 million students attend class. In the medical field, for 
example, only 15 of 141 primary health care centers have been 
completed, and only eight of those are open to the public. The list 
goes on, and we will talk more about this in a little bit.
  At this time I yield to a former co-chair of the Blue Dogs and an 
active member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Matheson).
  Mr. MATHESON. Well, I thank my colleague from Arkansas for conducting 
this Special Order tonight. That list, that article that you just were 
referring to is not a one-time deal. I think we all have a sense after 
over 4 years of the Iraqi operation having taken place, I think we have 
all heard stories, and those news articles seem to come out more and 
more often where money has been spent and we haven't gotten result in 
terms of rebuilding the infrastructure. That is a cause of concern and 
that is one of the motivations behind the Blue Dogs coming together 
with legislation in this Congress called the Operation Iraqi Freedom 
Cost Accountability Act.
  The Blue Dogs have come up with this bill which has been given the 
number H. Res. 97, and I want to take a brief moment to walk through 
what this legislation does.
  Now, quite frankly, before we go through the specifics, I should say 
it puts forth tangible and commonsense proposals to ensure future 
transparency and the accountability in the funding of Operation Iraqi 
Freedom. This is a first step. There is more we probably need to do, 
but this is an important first step to make sure that resources are 
getting to our troops in the field in a reasonable manner.
  There are four crucial points in this legislation demanding for 
fiscal accountability in Iraq.
  First, it calls for transparency on how Iraq war funds are spent.
  Second, it calls for the creation of a Truman Commission to 
investigate the awarding of contracts.
  And, third, it calls for the need to fund the Iraqi war through the 
normal appropriations process and not through emergency supplemental 
appropriations processes.
  Fourth, it calls for using American resources to improve the Iraqi 
assumption of internal policing operations.
  Now, the resolution also calls for the Iraqi Government and its 
people to progress towards full responsibility for internal policing of 
the country because ultimately that is where we need to go.
  Now recently, and I know other speakers have mentioned this, a 
significant accomplishment took place in terms of the Blue Dogs working 
with the Armed Services Committee to include key provisions of the Blue 
Dog accountability legislation in the Department of Defense 
authorization bill that we are going to be voting on here in the House 
of Representatives later on this week.

                              {time}  1800

  In doing so, I think it's an important first step toward ensuring 
greater 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 that goal.
  Now, members of the Blue Dog Coalition also believe strongly that 
funding requests should come through the normal appropriations process, 
as I said, rather than through these multiple emergency supplemental 
requests. Let's make it part of our overall budget so we can plan 
accordingly.
  I think that again with the Defense authorization bill coming up this 
week and with key components of the Blue Dog legislation included in 
that bill, I think that's a significant step forward for this country. 
I am proud that the Blue Dogs were able to play an important role in 
moving this legislation forward.
  Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Utah, and the gentleman's right, 
the Blue Dog Coalition, we want to thank Chairman Skelton for including 
key provisions of our bill, H. Res. 97, in the Defense authorization 
bill.
  H. Res. 97 was previously introduced by Blue Dog members and calls 
for transparency in how Iraq War funds are spent. Specifically, the 
Defense authorization bill addresses the lack of oversight and 
accountability in the war by requiring that the Government 
Accountability Office, commonly referred to as the GAO, report every 6 
months on the handling of contracts in Iraq.
  In addition, Blue Dog members applaud the inclusion of measures in 
the Defense authorization bill which establish essential management 
goals for the Department of Defense and expand the authority of the 
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction to include all 
reconstruction funding, regardless of source or fiscal year.
  Again, we're all about providing the funding our troops need. We want 
to make sure that funding gets to them and that this administration's 
accountable for it and that the Iraqi people are accountable for how 
the money is being spent that we send to them.
  Mr. Speaker, if you have got any comments or questions or concerns 
for us, you can e-mail us at [email protected]. Again, that's 
[email protected].
  I yield to my fellow Blue Dog member all the way from California (Mr. 
Costa).
  Mr. COSTA. Madam Speaker, I thank very much Congressman Ross, the 
gentleman from Arkansas, who does an excellent job each week in helping 
convey the message of the Blue Dogs, the fiscally conservative 
Democrats who are focused on accountability, not just at home but 
abroad as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to once again echo strong support 
for the Blue Dog Accountability War Act, and I, too, am pleased that 
Congressman Skelton, because of his focus and his desire to see the 
same sort of accountability that I think all Americans want to see, 
this is a bipartisan issue, chose to include provisions of the Blue Dog 
War Accountability Act within the new authorization for Defense.
  Four years ago, we all remember very clearly when this war effort was 
brought to America. We were told that 4 years ago it would cost $60 
billion and that the oil revenue from Iraq, which has tremendous 
reserves, would go to pay for the reconstruction. I think many 
Americans thought that that might be a reasonable price to pay, 
notwithstanding the fact that you can never, ever put a price on the 
cost of American lives that have been lost nor those that have been 
injured. Nonetheless, we were told that 4 years ago in monetary costs, 
it would be $60 billion and the oil revenues would go to pay for the 
reconstruction costs.
  Many of you saw the reports this week by a number of press agencies 
that indicated over the last 2 years billions and billions of dollars 
have been lost from revenues from the Iraqi oil reserves, but while it 
was a new story this week, it comes as no surprise to many of us who 
have been briefed in Congress.
  I was in Iraq last May, spent time in Mosul, city of Mosul, with a 
number of our commanders. As we were getting our briefings, as all 
congressional delegations receive when you go to Iraq, we were told of 
the problems of getting the oil from the oil field, from the wellheads 
to refinery because there's only one, and then getting the refined 
products to where the Iraqis could use the gasoline and the other oil 
products. They told us as recently as a year ago that every step of the 
way from when the oil was taken out of the wellhead, put in the truck, 
on the truck, mind you, because you can't use pipelines because the 
insurgents keep blowing the pipelines up, that every step of the way, 
every province, there is graft, there is corruption, there's other 
types of lost revenue, and those moneys go too often into the hands of 
these same insurgents that are battling our troops, making side profits 
off the revenue that was supposed to go to reconstruction, going to pay 
for insurgents and for bombs that come in the form of IEDs, that end up 
killing and maiming so many of our American men and women who are 
trying to fight this battle on behalf of the Iraqis.
  So this is well-known, and yet 2 years as we look at the problems 
with

