Robert C. Byrd

The same situation that obtained prior to the entry of the war with Iraq might, in some respects, lend itself to a repeat in the case of Syria and/or Iran.

Why does the administration believe that the Appropriations Committee, or Congress, should have no say in how this $200 million foreign aid program should be spent?

What does it say about the state of our relations with all of these countries of the coalition of the willing, when, 2 years into the war against Iraq, the United States has to create a new foreign aid program to repay these countries for…

The Congress has passed two use-of-force resolutions, one almost immediately after the September 11 attacks

I believe it was September 14, 2001, resolution might be used by the administration as a premise to attack Syria and/or Iran.

Does the administration have any plans for attacks against Syria, either because of the assassination in Lebanon or for its supposed hand in the Iraqi insurgency?

I am equally worried that the administration has no agenda to manage what appears to be a worsening nuclear crisis in North Korea.

I am profoundly worried that the President may have a hidden agenda for dealing with Iran and Syria.

Will these funds be sufficient to address the complaints that we have heard, and that you heard also, Mr. Secretary, when you were visiting there, that our troops are scrounging for armor in trash dumps?

Why has it taken nearly 2 years of fighting in Iraq before the Pentagon asked for armor for all of these supply vehicles?

No, we're not talking about a lot of things; we're talking about this particular request for modularity.

Well, I have to tell you, Mr. Secretary, this seems to me to be an abuse, a serious abuse, of supplemental appropriations requests.