Watson Coleman: “I speak today as a former mayor. I have been listening to the debate about the President's request for $87 billion…”

“I speak today as a former mayor. I have been listening to the debate about the President's request for $87 billion supplemental appropriations to support what our troops need in Iraq. Yet there are some, who want to divide that, who say: Yes, we will provide somehow $67 billion; that is what the troops need on the military side, and to do that gives them moral clarity, while supporting an additional $20 billion for infrastructure and other essential services is labeled as squandering American resources that could be better used at home. Let me offer some insight on what it takes to build a city, what it requires to assure that those who live in a city feel ownership in their future, feel confident in their role in that city, and have the necessary confidence to move that city forward. First, to rebuild a city requires patience. A broken and decayed city did not happen over night, and it will not be fixed overnight. What happened in Iraq did not happen overnight. From 1970 onward, Saddam Hussein never had a budget; he did not invest in infrastructure. In fact, he pillaged and raped that infrastructure for his own needs, for his palaces, and to cover his friends. So what you have are patterns of neglect that have set in and cities have become stale and moribund. Their infrastructure starts to collapse. That is what we have seen in Iraq. The water systems fail, the sewer systems fail, and the power grids blow out after years of no maintenance.”