[[Page 12467]]

trying to get this oil out of the ground and to the refineries, we 
still have made little progress in terms of eliminating that graft and 
corruption that currently takes place or the profits from that graft 
and corruption that go into the hands of the insurgents.
  And yes, unfortunately, the oil revenues today are still at or below 
the levels during pre-Saddam Hussein years when, in fact, there were 
restrictions on the amount of oil they could drill. That's how much 
progress unfortunately we have not made in the 4 years that we've been 
engaged in this effort.
  The fiscal accountability under the Blue Dog War Act for this effort, 
as it's being included in other aspects of our budget, are critical. 
The reforms the Americans expected here at home, they're the reforms 
that Americans expect on a bipartisan basis as we try to change the 
direction and the course of this war in Iraq.
  Let me conclude by saying that it's important that we keep our eyes 
focused on the situation at hand. Many of us have had briefings on a 
weekly basis with the top generals who are engaged in this effort 
trying to implement this surge. Just last week in speaking with one of 
those generals, I told him, I said, you know, we're doubtful on the 
surge, many of us, not because we don't think American men and women 
are successful; we know that they will do the absolute best job 
possible, but we're doubtful on the credibility of the leadership of 
this administration to effectively carry out what they say, and that's 
a loss of confidence. If this were a parliamentary system, there would 
be a vote of no confidence after all that has transpired over the last 
4 years.
  Having said that, I, like most Americans, hope that this surge is 
successful, for all the right reasons, for all the right reasons, but 
let me tell you tonight what I told the American general last week. If 
this surge by this summer is not successful, I hope you will tell the 
Congress and the American public that it's not working. He responded in 
the affirmative that he would respond by August on whether or not this 
was working or not. So I told the general, I said I hope it's 
successful, but I hope if it's not, you will tell us that it is not and 
that currently you are engaged in an effort that looks at a plan B. As 
I told Secretary of State that we needed to be thinking about doing in 
February of this year, a plan B that would protect our men and women 
who are at the front lines, look at protecting the borders between Iraq 
and Iran and Syria, look at redeployment, looking at beefing up our 
efforts in Afghanistan, in a way that protects our interests in the 
Middle East but quits trying to convince ourselves that if we want 
democracy more than the Iraqis it will happen.
  At the end of the day, Iraq will have to stand up for itself and 
indicate that they want to make a success out of this effort of 
democracy.
  So I want to yield back to my colleagues and I thank my friend, the 
gentleman from Arkansas, for providing this opportunity for fellow Blue 
Dogs to come and talk about why we are so concerned that, in fact, a 
new day has come and why we have to make new changes in direction that 
will fit the accountability of American men and women, that American 
taxpayers and that most importantly our American soldiers demand and 
deserve.
  Mr. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California, and 
as we have been discussing this hour, Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 97 demands 
accountability for how the money is being spent in Iraq.
  We all support our brave men and women in uniform. We all support our 
troops. We are all Americans first and foremost, but just as when a 
small town in America receives a grant they must be held accountable 
for how that grant money is spent, so should the Iraqi government.
  Again, Washington Post, Monday, April 30, by Dana Hedgpeth, entitled 
U.S. Rebuilding in Iraq Is Missing Key Goals, Report Finds. ``Before 
