Bill Delahunt

Mr. DELAHUNT

Mr. DELAHUNT. We had a 10-hour, I don't want to call it a debate because it was not a debate.

Mr. DELAHUNT. The silence coming from the Congress is just overwhelming. There has not been a single committee in the House of Representatives that invited General Paul Eaton to come before it and testify. Talk about a rubber stamp. Well, now here is retired Marine Lieutenant General Gregory Newbold. He had these words to say in April: ``My sincere view is that the commitment of our forces to this fight was done with the casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions or bury the results.'' Has there been a request from one single committee of this House to Marine Lieutenant General Newbold to come before us to listen to what he has to say about the incompetence of the civilian leadership of Secretary Rumsfeld? Not one invitation that I am aware of. And here is retired General John Batiste, again, speaking about the Secretary of Defense. This was reported in The Washington Post on April 13: ``We went to war with a flawed plan that didn't account for the hard work to build the peace after we took down the regime. We also served under a Secretary of Defense who didn't understand leadership, who was abusive, who was arrogant, who didn't build a strong team.'' I know there are more posters. Now, what would have happened in the private sector? Is this a way to do business? Is this competence? I could go on and on and on.

Mr. DELAHUNT. If I can, for just a moment, I hear all this foo-for- all about we have to stay the course, and we will stand down when they stand up. It must have been a shock to President Bush, do you remember when he made that visit, I think it was about a week ago, to Baghdad? Well, on his way home he was discussing the visit with reporters and his conversations with Iraqi leaders and he made this statement that was reported in the Associated Press: ``There are concerns about our commitment in keeping our troops there. They,'' meaning the Iraqis, ``are worried almost to a person that we will leave before they are capable of defending themselves, and I assured them they didn't have to worry.'' That is the President. But apparently when he said ``almost to a person,'' he is not including the president of Iraq and the vice president of Iraq, because the Associated Press reported the day after that Iraq's vice president had asked President Bush for a timeline, for a timeline, for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq. Here is the quote: ``Vice President Tarik al-Hashimy, a Sunni, made the request during his meeting with Bush on Tuesday when the U.S. President made a surprise visit to Iraq. President Talabani, in a statement that was released after the meeting, said `I supported him in this,' meaning the vice president.'' So when we hear that we can't give a timeline or a table for when we withdraw, Mr. Speaker, the Iraqis are asking us to do it. They are asking us, Mr. Speaker. So, please, you know, cut the politics. Run away from the politics. Let's cut and run from the politics and talk about the truth.

Mr. DELAHUNT. One can only imagine that young person graduating from college with this debt.

Mr. DELAHUNT

Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, Colin Powell thought Vice President Cheney was so obsessed with attacking Iraq that he suffered from war fever. The problem is that fever can make you delusional and you can see things that aren't really there, no matter how much you want them to be true. The Vice President said that we would be greeted as liberators. False. Secretary Rumsfeld said that the war would not last more than 6 weeks. False. Secretary Wolfowitz said that Iraq could pay for its own reconstruction from oil revenues. Again, false. We were told that the administration had a coherent plan for postwar Iraq. False. The truth is that this administration's incompetence has set back the effort against global terrorism. Don't take my word for it. Simply come to this floor and read the statements of these generals, patriots all. The administration claimed that there was a link between Iraq and al Qaeda. Again, false. But they are not talking about a link that does exist and should cause us all profound concern. That is the relationship between the new government in Iraq and Iran. The new Iraqi government is full of Iranian allies. They have signed a military cooperation agreement. And the Iraqi Foreign Minister just recently said, Iran has a right to develop nuclear technology and the international community should drop its demands that Iran should prove that it is not trying to build a nuclear weapon. And we are supposed to believe that our national security has been strengthened, and that we are making progress on the war on terrorism? The truth is that the war in Iraq has not just simply been a distraction from the global war on terror, it has actually increased the power and influence of the number one state sponsor of terrorism, according to our own Department of State, an original charter member of the axis of evil club, the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Mr. DELAHUNT

Mr. DELAHUNT. And incompetent.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Tomorrow we are going to hear terms like cut-and-run and defeat.

Mr. DELAHUNT. This majority is prepared to give this administration, this White House, this Secretary of Defense, a pass on their incompetence.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Every day there is a growing number.

Mr. DELAHUNT. That is what we are going to hear on this floor, and I challenge that Republican majority to use those terms when it comes to these generals, to these American patriots who have served their country. Ask them if they even would ever cut and run. They have demonstrated their entire careers, but they had the courage to stand up and say this is rank incompetence. You are not doing right by the American soldier and by the American military and you are giving them a pass. You are letting them pass.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Of course.

Mr. DELAHUNT. And who served his country well, a highly decorated Army general who was sent to battle, to war, and there was never a plan crafted and designed for the peace. Three years later, where are we? We are in Iraq, we are mired now in a sectarian battle between militias, insurgents. It has become a breeding ground for terrorism. General Paul Eaton was responsible for the training of the Iraqi security forces in Iraq. What do we hear now? All we ever hear is that the Iraqis have to do it themselves, or we will stand down when they stand up. We will help them stand up. That was 3 years ago. How long does it take to train a U.S. Marine or U.S. Delta Force operative or a U.S. Army Ranger, a member of the Airborne or a U.S. Army soldier or Navy? Three years? No, because the civilian leadership of this administration has been incompetent from the beginning. This is what Paul Eaton had to say about what is happening in our Department of Defense. Mr. Meek.

