Sean Patrick Maloney: “I rise in support of H.R. 2482, the Iraqi Freedom from Debt Act, but first I would like to respond to the gentleman's…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 2482, the Iraqi Freedom from Debt Act, but first I would like to respond to the gentleman's statement that Democrats want to raise taxes. That is not true. The Kerry-Biden bill calls for a repeal of only the top 1 percent. This would result in $600 billion, and this would pay for the $87 billion for the challenge in Iraq. Some Democrats support that. I am one of those, but I disagree with the statement from the gentleman who preceded me. Mr. Speaker, I rise really in support of one of the administration's spokesmen, Mr. Paul Bremer, and he said that it would be a mistake to lay any more debt onto the backs of the Iraqi people, and he wisely added that there would be no way that the Government of Iraq will be able to pay Iraq's current debt. Mr. Bremer estimates that Iraq owes over $100 billion to other nations as a result of Saddam Hussein's irresponsible borrowing, and how can we expect Iraq to begin paying on this debt when the challenges of funding reconstruction are so steep? The Financial Times reported: "Even assuming a resumption of oil exports at 2 million barrels a day, Iraq's debt-to-export ratio would exceed 700 percent, the highest in the world.…”