Bill Clinton: “I rise to address the emergency supplemental appropriations conference report. When the vote occurs, it is likely to be…”

“I rise to address the emergency supplemental appropriations conference report. When the vote occurs, it is likely to be, if not unanimous, very close to being unanimous. And why? Because this conference report contains the funding that is needed by our brave troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It contains funding to provide necessary resources to equip our troops and to do the military construction that is necessary. I will vote for this conference report. But I want to record some serious reservations about this process. First, the emergency supplemental appropriations process is destined to be just that. It is a way to fund unforeseen emergencies outside of the usual budgetary process. Unfortunately, once again, we are funding the cost of the military in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, as well as a legitimate emergency, such as the tsunami relief provisions in the bill, through an emergency. I am privileged to sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is responsible for presenting the authorization for the budget for the Department of Defense, and during several of our hearings over the last several months, I, among a number of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, have asked our civilian and military leadership from the Department of Defense how they explain the fact that once again the costs for Iraq and Afghanistan are not in the budget; they are in the emergency supplemental.…”