Barbara Mikulski: “1 year ago, America was on the brink of war. One year ago, Congress debated whether America should go it alone to…”

“1 year ago, America was on the brink of war. One year ago, Congress debated whether America should go it alone to confront Saddam Hussein or get international support to bring the world with us. Now we are finishing work on the President's request for $87 billion for Iraq. Again we have debated whether we go it alone or find a way to share the burden and the cost of war. Today, I will vote in favor of the supplemental bill for Iraq and Afghanistan because I will not fail in my commitment to support our troops and because the Senate voted to provide loans and not just giveaways. Through this debate, I fought for five principles I continue to believe are critical for the Iraq supplemental: First, we need to support for our troops. The men and women putting their lives at risk to serve our country deserve our support. Second, we need international burden sharing. If the stability of Iraq is in the world's interest, then the world should help pay for the reconstruction. Third, we need to give Iraq loans, not giveaways. Iraq has the world's second-largest oil reserves and is capable of pumping out millions of barrels a day. This oil revenue should help with the reconstruction. Fourth, we need accountability and responsibility with the money we provide. We need to stop waste, cronyism contracting and profiteering. Fifth, we need for a plan to end the occupation of Iraq. There was a plan for war. Now we need a plan for peace.”