Russ Feingold: “when the Senate voted on this supplemental bill in October, I expressed my serious reservations about the overall…”

“when the Senate voted on this supplemental bill in October, I expressed my serious reservations about the overall direction of U.S. policy in Iraq and the astounding financial burden being imposed on the American people as a result of our misguided policies. Yet ultimately I voted in favor of the bill because I wanted to provide important resources for our troops on the ground and because I recognize that bringing stability to Iraq is in our national interest. At that time, I made it clear that I would not be able to support future funding for the Iraq mission if the administration failed to take concrete steps to put that mission on a sounder footing. Today, as we consider this conference report, my reservations have only multiplied. Under intense pressure from the White House, the conferees have stripped a reasonable and appropriate Senate provision that would have converted a portion of the reconstruction grants to loans. This provision, which was designed to encourage international debt forgiveness, did not involve any U.S. decisions about Iraq's future oil revenues, rightly leaving those decisions to the Iraqi people. The administration's refusal to accept this sound provision, combined with the disappointing showing at the recent donors conference in Madrid, suggests to me that the White House continues to set this country on an unsustainable course.”