Mike Ross

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Let me just say there are those in this Congress that do not support sending $12 million an hour to Iraq, then you are unpatriotic. I differ with that. I strongly differ with it. No one needs to question my patriotism, no one needs to question my support for our men and women in uniform. If you ask me, giving them more of the same is not showing support for our men and women in uniform. They need a new direction. They need a new direction in Iraq, one that will allow them to do their job and come back home to their families. The President proposing a surge of some 21,000 troops is not a new direction, it is more of the same. At the same time, Madam Speaker, let me tell you that the other thing that the American people want is they want responsibility. They want responsibility by the Iraqi government. They want them to buy into this. The other thing the American people want is accountability within our own government, which is clearly why we are advocating the passage of the Iraqi War Accountability Act, H.R. 97. Why is it needed? Because auditors in one region found that contract managers could not account for $97 million disbursed from the development fund for Iraq. Under its no-bid contract to rebuild Iraq's oil infrastructure contract, Halliburton overcharged by over 600 percent for the delivery of fuel from Kuwait. An audit of programs designed to train guards designed to protect Iraq's oil and electrical infrastructure concluded that U.S. agencies could not provide reasonable assurance that $147 million expended under these programs was used for its intended purpose. In one case, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction found that a company which was awarded a security management contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars could provide no assurance that it was providing the best possible safety for government and reconstruction personnel as required by the contract, and could not even show that its employees authorized to carry weapons were trained to use those weapons. Finally, Halliburton tripled the cost of hand towels at taxpayer expense by insisting on having its own embroidered logo on each towel. You can't make this stuff up. Halliburton employees dumped 50,000 pounds of nails in the desert because they ordered the wrong size all at taxpayers' expense. This is not supporting our troops. We want to fund our troops. We want to support our troops, and the way to do that is by requiring more accountability by this administration and the Pentagon. Quite frankly, for the last 6 years, Congress has not fulfilled its constitutionally given duty of providing oversight. It has been a rubber stamp for whatever this administration wants. Those days are over, the new Congress has arrived, and we are going to begin to provide that oversight and accountability and demand responsibility, not only from this administration, but from the Iraqis through the passage of H.R. 97.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Sergeant First Class John ``Gary'' Brown of Nashville, Arkansas, who died on January 20, 2007, while fighting for our country in Iraq, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Gary Brown was 43 years old when the military convoy he was riding in was attacked. After graduating from Nashville High School, Brown attended Ouachita Baptist University before enlisting in the Army where he served his country for over 20 years. SFC Brown's first tour of duty was in Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm and at the time of his death he was serving in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Gary Brown was a member of Agape Church in Little Rock where he was an active participant in the men's Bible study and the children's bus ministry. Brown was also a member of the VFW and the Otter Creek Home Owners Association. His dedication to making the communities he lived in a better place could not have been greater. Gary Brown gave his life to serve our country and will forever be remembered as a hero, a father, and a husband. My deepest condolences go out to his wife Donna; his two stepdaughters Brandy Edmondson and Crystal Lunnie both of Little Rock; his brothers Larry Brown of Seguin, Texas, and Phil Brown of Nashville; his sister Wendy Wesson; two grandsons Christian Edmondson and Joshua Edmondson; and to his many nieces and nephews. He will be missed by his family, his church, his community and all those who knew him and called him a friend. I will continue to keep John ``Gary'' Brown and his family in my thoughts and prayers.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Staff Sergeant Alan Shaw of Little Rock, Arkansas, who died on February 9, 2007, fighting for our country in Iraq while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Alan Shaw was 31 years old when he selflessly gave his life for his country during combat operations. After graduating from Wilbur D. Mills High School, Shaw attended Arkansas Tech University before enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1998. Shaw was assigned to the 1st Battalion 5th Marines in Camp Pendleton, California, where he served two overseas tours and one sea service tour before being honorably discharged in 2002. In October of 2004, Shaw chose once again to nobly serve his country by joining the U.S. Army where he served two tours of duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and it was in his second tour where he gave his life for our country. Alan Shaw was proud to serve in the military and is remembered as an outstanding leader and friend to his fellow soldiers. Shaw had a passion for life and a vision for the future, and his personality sparked happiness in all those around him. His dedication to making the lives of those around him and the communities he lived in better could not have been greater. Alan Shaw gave his life to serve our country and will forever be remembered as a hero, a father, a husband and a friend. My deepest condolences go out to his wife Sharrell; his three children Austin, Jourdan and Davyn; his parents Jarrell Bentley and Noramae Shaw of Little Rock; his siblings Larry and Lisa Shaw, Bud and Terri Bradley, Darren and Mindy Shaw, Randy and Angie Shaw, Amber Shaw and Jeffrey Shaw all of Little Rock; and to his nine nieces and nephews. He will be missed by his family, his community and all those who knew him and called him a friend. I will continue to keep Alan Shaw and his family in my deepest thoughts and prayers.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to try to bring about some common sense to a Federal agency known to many as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and known to others as FEMA. Many of you will recall, Mr. Speaker, that after that horrible hurricane that devastated the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina, back in August of 2005, FEMA went out and purchased tens of thousands of brand new mobile homes that were destined for storm victims after Hurricane Katrina. They came to Hope, Arkansas. We have got the old World War II proving grounds there, an old airport there with a lot of inactive runways and tarmacs, and they thought it was a good place to have as a so-called FEMA staging area, a place for them to bring mobile homes in transit on their way to storm victims on the gulf coast. Starting about October of 2005, they started arriving, and they continued to arrive, but none ever left. And this quickly became not a FEMA staging area but, rather, a FEMA storage area. This is an aerial photo that was taken this past Saturday, and these white dots, I mean, it is hard to understand and comprehend, but as you look at this aerial photo, what you are looking at is 8,420 brand new, fully furnished, never used, mobile homes that were destined for Hurricane Katrina victims that found themselves homeless. FEMA purchased them, and then they said, we won't put a mobile home in a flood plain. And of course, everybody who lost their home as a result of Hurricane Katrina lived in a flood plain. So they have remained stored at the airport in Hope, Arkansas, on this cow pasture, if you will, since about October of 2005; 8,420 brand new, fully furnished mobile homes. There is also approximately 16,000 camper trailers at the Hope airport. The camper trailers did work. They were used by storm victims, and they are now bringing them back to Hope. And if they need more than $1,500 worth of repair, they are auctioning them off. If they can repair them for less than $1,500, they are going to repair them there at the Hope airport and store them for future disasters. That is being a good steward of your tax money. That mission, that program makes a lot of sense. My problem with FEMA is this: There are 8,420 brand new, fully furnished, never used mobile homes sitting there, as you can see from this aerial photo, at the Hope airport in Hope, Arkansas. Now, let's fast forward. Well, one other point I would like to make, Mr. Speaker, is, about 8 months ago, to try to get FEMA off high center and to move these homes to the people, I said they are going to start sinking into the cow pasture, thinking that would get FEMA off high center and they would move them to the storm victims. Instead, FEMA showed up at Hope with $7 million worth of gravel to put under them. I mean, this is so crazy, you can't make this stuff up. And then, fast forward, tragically to February 24, 12 days ago, where a tornado ripped through another part of my district, not Hope, Arkansas, but Dumas, Arkansas in DeSha County. This is one of 150 homes that have been either totally destroyed or heavily damaged. If there is any doubt about the amount of damage done, this is the Fred's Dollar Store and the grocery store in town and an 18-wheeler. The bottom line is this: I immediately went to Dumas to be with the people there. I told them help was on the way. The Governor declared it a State disaster. The Governor called out 150 members of the National Guard; 150 homes heavily damaged or destroyed, 650 people out of work because their workplace has been heavily damaged or destroyed. No power for 6 days. And I asked FEMA to help; 12 days later, the President still has not declared Dumas and DeSha County a Federal disaster area. And what does the FEMA spokesman, John Philbin, say? March 7, 2007, Stephens Washington Bureau, in a story by Aaron Sadler, FEMA spokesman, John Philbin, says, ``The damages or need for Federal assistance are not readily apparent.'' If that is not damage that is readily apparent, I don't know what it is. I implore the President to declare Dumas and DeSha County a Federal disaster area. And I beg FEMA to begin to move some of these mobile homes to the people of Dumas who are without housing this evening.