[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5058]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                A COUNTRY WHERE WE MUST BRING DEMOCRACY

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. It is said our government runs on a system of checks 
and balances. But when it comes to war, the administration writes all 
the checks and Congress doesn't know what the balance is. The 
administration can wage war and ignore Congress, says the Secretary of 
State. Shut up and keep giving them the money.
  Expanding war expands the Pentagon, costing more than $700 billion 
this year. That's 50 percent of discretionary spending. The United 
States funds 25 percent of NATO's military expenses.
  All of these wars cost trillions. As of today, we will have spent 
$805 billion to bring democracy to Iraq, $443 billion to bring 
democracy to Afghanistan, perhaps over a billion dollars already to 
bring democracy to Libya.
  I have an idea. Let's bring democracy to America. Instead of cutting 
programs for the poor, for children, for pregnant women, or shutting 
down the government, let's shut the wars down. Build bridges at home--
don't blow them up abroad. Bring democracy to America. Jobs for all, 
health care for all, education for all, retirement security for all. 
End the wars.

                          ____________________