FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 05, 2005

CONTACT: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider 202-226-7616

Pelosi Statement on Supplemental Funding Request for Iraq

Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke today on the House floor on the supplemental appropriations bill that would increase funding for the war in Iraq by an additional $200 billion. The bill passed by a vote of 368 to 58. Below are Pelosi’s remarks:

“Mr. Speaker, for the fourth time since President Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq two years ago, Congress has been asked to provide funds for the war outside the regular budget.

“With nearly 140,000 troops in dire need of equipment and supplies, this legislation will be overwhelmingly approved, and I will support it.

“A willingness to provide our troops the support they need, however, should not be mistaken for support for the repeated failures in judgment that first put our troops in harm’s way and that keeps them there today.

“Two years ago this week, on May 1, 2003, President Bush stood on an aircraft carrier under a banner that proclaimed, ‘Mission Accomplished.’ Considering the events that followed and what has been disclosed since then, if the President were to stand under a banner today it would have to read, ‘Credibility Demolished.’

“We are in the war’s third year. Daily headlines are grim reminders of how far we are from a stable and secure Iraq, and the President has yet to provide a plan to get us to that place.

“We are fast approaching 1,600 U.S. military deaths and thousands more have suffered grievous and lasting wounds. I have had the privilege to pay my respects to our troops in theater and in hospitals in Europe and in the United States.

“Whatever our disagreement on the policies that brought us into the war, whatever our disagreement with our lack of planning to end it, it should never diminish the regard that we have for our men and women in uniform. We respect them and we appreciate their courage, their patriotism, and the sacrifice they are willing to make for our country. And with any opportunity that any of us have, we express that to them personally.

“The President’s rationale for the invasion was discredited long ago. Iraq remains unsafe. I talked about credibility in terms of lack of planning, but there is also a lack of credibility in terms of budgeting.

“Although appropriations for Iraq approach $200 billion, the President’s budget requests no money for the war on the grounds that the cost is unknowable. Instead the President chooses to include a figure for the war’s cost – zero – that everyone knows to be wrong.

“Here we are today, on Thursday, talking about a supplemental with a set amount in it for emergency funding for our troops, and we passed the budget last Thursday. It wasn’t one week ago that we didn’t know what the cost would be and now we do know this week. This is simply not an honest way to do our budget.

“Our troops need relief and their equipment needs repair and replacement. The risk assessment released by the Joint Chiefs of Staff this week shows the strain on our military is real and unsustainable. It is clear that the figure in this supplemental is not really enough to meet the measure that the Chairman mentioned.

“Providing money alone, as this bill will do, is not enough. A way out must be provided as well. We must focus on quality rather than quantity when training Iraqi security forces, accelerate Iraq’s reconstruction in ways that give Iraqis a major stake in rebuilding their country, and step up regional diplomatic efforts to heal the strife on which the insurgency thrives.

“I was pleased to be part of a bipartisan delegation that visited Iraq during the holy week, and I can tell you firsthand that we have a long way to go to reaching those goals.

“Our experience in Iraq strongly suggests that if we do not take these steps, and soon, about training the security forces, accelerating Iraq’s reconstruction, and stepping up regional diplomacy, or as my colleague Jack Murtha would say, ‘Iraqitize, internationalize, and energize.’ If we don’t do this soon, Americans may wonder for years to come if an end will ever be in sight.

“The funds provided for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, for the relief of those devastated by the tsunami, to aid those suffering in Darfur and elsewhere, and to promote Middle East peace are necessary and essential. Were conferees able to focus solely on these issues, their final product would have been much stronger.

“However, since this bill is ‘must pass’ legislation, House Republicans demanded the inclusion of controversial immigration provisions. These provisions would be much better considered as part of a comprehensive immigration reform effort.

“These provisions will make asylum harder to obtain for those seeking a haven from persecution, place a huge unfunded responsibility on the states to verify information used to support a driver’s license application. This is an unfunded mandated and isn’t part of the Contract on America, which said ‘No Unfunded Mandate.’

“We’ve given a mandate without the money, really without the consideration that this provision should have been given. We unwisely vest in the Secretary of Homeland Security the power to waive federal and state environmental and labor laws.

“Securing our borders should be a national priority, which makes it all the more inexplicable that the President did not request in his budget the extra border patrol agents and detention beds authorized by Congress last year in response to the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. Bipartisan efforts in the Senate to do more for border security in this bill and were rebuffed by House Republicans in favor of provisions that trample the rights of individuals and states, and may result in a diminishment of the safety of the American people.

“I commend Mr. Obey for offering a motion to fund border security at the Senate levels. He also had this as a motion to instruct when the conferees were named, to add 1 billion dollars so that we could have the border security that was recommended by the 9/11 Commission, but that was rejected.

“Mr. Speaker, for many reasons, this is not an easy bill to support. The legitimate emergency needs to which it responds, particularly the needs of our men and women in uniform overseas, are real and must be addressed. A much better job must be done to create conditions to allow large numbers of them to come home soon.”

“ Democrats are united in presenting a New Direction for America, one that will make our nation as strong as its people, one that brings opportunity, security, and prosperity to all Americans. ”

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi