Mitch Landrieu: “this is a modified amendment based on a concept that Senator Dorgan, Senator Levin, and others have been working on now…”

“this is a modified amendment based on a concept that Senator Dorgan, Senator Levin, and others have been working on now for several weeks. It is a very important amendment to consider in terms of shaping a sustainable aid package for Iraq. It does not address or take any money away from the $20 billion. It simply establishes a framework whereby future reconstruction efforts in Iraq could be financed through a financing mechanism using the great oil wealth of that nation. It does not, in any way, affect the immediate $20 billion which the Chair and others and I were proud to cosponsor and which was shaped and crafted over an hour ago on the Bayh amendment. This is about the future, not the present. It does not have an effect on the $20 billion. Within an hour or two of this time, the Senate rose to the occasion. We had a very vigorous and enlightening, at times tough, but very good debate on the way we should put out our reconstruction efforts for Iraq. The Senate is fulfilling its role, shaping foreign policy, being a partner with the executive branch, and, in my opinion, since that amendment passed, improving the original plan. As I said when I supported the Bayh amendment, the administration's original plan, which seems to people in Louisiana and to the American people to be billions of dollars of grants often, only, and alone will not work. Not only is it not popular, it is not sustainable in our democracy. Iraq doesn't have a democracy yet, but we do.…”