Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 110 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 110 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 153 WASHINGTON, MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2007 No. 52 House of Representatives The House met at 12:30 p.m. and was war. They don’t want that kind of ac- Scooter Libby. In fact, he personally, called to order by the Speaker pro tem- countability, because it failed our unprecedented for a Vice President, pore (Ms. CASTOR). troops, from day one, on equipment kept visiting the CIA and saying, no, f and readiness. they didn’t have the intelligence right And then maybe it’s the other part, yet. I.e., they didn’t say what he want- DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO the part where we are going to demand ed. Niger yellow cake, Chalabi, all that TEMPORE accountability of the Iraqi Govern- stuff. He was so wrong. And then he The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- ment. Time and time again President said, ‘‘Simply stated, there’s no doubt fore the House the following commu- Bush sets benchmarks. ‘‘Those bench- that Saddam Hussein now has weapons nication from the Speaker: marks will be met.’’ They are never of mass destruction.’’ Vice President WASHINGTON, DC, met. There has to be a diplomatic and CHENEY in August of 2002 as he was March 26, 2007. political component. You cannot re- pushing us toward war. I hereby appoint the Honorable KATHY CAS- solve a civil war with military force in But then on the eve of the war, even TOR to act as Speaker pro tempore on this Iraq. But time and time again the Bush after their myths about weapons of day. administration has let the Iraqi Gov- mass destruction, the yellow cake, the NANCY PELOSI, ernment skate. This bill says they will aluminum tubes had started to fall Speaker of the House of Representatives. meet the President’s own chosen, apart, he said, ‘‘We believe that Sad- f President Bush and al Maliki’s, own dam has in fact reconstituted nuclear MORNING HOUR DEBATES chosen guidelines and benchmarks or weapons.’’ Vice President CHENEY. A we will begin to bring our troops home. man who has been so wrong and put The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- Plain and simple, not a war without our troops in harm’s way unneces- ant to the order of the House of Janu- end, not a war that will be settled by sarily, jeopardized the security of the ary 4, 2007, the Chair will now recog- future Presidents, as George Bush said United States by distracting us from nize Members from lists submitted by a year ago, but if this administration the real fight in Afghanistan, chal- the majority and minority leaders for and the Iraqi Government fail to do lenges this Congress on the Iraq Ac- morning hour debates. The Chair will what’s necessary for our troops, we are countability Act? No, I think last No- alternate recognition between the par- not going to strand them in the middle vember the American people started to ties, with each party limited to not to of a civil war. ask about accountability for him and exceed 30 minutes, and each Member, But the Vice President objects to his supposed boss, George Bush. except the majority leader, the minor- those things. He says if they really And then let’s look at their military ity leader, or the minority whip, lim- support the troops, then we should planning. General Shinseki, a good ited to not to exceed 5 minutes. take them at their word and expect man. They fired him. It was said we The Chair recognizes the gentleman them to meet the needs of our military didn’t need 350,000 people. Rummy said, from Oregon (Mr. DEFAZIO) for 5 min- on time, in full, no strings attached. ‘‘Oh, don’t worry. We can do it with utes. Let’s review the administration’s 100,000 or so.’’ Shinseki said, that f record on those issues. Let’s review would lead to strife, civil war and how the Bush-Cheney administration chaos. He was right. They fired him. THE VICE PRESIDENT AND THE met the needs of our troops. First of But presidential economic adviser IRAQ ACCOUNTABILITY ACT all, it was an unnecessary war. They Larry Lindsey said, ‘‘It’s going to be Mr. DEFAZIO. I thank the Chair. were pursuing a necessary war against very expensive. Very expensive.’’ No, Well, Vice President CHENEY was in al Qaeda, the Taliban, Osama bin CHENEY and his cohorts said, ‘‘No, form last weekend in Florida address- Laden. Remember them? Dead or alive? don’t worry. Iraq can pay for it them- ing a small group behind closed doors. Dead or alive? They abandoned that selves.’’ Well, we are now at $2 billion He attacked the House of Representa- war for an unnecessary war launched a week, hundreds of billions of dollars tives for passing the Iraq Account- under false pretenses in Iraq. on this war. So wrong. ability Act. I am not certain whether it Now, something called the Office of And then our troops, how did they is because he objects to the fact that Special Plans phonied up the intel- serve them? Vice President CHENEY we are going to make this administra- ligence. DICK CHENEY put together the again, ‘‘We believe we will, in fact, be tion review the readiness of our troops, Office of Special Plans with some of his greeted as liberators. I think it will go their equipment, before they’re rushed own hand-picked people, I think one of relatively quick. Weeks rather than to Iraq in an attempt to escalate the whom is now on the way to jail, in fact, months.’’ So they didn’t give our men b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H3019 . VerDate Aug 31 2005 03:53 Mar 27, 2007 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A26MR7.000 H26MRPT1 mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with HOUSE H3020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE March 26, 2007 and women body armor, didn’t have ar- I ask my colleagues today to rise and DEMOCRATS CONTINUE TO TAX mored Humvees, they didn’t have the join me in paying tribute to Barton AND SPEND equipment they needed. Congress had College’s basketball team of 2007 and to to uncover those scandals after we recognize their extraordinary cham- (Mr. WILSON of South Carolina heard from the troops in the field. We pionship. asked and was given permission to ad- dress the House for 1 minute and to re- had to provide it over the objections of f this administration, and this guy has vise and extend his remarks.) the gall to say we aren’t serving the RECESS Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. troops as they want to keep our troops The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- Speaker, Democrats are as predictable mired down forever in the middle of a ant to clause 12(a) of rule I, the Chair as the sun: it continues to rise in the civil war? declares the House in recess until 2 east, and they continue to tax and This is extraordinary. And, most re- p.m. today. spend. cently, Vice President CHENEY last Accordingly (at 12 o’clock and 39 The Democratic budget released last year, no, 2 years ago, ‘‘I think they’re minutes p.m.), the House stood in re- week proposes the largest tax increase in the last throes, if you will, of the in- cess until 2 p.m. in American history: $392.5 billion. Not surgency.’’ I guess he still believes f only does it allow for the expiration of that. the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, but it does These people have done an extraor- b 1400 nothing to control unsustainable enti- dinary disservice to our troops, our tlement spending. country, our national security and the AFTER RECESS fight against true terrorism that at- The recess having expired, the House Republicans believe fiscal restraint tacked us on 9/11. We will not be dis- was called to order by the Speaker pro and pro-growth economic policies will tracted or bullied anymore. The Iraq tempore (Mr. SALAZAR) at 2 p.m. lead to budget surpluses and new jobs. Democrats believe out-of-control gov- Accountability Act is a strong response f to their mismanagement and it offers ernment spending should be subsidized the United States a way to bring this PRAYER with the hard-earned money of Amer- war to a successful conclusion and The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. ican taxpayers. soon. Coughlin, offered the following prayer: Unfortunately, the Democratic budg- Bring the troops home. ‘‘Go down, Moses, et continues to squeeze taxpayers’ f Way down in Egypt land. pocketbooks without tightening the CONGRATULATING BARTON Tell ole Pharaoh, belt of Big Government. Such reckless COLLEGE’S BASKETBALL TEAM Let my people go.’’ policies will chill our growing economy These lines from the old spiritual, by reducing job creation. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- Lord, gave human slavery voice and ant to the order of the House of Janu- In conclusion, God bless our troops, hope. Its rundown rhythm muffled the and we will never forget September 11. ary 4, 2007, the gentleman from North sound of the Underground Railroad Carolina (Mr.