Hilda L. Solis: “today I rise also in strong support of our men and women who currently serve us with their uniforms that they so proudly…”

“today I rise also in strong support of our men and women who currently serve us with their uniforms that they so proudly wear in Iraq and Afghanistan, but I also have serious concerns about the President's supplemental request. The administration's $87 billion request fails to outline what I believe is a concrete plan for our soldiers' and our country's involvement in Iraq. We currently have, as you know, over 40,000 troops in Iraq who lack protective body plates and about 46 percent of the spare parts the Army needs, but this bill has no plan to address these urgent needs. We also have about 37,000 noncitizen soldiers, many of whom come from our districts who serve in our military, including about 3,000 noncitizens who are serving right now in Iraq. These soldiers deserve to be granted citizenship since they are protecting and defending our country. But this bill has no outline or plan for expediting their citizenship. This past weekend, Members, another one of my constituents, Private First Class Jose Casanova was killed in Iraq. He deserves a better plan. He deserves a guarantee that he is going to be taken care of and his family will be taken care of. The Iraq supplemental outlines a $21 billion reconstruction plan for Iraq, but we need reconstruction here at home. I say that because in the county that I represent, Los Angeles County, we are faced with over an $800 million deficit that we will have to somehow pay for in the next 2 years.”