the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq's power system produced 4,500 megawatts a 
day with an aging infrastructure in which 85 percent of power plants 
were at least 20 years old, the report said. Reconstruction officials 
initially hoped to increase daily output to 6,750 megawatts by the 
summer of 2004, a target later lowered to 6,000 megawatts. But in the 
most recent quarter, Iraq generated only 3,832 megawatts a day.''
  What does that mean? The story goes on to say, ``The shortage was 
particularly acute in Baghdad. Before the war, the city received an 
average of 16 to 24 hours of power a day. Last spring, Baghdad averaged 
8 hours of electricity a day.'' That was last spring. ``This year, 
during the last week of March, the city received only 6.5 hours of 
electricity a day. The rest of the country, however, received an 
average of 14 hours of power a day.''
  At this time, I yield to the gentleman that helped write H. Res. 97, 
which is of course the Blue Dog bill, to provide for Operation Iraqi 
Freedom cost accountability, to provide an accounting for how this $12 
million an hour of your tax money is being spent in Iraq, the gentleman 
who helped white the bill, an active member of the Blue Dog Coalition, 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson).
  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman 
from Arkansas, and I thank the gentleman from Arkansas and I appreciate 
your leadership on this issue.
  I don't come to the floor often on Special Orders, but I think today 
this issue is so critically important not only for the American 
taxpayers but for the men and women who are serving so bravely in Iraq, 
and this is such a long overdue issue, as the gentleman mentioned, I 
helped write this bill but this came about after two Congresses of my 
own bill, the Iraq War Funding Accountability Act, that in the last 
Congress, as you know, was a Blue Dog-endorsed measure. That was an 
attempt to bring about accountability in Iraq in regard to the moneys 
that are spent by contractors in the reconstruction areas taking place 
in Iraq.
  Unfortunately, we were not allowed under the last Congress or the 
last majority to bring this measure forward so we could debate it, so 
we could discuss it, so we could vote on it. But fortunately, with the 
new leadership in Congress, this has become an issue that has not only 
been discussed and debated but an issue that is going to be included in 
the bill that we have before us this week. And it's just so long 
overdue on the part of the American taxpayers and the men and women who 
are serving who, because this money is misspent, misdirected, sometimes 
lost, are going without the equipment that they need.
  Every Member in this House has heard from family members and friends 
about their loved ones serving in Iraq who require supplies purchased 
by family members and friends and sent to them, everything from boots 
to protective gear, to the proper sunglasses, to supplies. It's 
absolutely inappropriate, and as long as we continue to misappropriate 
money and allow this to fall into the area of waste, fraud and abuse, 
and in sometimes criminal neglect or criminal negligence, this issue is 
only going to be exacerbated and the stories are just far too numerous.
  We've heard the little stories that, in fact, some of these 
contractors are selling soda pop at $45 a case to the men and women who 
are serving in Iraq to the same contractors who are charging $100 to do 
a 15-pound bag of laundry, to the bigger issue, such as trucks, trucks 
that are burned in place because there's minor repair problems needed, 
to even bigger issues such as pallets of money, I think it was $12 
billion that just disappeared in Iraq. And we have been trying to get a 
handle on this for a long time, and every effort that we have made has 
been short-stopped in this Congress, and finally, we are going to be 
able to get it out.
  Mr. Speaker, I have here a Special Inspector General for Iraq 
Reconstruction Report. This is a report that's issued quarterly to 
Congress.