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, on February 24, a tornado hit Dumas in Desha County, Arkansas. The Governor called out the National Guard for nearly a week. For 6 days, there was no electricity to this delta county. 650 people remain out of work because their workplace has been severely damaged or destroyed, and 150 homes were either heavily damaged or destroyed. And here we are more than a week later still waiting for the President and the Director of FEMA to declare this forgotten delta county a Federal Disaster Area. In fact, the FEMA spokesman, John Philbin, in the Arkansas News Bureau, Stevens Media, is quoted today in an Aaron Sadler story as saying ``The damages or need for Federal assistance are not readily apparent.'' Mr. Speaker, the people at FEMA certainly did not visit the same Dumas and Desha County that I did. The people of Dumas and Desha County need the help of the Federal Government, and I implore the President and the Director of FEMA to assist this forgotten delta county.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, this evening, as every Tuesday evening, I rise on behalf of the 43 member strong fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. We are a group of fiscally conservative Democrats that are doing our best to restore common sense and fiscal discipline to our Federal Government. Part of that is accountability. This evening I am pleased to be joined by another gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Berry, from Arkansas's First Congressional District, as we talk about restoring not only common sense and fiscal discipline to our national government, but accountability to our Federal agencies. Mr. Speaker, a week ago, Saturday, February 24, 2007, at about three in the afternoon, not one but two tornadoes devastated the rural delta county of Desha County. The county seat is Arkansas City. It was spared. McGehee was spared for the most part. But Dumas, a town of about 5,000 people, was hit, and hit hard, as you can see from this photo provided to me by Agnes Ross at the Dumas Clarion. This is what was left of the Fred's Dollar Store. My district director's dad was in the meat locker of the grocery store, Matt Butcher, next door, which was also destroyed. In fact, Mr. Speaker, 150 homes were either destroyed or heavily damaged. Depending on whose numbers you want to rely on, somewhere between 600 and 800 workers were displaced from work, because wherever they worked was destroyed or heavily damaged. That community of Dumas and much of Desha County went without power for five days. It was bad enough that the Governor cut short his trip to the National Governor's Association meeting here in Washington and flew home, and I was privileged to join him in going to Dumas and spending the afternoon visiting folks and reassuring folks that help was on the way. It was bad enough that the Governor called out 150 members of the Arkansas National Guard. That was February 24, 2007. More than a week later, the President still has not declared Desha County a Federal disaster area and FEMA has not responded to my request to move 150 mobile homes that were purchased for Hurricane Katrina to Dumas and Desha County to be used for temporary housing while these good folks in this forgotten delta county get their lives put back together and rebuild their homes. Mr. Speaker, this is one example of the damage. Again 150 National Guard soldiers called out; 150 people's homes either destroyed or severely damaged; 600 to 800 workers temporarily displaced from their job because wherever they worked was destroyed or heavily damaged; no power for 5 days. And yet the Federal Emergency Management Agency says that this forgotten delta county, Desha County, is not worthy of a Federal disaster declaration. They want to talk about all these rules and regulations and all this bureaucratic this and bureaucratic that. You would expect that from the IRS, Mr. Speaker, you would expect that from most Federal agencies. But when I think of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, when I think of FEMA, I think of first responder. I think of one Federal agency that should be able to cut through the bureaucratic red tape and get something done. If FEMA can't do it, no Federal agency can do it, and FEMA is not. I guess what infuriates me more is a week after these two tornadoes struck Dumas and Desha County, and here is another good photo of one of the houses that was destroyed, we can't convince FEMA that that home is destroyed, but we believe it was destroyed, it is certainly uninhabitable, but what gets me is, a week ago Saturday, the tornadoes hit Dumas. The President has yet to declare it a Federal disaster area, FEMA has yet to help with temporary housing, or anything else, for that matter, and yet the following Saturday, and my heart goes out to the people in Alabama and Georgia, we were fortunate in Dumas and Desha County, we did not have a loss of life. We did have a couple of dozen injuries, some of them very serious, but the good Lord was working overtime in Dumas, Arkansas, a week ago