After the recent Rose Garden press conference, it may be time for a reality check. President Bush has asked for a clean Iraq funding bill, despite the fact that President Bush himself has used the Iraq supplemental as a vehicle to pass non-military spending through the Congress, as have congressional Republicans. Moreover, Bush's claim that Democrats have not acted on his funding requests in a timely fashion is simply inaccurate. The House passed supplemental funding for our troops just two weeks after President Bush issued a revised Iraq request he asked Congress to consider. Democrats are working quickly to provide troops with everything they need and a new direction so they can succeed in Iraq.
BUSH AND REPUBLICANS ADDED OTHER FUNDS TO PAST IRAQ FUNDING BILLS
2006 Bush Request Included $24 Billion in Domestic Funding. The Washington Post reported that the president's own 2006 supplemental request for emergency war spending included $20 billion for Gulf Coast hurricane recovery, $2.3 billion for bird flu preparations, and $2 billion to fortify the border with Mexico and pay for his effort to send National Guardsmen to the southern frontier. The total: $24.3 billion. [Washington Post, 4/4/07] This is more than the $15 billion in truly domestic items included in the 2007 supplemental going through Congress.
The Domestic Items That Were in the 2006 Iraq Supplemental are, in Many Cases, the Exact Same Domestic Items That the Republicans are Now Ridiculing in the 2007 Iraq Supplemental. The key domestic items that were in the GOP-drafted 2006 Iraq Supplemental, signed by President Bush on June 15, 2006 (with all of these categories also in the Democratic-drafted 2007 Iraq Supplemental that Congress is now considering:): Hurricane Disaster Relief and Recovery (for a total of $19.3 billion); Emergency Agricultural Disaster Assistance (for a total of $409 million), including such specific programs as sugar and sugarcane disaster assistance, livestock assistance, specialty crops and nursery crops, dairy assistance, and cottonseed; Homeland Security (for a total of $1.2 billion), including such specific programs as air and marine interdiction, salaries and expenses for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and Office for Domestic Preparedness; Pandemic Flu Preparedness (for a total of $2.3 billion); Aquaculture Producer Grants; and funding for employee safety at the Capitol Power Plant (for a total of $28 million)
Republicans Tried to Add Even More Funds to 2006 Supplemental. In 2006, according to the Washington Post, " the Republican-controlled Senate tried to load the 2006 bill with $4 billion for agricultural subsidies, $1.1 billion for the Gulf Coast fishing industry, $594 million for highway projects unrelated to Hurricane Katrina, and $700 million for rerouting a rail line in Mississippi." The total: $6.394 billion. [Washington Post, 4/4/07]
2005 Iraq Supplemental Included Unrelated Funds. The Washington Post reported that, "the 2005 emergency war-spending bill included $70 million for aid to Ukraine and other former Soviet states; $12.3 million for the Architect of the Capitol, in part to build an off-site delivery facility for the Capitol police; $24 million for the Forest Service to repair flood and landslide damage; and $104 million for watershed protection -- the lion's share meant for repairing the damage to waterways in Washington County, Utah, at the request of the state's Republican senators." The total: $210 million. [Washington Post, 4/4/07]
2003 Iraq Supplemental Included Unrequested Funds. The 2003 Iraq supplemental included $481 million in unrequested funds for Hurricane Isabel recovery, $500 million in unrequested funds mainly for California fire relief, $245 million for the U.S. share of U.N. peacekeeping operations in Liberia, and $100 million for international disaster and famine assistance. The total: $1.326 billion. [H.R. 3289, CQ House Action Report, 10/30/03]
First Iraq War Supplemental Included Unrelated Provisions. The 2003 Iraq supplemental bill required that Alaskan salmon caught in the wild be classified as "organic" for purposes of consumer labeling and included a provision appropriating $110 million for continued construction of a food and bio-safety research facility in Ames, Iowa. Provisions in the bill included the president's request of $1.1 billion in aid for Jordan and the president's request of $300 million to Egypt. The measure even appropriated $30 million to facilitate peace efforts in Mindanao, a largely Muslim island in the southern Philippines. The total: $1.54 billion. [HR 1559, CQ House Action Report, 4/12/03]
President Bush Signed These Bills Despite Non-Military Funding. President Bush signed each of these bills into law despite the fact that they had items in them not directly related to military operations. [Library of Congress, clerk.house.gov]
PRESIDENT BUSH DIDN'T COMPLETE IRAQ FUNDING REQUEST UNTIL MARCH
President Bush Requested More Iraq Funds. On February 5, 2007, President Bush submitted his request for additional funds to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for Fiscal Year 2007 along with his Fiscal Year 2008 budget request. According to the Associated Press, Bush said he would ask for an additional $100 billion. However, President Bush continued to update and change his request for weeks, not submitting his final request until just four weeks ago. [Associated Press, 2/5/07; White House Letter, 3/9/07]
Bush Completed Iraq Supplemental Funding Request on March 9, 2007. In a letter to the Speaker president Bush wrote, "I ask the Congress to consider the enclosed revisions to the FY 2007 Department of Defense supplemental request proposed in my FY 2008 Budget. This revised request would better align resources based on the assessment of military commanders to achieve the goal of establishing Iraq and Afghanistan as democratic and secure nations that are free of terrorism." [Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 3/9/07]
House Passed Iraq Funding Bill Just Two Weeks Later. On March 23, 2007, the House voted for pass of the bill that would appropriate approximately $124 billion in fiscal 2007 emergency funding. [H.R. 1591, Vote #186, 3/23/07]
LAST YEAR, REPUBLICANS TOOK 4 MONTHS TO PASS IRAQ FUNDING
President Requested Supplemental Funding. On February 16, 2006, President Bush submitted his Fiscal Year 2006 supplemental appropriations request to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In total, President Bush requested $72.4 billion. [White House Letter, 2/16/06]
Conference Report of Iraq Funding Not Passed Until June 2006. In June 2006, the House and Senate voted for adoption of the conference report on the bill that would appropriate $94.5 billion in emergency supplemental funding for fiscal 2006. It would provide $70.4 billion for defense and foreign aid and $19.8 billion for hurricane relief. It would provide $2.3 billion for pandemic flu preparations, and $1.2 billion for border security efforts. [H.R. 4939, Vote #257, 6/13/06; H.R. 4939, Vote #171, 6/15/06]
IN 2005, REPUBLICANS TOOK ALMOST 3 MONTHS TO PASS IRAQ FUNDING
President Requested Supplemental Funding. On February 14, 2005, President Bush submitted his Fiscal Year 2005 supplemental appropriations request to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In total, President Bush requested $82 billion. [White House Fact Sheet, 2/14/05]
Conference Report of Iraq Funding Not Passed Until May 2005. In May 2005, the House and Senate voted for adoption of the conference report on the bill that would appropriate $82 billion in fiscal 2005 supplemental spending for military operations and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan and for disaster assistance to victims of the December 2004 tsunami. [H.R 1268, Vote #161, 5/5/05; H.R. 1268, Vote #117, 5/10/05]
