[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 14993-14994]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               PUT AN END TO TRAGIC AND WASTEFUL SPENDING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Nolan) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker, Members of the House, the foolish and 
wasteful squandering of Americans' hard-earned taxpayer dollars are 
once again on display in the war in the Middle East and in Syria. 
Before I get to my point, I want to remind my colleagues here that we 
spent $3 trillion on the war in Iraq. That is right, $3 trillion. Look 
where it has gotten us.
  I would like to remind my colleagues that for one of those trillion 
we could have graduated every college kid in America and vocational 
school kid in America debt free. Instead, we have saddled them with 
debt that is crippling their ability to get ahead and our economy to 
grow.
  It is no secret that bridges are falling down here in America and 
trains are coming off the rails. For one of those trillion dollars, we 
could have rebuilt our infrastructure and transportation system in this 
country, once again creating good jobs and opportunities and laying the 
foundation for our economy to grow.
  For another trillion of those dollars, we could have given the 
American taxpayers a trillion-dollar tax break. Would they not have 
loved that and do they not need that? Instead, we are still looking at 
$2 trillion going forward in taking care of the men and women who 
served: the warriors, the patriots, the men and women who were willing 
to stand up and protect us, but who lost arms and lost legs and 
suffered severe brain injuries. Yes, that is right, $2 trillion going 
forward, tending to and caring for them. And that is a moral obligation 
that we are obligated to and must fulfill.
  Now to my point today. Last year the Congress authorized $500 million 
to be spent on training the so-called moderate Free Syrian rebels, and 
now we have learned that only a handful, like four to five, has shown 
up for duty, according to Lloyd Austin, the U.S. Central Commander for 
troops in the Middle East.
  Back in June, Republican Congressman Curt Clawson and I offered an 
amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill to stop funding this so-
called Free Syrian rebel program. Why? Well, the hard, cold fact is 
that many of their leaders told us at the time that they would not use 
the money to fight and join us in the fight against ISIL. Now we ask 
the House not to appropriate an additional $600 million, seeing that 
the $500 million that was spent has already been wasted and misspent.
  Unfortunately, our colleagues at the time did not follow our 
bipartisan recommendation on this important issue, and the House did go 
ahead and appropriate an additional $600 million for that failed 
program. Now that we know only a handful are showing up for duty, it is 
not too late to stop this additional $600 million from going forward 
for this failed program.
  I am calling for the immediate removal of that funding. After all, we 
did pass my amendment prohibiting Congress from funding so-called 
rebels where there was clear proof that the

[[Page 14994]]

money was being misspent. Mr. Speaker, the proof could not be more 
clear in this case.
  This isn't about agreement or disagreement with our involvement in 
these Middle East conflicts. This is about the tragic, foolish, 
senseless, wasteful squandering of $1.1 billion of hard-earned American 
taxpayers' dollars.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Clawson and I both worked as businessmen for decades 
before coming to the Congress. Anyone who knows anything about business 
can tell you this: No private sector company ever succeeded by spending 
huge amounts of money on employees who never showed up for work or, 
worse yet, turned their allegiances to an opposition or a competitive 
company. That is no way to run a business, that is no way to govern, 
and it is certainly no way to win a war.
  I plead with my colleagues to come to their bipartisan senses, join 
Mr. Clawson and me, and help us put an end to this tragic and wasteful 
spending of hard-earned American taxpayer dollars. The American 
taxpayers are counting on us. Let's not disappoint them.

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