Saturday. There is no doubt about that. People go through and tour this town and they scratch their head. How in the world did no one die? And for those who did die in those tornados that came about a week later in Georgia and Alabama, our heart goes out for those people. But it really galled me to see the director of FEMA with the President in Alabama and Georgia holding hands singing ``Kumbaya'' and talking about the new and improved FEMA. The new and improved FEMA has forgotten this delta county. And this story gets better, and is hard to believe. But you can see here, this is one of the 150 homes that is either destroyed or badly damaged. Dumas is a rural community. It is not like there are a lot of rental houses available there. People, even those with insurance, need a place to live while they get their life put back together and their homes rebuilt, which could take up to a year. And this story gets better, or a better word, this story gets more tragic. Some of you are aware of this, Mr. Speaker. When Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast in August 2005, one of the first things FEMA did was they ordered thousands of brand new, fully furnished mobile homes; not the camper trailers. We are talking brand new, fully-furnished mobile homes, 14 to 16 foot wide, 60 foot long, built-in microwaves, coffee tables, end tables, sofas, dining room sets, built-in central heat and air with the unit ready to drop out of the back. Most of them are equipped, or filled, I should say, with Ashley furniture. Hope, Arkansas, because it is the old proving grounds from World War II, and it is an old military airport and they had some inactive runways and tarmacs, well, FEMA approached the City of Hope, which is also in my district. Hope used to be known as the birthplace of President Clinton. Now we are known as the largest trailer park in the world. So FEMA entered into an agreement with the City of Hope to store these mobile homes in Hope. Not store. Actually, it was to be a FEMA staging area where they would transition through there on their way from wherever they purchased them to the gulf coast region. That was shortly after August 2005, Hurricane Katrina. They kept delivering these mobile homes to Hope. They kept bringing more and more mobile homes to Hope. This an aerial photo that I took Saturday. This is current. I took this Saturday at the Hope Airport from a small plane. This is a current aerial photo. All these white things, those are mobile homes that were purchased for Hurricane Katrina victims August 2005. And the staging area quickly became a storage area where more and more mobile homes arrived, but none of them ever left. Why? Because, at the time, FEMA said, oh, we don't place mobile homes in flood plains. Well, they knew that they don't place mobile homes in flood plains before they bought them. And guess what? Everybody that lost their home in Hurricane Katrina and needed a home lived in a floodplain. So these homes were never placed. Then President Bush was at the Democratic Caucus last month at Williamsburg, and he and I talked about this after the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Bennie Thompson, questioned him specifically about these mobile homes, and the President told me, we are saving them for future disasters. In Dumas, Arkansas, a week ago Saturday, the people were struck not by one but by two tornadoes; 150 homes destroyed or badly damaged; 600 to 800 workers out of work because wherever they worked has been destroyed or heavily damaged; 150 members of the Arkansas National Guard called out; and yet, that was a week ago Saturday, on Monday, the Governor and I toured Dumas and on Tuesday at 9 a.m. in a conference call I asked David Paulison, the Director of FEMA, to release 150 of these 8,420 mobile homes. That is how many are currently at the Hope Airport from the photo taken Saturday. There is 8,420 of these parked at the airport in Hope today. I respectfully requested 150 of these be moved to Dumas, which is only 3 hours away, to provide temporary housing for the people of Dumas and Desha County while they rebuild their homes. I am still waiting on an answer. So I called him back again Thursday. He still couldn't give me an answer. They still have not declared this forgotten delta county a Federal disaster, and they have yet to move a single one of these mobile homes. If what I saw in Dumas is not a Federal disaster, Mr. Speaker, I doubt we will ever see another Federal disaster again. And, Mr. Speaker, if they refuse to move 150 of these 8,420 mobile homes from Hope to Dumas to help folks, isn't that what FEMA is supposed to be in the business of doing? Then do you really believe any of these will ever be moved for the public good to help people? It is reprehensible; I am appalled by it. I am ashamed of our government, Mr. Speaker. This is a symbol of what is wrong with FEMA. This is a symbol of why so many people in this country have given up on their Federal Government. And the story gets better. