President Bush requested Congress pass a bill to provide $103 billion in emergency funding for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Katrina reconstruction efforts. I wanted to vote for the President’s request for additional funds for our troops because it is imperative that we support our men and women in uniform while they are fighting the Global War on Terror. They are talented, dedicated, and professional and should have every dollar they need for success.
Unfortunately, Democrat leaders have once again failed my constituents. The Democratic Party is split between abandoning our troops immediately versus abandoning our troops in two years. In order to gain enough support from the fringes of their party, Democrat leaders had to add $22 billion worth of pet projects to the war funding bill. Rather than convince members of their own party to support their policy of micromanaging the war, Democrat leaders decided to buy their votes.
Maybe some of these projects can be justified but they are certainly not emergency spending for the troops. Democrats in Congress believe invented ’emergencies’ such as spinach growing and peanut storage are just as important as the needs of our troops. Setting a date for withdrawal is as irresponsible as increasing a funding bill twenty percent to buy the votes of Members of Congress. Democrats are willing to jeopardize the effectiveness of our military just to make a political statement.