Political Quotes

“this amendment is redundant and unnecessary. It, in effect, requires a report to committees of Congress every 30 days by the administration on operations in Iraq. The supplemental that the Congress passed in April just before the Easter recess providing fiscal year 2003 funds for the Iraqi operations required that many reports be submitted to committees of Congress. As a matter of fact, within 5 days of the transfer of funds from the Iraqi Freedom account, a report is sent to the Appropriations and Defense Committees of the House and Senate advising the Congress of how these funds are going to be spent. No such reporting has been required of recent operations elsewhere in the world. For example, during the Clinton administration, no such reports were required for operations in Somalia or Bosnia or Haiti. Nor were they required during the operations in Afghanistan or Kosovo. This report duplicates information the Department of Defense is already routinely providing through congressional hearings and briefings for Members of Congress and press organizations, news organizations that have access to the regular briefings at the Department of Defense. The reports on the cost of Iraq and the number of personnel serving in the region are widely available.”