Iraq, Afghanistan Funding Passes House
REAL ID Act Attached To Bill, Dreier Calls on Senate to Act

March 16, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC- Congressman David Dreier (R-CA), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, voted today to approve an emergency supplemental appropriations bill that provides resources to our troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan as they continue to help the people of those countries build democracies and defeat those who would derail progress that has been made. Also included in the bill is the text of the REAL ID Act, legislation passed by the House earlier this year that strengthens our border security and establishes minimum requirements for ID’s used for federal purposes. The Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act, H.R. 1268, was approved with broad bipartisan support 388-43.

“Our men and women in uniform are continuing the brave fight for freedom and democracy across the globe, and they have made amazing progress,” Dreier said. “This legislation provides the funding necessary to get them the equipment and protection they need to carry out their mission, as well as the resources needed to continue training Iraqi and Afghan security forces. Well trained security forces in these two countries will expedite the return of our troops and the completion of their mission.”

Included in the bill is: $75 million to purchase 47,000 additional sets of body armor, which is on top of the $1 billion spent on body armor over the past two years; a $185 million increase to field 1700 armored Humvees; an increase in the maximum Servicemember Group Life Insurance benefit from $250,000 to $400,000; an increase in the onetime death gratuity for combat fatalities from $12,000 to $100,000, which is retroactive to the Afghanistan conflict in 2001; and, $7 billion to train and equip the Iraqi and Afghani armed forces.

Dreier also applauded the inclusion of the REAL ID Act in the legislation passed today, making good on a promise made by the House Republican leadership to attach the provisions left out of the legislation implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission to the first “must-pass” bill of the 109th Congress. The REAL ID Act will help complete a vital security fence on the California/Mexico border, combat identity fraud perpetrated by terrorists, and reform our nation’s asylum laws. It also includes the text of legislation introduced by Dreier on the first day of the Congress that will help alleviate the growing stress on the federal courts due to the increasing number of cases being filed by criminal aliens. “This legislation deals with our national security, so it’s fitting that we attach the REAL ID Act as we send it over to the Senate,” Dreier said. “The President has declared his strong support of the bill. It’s time for the Senate to act. Our national security requires it.”

DREIER ON H.R. 1268: DIAL-UP / BROADBAND