                              {time}  1815

  It tells us very, very little about what's happening. It will tell us 
by contractor name how much we are obligated to them. It will tell us 
by contractor name how much they have expended. It will tell us by 
contractor name the percentage of increase in

[[Page 12468]]

these expenditures, but it doesn't tell us how the contract was let, 
why the contract was necessary, and, if, in fact, the work being done 
was, in fact, completed.
  This report represents a snapshot from 30,000 feet, no attempt at all 
to drill down and find the answers that the taxpayers and the 
servicemembers deserve. I have another report here about the 
construction by a contractor of the Baghdad police academy, obviously 
built in Baghdad. These pictures are worth 1,000 words. They show the 
fact that the work was done, shoddy workmanship. They show, in fact, 
that the supplies that were used by these contractors were 
inappropriate supplies, faulty, substandard supplies. This isn't 
pointed out in the quarterly report.
  These are the things that we need to know, and I am just proud to be 
a member of the Blue Dogs who exist for one reason and one reason only, 
the one common thread that runs through the entire Blue Dog 
organization, and that's fiscal responsibility. It's fiscally 
irresponsible to continue to ignore these very real problems. It's 
fiscally improper to adopt this measure, to insist on accountability by 
those who are being paid just gross sums of money to do, in some 
instances, inappropriate, ineffective, substandard work.
  I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for yielding, and I appreciate 
your leadership in helping get this measure signed into law and 
bringing accountability to these outrageous incidents that are taking 
place in Iraq today.
  Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from California for his work within 
the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition to write and 
craft this Iraq war accountability bill known as House Resolution 97.
  In the remaining 3 minutes or so we have left, I am going to yield to 
my friend, fellow Blue Dog member from the State of Georgia, Mr. David 
Scott.
  Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Ross.
  I will try to sum up what we have done this evening. It is very 
important, as the American people have followed this process, have seen 
us with the legislative process at work, not only in terms of debating 
the issue, but they have also witnessed how we are putting this, 
hopefully, this final piece together that the President will sign.
  First of all, just to wrap up, we have made concessions with the 
President on the issues that he was concerned about. The timelines, 
have, indeed, been removed. Those were his major objections on it. So 
we have compromised on that point.
  But we also had, then, accountability, and that's what the American 
people want. They want to make sure that we have accountability in 
this. Mr. Thompson from California has played a very leading role in 
this, and it was so good to have him on the floor talking about it. Mr. 
Ike Skelton, who is the chairman of our Armed Services Committee, has 
incorporated all of the major points of financial accountability to get 
out fraud and waste, to bring in the Defense Department's investigators 
to report to us on each of these areas, on a 6-month basis, to show us 
how the money is being spent.
  All of those things are now in this package, and the benchmarks are 
in, the benchmarks. So we can hold the Iraqi people to, and say, these 
are things that must be accomplished, as we go forward. If you don't 
hold their feet to the fire, if you don't put pressure there, there is 
no accountability. So we are going to have them on security.
  We are going to have them where they are going to reach the deal of 
how, which is at the bottom of the whole situation, is oil, and how 
they are to divide the oil revenue between the Kurds, between the 
Sunnis and between the Shias. We have got this in there for benchmarks.
  The other thing we have in there is funds for the troops, the Humvee 
protection, the body armor production. Never again will they go in 
Humvees and have to write back to mom and dad to give them the metals. 
They are over there fighting for the United States of America. It is 
our constitutional responsibility as the Congress of the United States 
to raise and support the military. That's in article 1, section 6 of 
the Constitution for our duty. This Congress is able to do that in 
this.
  Finally, what is so important, we are having in this measure true 
emergency measures like the children's health program, in which we have 
$349 million now for that shortfall to help with the SCHIP program, for 
that lower-income program.
  Many of those children, incidentally, Mr. Ross, are children of some 
of these servicemen who are serving in Iraq, because their income level 
falls too low for Medicaid, yet not high enough to be able to afford 
the regular practice. The money is in here for the veterans to make 
sure the Walter Reed situation doesn't happen again. That's what's so 
important. That's what the American people want.
  In this measure we have got that, and then plus $2.4 billion more 
than what the President asks for the troops. But we have got the 
accountability in, and it's geared to moving us in a way to get us out 
of the crosshairs of this civil war and in this occupation in Iraq so 
that we can strengthen our military and put the resources in 
Afghanistan and Pakistan where we know al Qaeda is and allow the Iraqi 
people to manifest themselves and solve this civil war among 
themselves.
  Thank you. It has been wonderful being with you and being a part of 
our Blue Dog coalition this evening.

                          ____________________