Robert C. Byrd: “Are these reports accurate? Is there now or will there soon be a cutback in the R&R leave for our troops in Iraq?”

The size of the insurgency in Iraq has been consistently underestimated, in terms of the size and the force.

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?

In closing, may I say that the President's request includes $658 million for construction of the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.

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?