This week, the House will be considering H.R. 2863, the FY 2006 Defense Appropriations bill. This bill would provide a total of $409 billion in discretionary spending in FY 2006 - which includes $363.4 billion for the regular Defense Department budget and a $45.3 billion "bridge fund," to pay for the costs of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan during the first part of FY 2006, before a FY 2006 supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan is enacted.
Members are being urged to vote NO on the previous question on the rule in order to allow consideration of the Pelosi amendment.
The Pelosi amendment would require the President, within 30 days of enactment of the bill, to submit a report to Congress containing a "strategy for success" in Iraq and identifying the criteria that are to be used to determine when it is appropriate to begin bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq.
Talking points below:
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DEMOCRATS SEEK TO REQUIRE PRESIDENT TO SUBMIT A “STRATEGY FOR SUCCESS” IN IRAQ, INCLUDING CRITERIA TO DETERMINE WHEN TROOPS CAN BEGIN TO BE BROUGHT HOME
Vote NO on Previous Question on Rule on Defense Appropriations Bill
This week, the House will be considering H.R. 2863, the FY 2006 Defense Appropriations bill. This bill would provide a total of $409 billion in discretionary spending in FY 2006 – which includes $363.4 billion for the regular Defense Department budget and a $45.3 billion “bridge fund,” to pay for the costs of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan during the first part of FY 2006, before a FY 2006 supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan is enacted.
Members are urged to vote NO on the previous question on the rule in order to allow consideration of the Pelosi amendment.
The Pelosi amendment would require the President, within 30 days of enactment of the bill, to submit a report to Congress containing a “strategy for success” in Iraq and identifying the criteria that are to be used to determine when it is appropriate to begin bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq.
Following are talking points on the Pelosi amendment.
The Pelosi amendment requires the President to submit a plan containing a “strategy for success” in Iraq. The Pelosi amendment requires the President, not later than 30 days after the enactment of this Act, to transmit to Congress a detailed report on a “strategy for success” in Iraq. The Bush Administration will have to submit a strategy for success that includes how the Administration will ensure that there are well-trained Iraqi military, border and police forces that can ensure the security of Iraq and that there is political stability in the country.
The Pelosi amendment requires the “strategy for success” to include clear criteria for determining when troops can begin being brought home. The Pelosi amendment requires that the “strategy for success” submitted by the President include clear criteria to be used to determine when troops can begin being brought home. The report must include a detailed description of each of the following:
• The criteria for assessing the capabilities and readiness of Iraqi security forces, goals for achieving appropriate capability and readiness levels for such forces, and the milestones and timetable for achieving such goals;
• The estimated number of Iraqi personnel currently trained at the capability and readiness levels determined to be appropriate;
• The number of U.S. and coalition advisors needed to support Iraqi security forces and associated ministries; and
• The measures of political stability for Iraq, including the significant political milestones to be achieved.
The President has failed to provide Congress with this vitally needed information. It is the responsibility of the President to provide to Congress the factors that will be used to determine when the job in Iraq will be finished. The President’s failure to discharge this responsibility raises the possibility that those factors have not been determined. If true, that would be a glaring deficiency in need of immediate correction. The simple fact is, however, that we do not know if those factors have been established, because if they have, the President has not shared them. This DOD Appropriations bill contains another $45.3 billion in appropriations for Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress should not be writing another blank check for Iraq without demanding the answers from the Administration that we urgently need.
This failure to provide information is part of this Administration’s pattern of a complete lack of planning on Iraq throughout the last two years. The failure of the Administration to provide Congress with its benchmarks for success in Iraq is in line with the Administration’s complete lack of planning for Iraq over the last two years. Ever since Baghdad fell in April 2003, our mission in Iraq has been undermined by this lack of planning. All of the problems we see in Iraq today – the daily deadly attacks by insurgents, the kidnappings, the rise of ethnic militias, the shortage of gas and electricity, the weakness of the economy – can be tied to the complete lack of planning by this Administration.
From the beginning, our troops have suffered from this lack of planning. From the very beginning, there has been a lack of planning to ensure that our troops would come home safely and soon. For example, due to the lack of planning and foresight, there has been a shortage of body armor, armored Humvees, and radio jammers to protect our troops – with these inadequacies just now being finally addressed by the military. The inadequate planning has been shocking. What retired General Anthony Zinni pointed out in September 2003 is still true today: “This is the greatest treasure the United States has, our enlisted men and women…They should never be put on a battlefield without a strategic plan…Where are we, the American people, if we accept this level of sacrifice without
level of planning?”
The President owes our troops and the American people a clear description of the milestones that will be used in determining when our troops can begin coming home. Our troops have paid a heavy price for this Administration’s bungled handling of Iraq. The least this President owes them and owes the country is a clear explanation of what the criteria for success in Iraq are and what benchmarks this Administration will be using in determining when our troops can begin coming home.
By requiring the President to submit a “strategy for success” in Iraq, this amendment can put pressure on the Administration to improve the training of Iraqi forces. By requiring the President to submit a detailed report to Congress, providing a “strategy for success,” the Congress will be shining a spotlight on the critical issue of the training of Iraqi forces. By focusing on the adequacy of the training of Iraqi forces, Congress can pressure the Administration to improve this training – which can speed up beginning to bring our troops home.
Without a “strategy for success,” the Administration is leaving us with an open-ended commitment – with no end in sight. Our country is paying a heavy price for the war in Iraq. The Iraqi war has had tremendous costs: more than 1,700 American soldiers killed, more than 12,000 wounded, nearly $200 billion of U.S. taxpayer dollars spent, and devastating damage done to the reputation of the United States in the eyes of the world. The President’s policy has left us with an open-ended commitment in Iraq – having failed to provide the American people with the mileposts and benchmarks that would define success and allow us to begin bringing home our troops. This open-ended commitment is unfair to our men and women in uniform, is unfair to American taxpayers, and undermines America’s future.
It is long past time for the President to level with the American people. The President must level with the American people about how he intends for the task still facing our troops in Iraq to be completed. Before any more money is provided for the war, Congress must insist that this information be shared.
Office of the House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, June 16, 2005
www.HouseDemocrats.gov / www.DemocraticLeader.house.gov
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