Mr. DELAHUNT. What the American people are demanding, Mr. Ryan and Mr. Meek, is accountability. Because if there is accountability, then we will have competence in our government. But as you just indicated, whether it be Katrina, whether it be the prosecution of the war in Iraq, there has been no accountability by this Congress, none whatsoever. We are paying the price. We are paying the price in terms of our national treasure. By that, I mean our young men and women who are serving in Iraq. We have already paid and are heading in the direction of one-half a trillion dollars for the prosecution of that war. What do we have to show for it? Well, we have generals from the Department of Defense who stood up as patriots, condemned what they saw in terms of incompetence by the civilian leadership in the Department of Defense. I would ask one of you to quote retired Army General John Batiste on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who had this to say on April 13. Mr. Ryan.

Mr. DELAHUNT. This is the 30-something Working Group, www.House- Democrats.gov/30something.

Mr. DELAHUNT. I yield to my friend.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Ryan, do you realize that it has been more than 3 years, and this is the first time tomorrow that we will have a conversation about Iraq? There should have been hearings for the past 3 years. These heroes, these American heroes should have been invited to come before the appropriate committees of jurisdiction and allowed to testify about the incompetence of the prosecution of the peace in Iraq by this administration. But, no, they have been shut out, we have been shut out, and the American people don't know what is happening.

Mr. DELAHUNT. I think that really sums it up. If Democrats take control of this House, it is going to open the doors. It is going to open the windows. We are going to get a breath of fresh air, and accountability will be in vogue once more, for the first time in a long time.

Mr. DELAHUNT. We have an ownership society.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, I couldn't improve on everything that has been said. I am excited about the challenges ahead. I think we are going to take this country in a new direction. I think it is going to benefit the American people, whether they be Republicans or Democrats or unenrolled.

Mr. DELAHUNT. It's America.

Mr. DELAHUNT. I appreciate your observations, but I would just add one other component of what is not a pretty picture. If you don't have the desire, if you don't have the political will, or if there is influence that contradicts the best interest of the consumer, that in an of itself is a recipe for disaster. But just imagine combining that with incompetence. That is when you have a tsunami, and that is what we are seeing time and time again from this administration without any accountability from the Republican majority. Tomorrow there will be--and it is not going to be a debate, it is going to be a lot of speechifying. There will not be any give and take. But for the first time in over 3 years since this Congress voted to invade and to authorize the administration to invade Iraq, there will be a discussion of Iraq in the war there for the first time in over 3 years. I think what that tells you is that there is no debate, there is no discourse, there is no willingness to hold the administration accountable for incompetency. Put aside all of the other concerns that you articulated, Mr. Meek. But there was a story today in the newspaper that just underscores what you are saying, and I think emphasizes my point regarding the competence of governing or the lack thereof. Let me read for just a moment. You have got to bear with me. This is from my hometown newspaper, the Boston Globe, and it is today. The government doled out as much as $1.4 billion in bogus assistance to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, getting hoodwinked to pay for season football tickets, a tropical vacation, and even a divorce lawyer, Congressional investigators have found. Now, let's be very clear. This was an investigation conducted by a nonpartisan agency that is an adjunct to the United States Congress called the Government Accountability Office. Here is what they found. Someone stayed in a Hawaiian hotel for 70 days with taxpayer help. These same GAO investigators went undercover to expose the ease of receiving disaster expense checks from FEMA. They provided lawmakers with a copy of a $2,300 U.S. Treasury check for rental assistance that an undercover agent got using a bogus address. The money was paid even after FEMA learned from its inspector that the undercover applicant did not live at the address. When you don't hold people accountable, things get awful sloppy, if you don't hold Federal agencies accountable, whether it be the White House, the Department of Defense sooner or later.

Mr. DELAHUNT. I would like to ask a question of Representative Jackson-Lee. If Democrats were the majority in this House, would there be a forum for General Greg Newbold, retired Marine Lieutenant General, to express his opinion before the appropriate committee of jurisdiction so that we could learn and the American people could observe what the truth was in terms of the prosecution of the war and the peace in Iraq? Would that opportunity be afforded to the American people?

Mr. DELAHUNT. This is Leader Pelosi's 30-something Working Group, www.HouseDemocrats.gov/30something.

Mr. DELAHUNT. That is why, as Mr. Meek so eloquently observed earlier, it is time to take the country in a new direction. And there are specific proposals out there that will take this country in a new direction. He has enumerated several of them, whether it be health care or education. How about just plain old common sense when it comes to managing our money? One-half trillion dollars and we are still mired in Iraq, tax cuts that benefit not even the wealthy in this country but the super wealthy, and if you notice this mismanagement, this incompetence in terms of our economic and fiscal policy, it is hurting people. Has anyone observed the Dow Jones? Has anyone called their broker to find out how their 401(k) is doing? There won't be an American left other than the super rich that will be able to retire.

Mr. DELAHUNT

Mr. DELAHUNT. And meanwhile, we are building roads, we are building hospitals, we are building schools, we are building dams and levies, we are building deep water ports, where? In Iraq. And we are not building them here in Ohio. We are not building them in Massachusetts, we are certainly not building them in New Orleans. We are not building them here in America where there is such a crying need. And meantime, our people go forward, whether they be seniors and concerned about their retirement security, or whether they be young people and have debts of 40, 50, $100,000 because of education. There is something wrong.