Rep. Corrine Brown: “I am here tonight to say that I cannot believe that this supplemental bill is handing over billions and billions of…”

“I am here tonight to say that I cannot believe that this supplemental bill is handing over billions and billions of dollars in reconstruction funding to Iraq through direct grants . . . let me repeat that--Direct Grants! And where do these direct grants come from? Directly from America taxpayers' pockets. That's where. Instead of following the Senate bill and giving Iraq loans to rebuild, we are flat out throwing money at them with no oversight. While here at home the Republican leadership continues with their only legislative agenda item: Tax cuts for their country club friends, and pushing our Treasury further into debt, our citizens are being forced to pay for building a country that was unnecessarily destroyed in the first place, because it has never been proven that there is a link between Iraq and September 11. And while Congress hands over blank checks to this Administration, the media has given them a free ride. While the Republican-controlled Congress continues to send billions of dollars overseas without accountability, the media continues to cover up the facts. All the while the President continues to lie to the American public about the very reason our troops are over there. Mr. Speaker, our troops are doing their job, it is the Members of this body that are not doing theirs. The Republicans keep telling us this bill is all about the soldiers, and everyone in this Congress supports our soldiers.…”