Mike Levin: “there are very many things in the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Iraq and Afghanistan Security and…”

“there are very many things in the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Iraq and Afghanistan Security and Reconstruction bill with which I strongly disagree. For example, I object to the virtually unfettered ability of administration officials to move dollars from one classification of Iraqi relief and reconstruction to other classifications. And I object to Ambassador Bremer's unilateral approach to spend U.S. taxpayer's money on such things as zip codes for Iraq, expensive business school scholarships, and a honey pot for high-priced U.S. consultants. Nevertheless, I will vote in favor of this bill. I do so in order to provide $67 billion to support the American troops who are in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere. And I do so because the Senate wisely decided last night to provide one-half of the funding for Iraqi reconstruction as a loan, which could become a grant only if 90 percent of Iraq's bilateral debt was forgiven. I have long maintained that Iraqis must have a stake in the reconstruction of their own country and Iraqis must have a say in decisions that affect their future. The Bayh, et al., amendment gives them the investment in their own future that is so important to them and to us.”