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina and all these mobile homes showed up in Hope and they weren't moving them to the people that needed them on the gulf coast, Mr. Speaker, I spoke up and brought a photo similar to this to the House floor and I said, FEMA, if you do not move these homes to the people who need them on the gulf coast, they are going to start sinking into the cow pasture, the hay meadow, thinking that would get FEMA off high center and they would start moving them to the people that needed them. What did FEMA do? They showed up with $7 million worth of gravel to put under them. Folks, you cannot make this up; it is too unbelievable. And so if I appear frustrated this evening, I am because a week ago Monday, Governor Beebe and I toured Dumas and the Back Gate community. And in Back Gate, at least a week ago, and perhaps tonight, there were 30 people crowded in a metal building, calling it home because they have no place to live. I talked to Agnes Ross at the Dumas Clarion earlier today and she said she ran into somebody on the streets of Dumas earlier today, an elderly woman that had no place to go, no place to live, and yet 8,420 brand new, fully furnished mobile homes are sitting there at the airport in Hope, Arkansas, 3 hours from Dumas. When the Blue Dog Coalition talks about restoring accountability to our government and making Federal agencies answer for their action, or a lack of action, this is a good example. This is about as good as it gets. And, Mr. Speaker, I am not here to beat up the President or beat up the director of FEMA. I tried for a week to go through the proper channels and get this done, but for the life of me I am imploring the President and the director of FEMA, Mr. Speaker, to move just a few of those mobile homes from Hope to Dumas to help these folks, provide them temporary housing while they try to get their lives put back together and their homes rebuilt. Marion Berry, a Congressman from the First District of Arkansas, is from Gillette. He doesn't live but a few miles from Dumas. He knows these people, too. This storm affected his area, and he is very aware of what is going on and the lack of attention from FEMA. At this time I would yield to him. I want to thank him for joining me this evening to talk about trying to help the folks of Dumas and Desha County, this forgotten delta county.

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for joining me this evening and talking about the lack of accountability within the Federal Emergency Management Agency. To recount, February 24, 2007, a week ago Saturday, not one, but two tornadoes devastated the town of Dumas and the Back Gate community in Desha County. The Governor declared it a State disaster, called out 150 members of the Arkansas National Guard who were there for nearly a week. It took crews of more than a hundred working for 5 days to restore electricity to that delta county. Some 600 to 800 people remain out of work because of the damage done to their workplace. And yet here we are, a week ago Saturday in Dumas, horrible tornados. And the ironic thing is that FEMA has a staging area with 8,420 brand new fully furnished mobile homes 3 hours away, filled with Ashley furniture and built-in microwaves ready to be set up, and the mayor and the county judge, Marion Gill, the mayor of Dumas, Mark McElroy, the county judge in Desha County, they have got sites available. The zoning is cleared with city water, with water and electrical and sewer hook-ups, and yet FEMA, which is supposed to be in the business of helping people, refused to move a single one of these to the more than 150 people who lost their home, like this family right here. This is one of the 150 homes that were either totally destroyed or heavily damaged. Yes, some of these folks had insurance, but yes, we have 8,420 mobile homes 3 hours away that are not doing anybody any good sitting at the airport in a hay meadow. They were purchased to help people. There is no place to rent in Dumas. These folks in Dumas and Desha County need a place to live temporarily. We are not asking that they give these mobile homes to them. We are asking for temporary assistance. That is what FEMA is in the business of or supposed to be. Allow these folks to temporarily live in 150 of these 8,420 brand new mobile homes, filled with Ashley furniture. They are not doing anybody good in Hope. Let us get them moving, Mr. Speaker, to Dumas, Arkansas, and let these folks in Dumas who lost their homes or had their homes heavily damaged live in them temporarily while they get their life put back together and rebuild their homes. Mr. Speaker, this is not the first time we have raised this issue. Here is the timeline, talk about accountability and restoring accountability to our government: Saturday, February 24, two tornadoes devastated the communities of Dumas and Back Gate in Desha County. Monday, February 26, I surveyed the damage on the ground and in the air along with Governor Beebe and other elected officials. Governor Beebe named Desha County a State disaster area and announced his plans to request a Federal disaster declaration. Tuesday, February 27, I held a conference call with FEMA Director David Paulison, along with Senator Lincoln from Arkansas and staff for Senator Pryor. In the call, I conveyed my support of Governor Beebe and requested FEMA expedite their decision and action as well as encouraged FEMA to use 150 manufactured homes from this supply of 8,420 of them from Hope, Arkansas, just 3 hours away, for the families without shelter in Desha County. Later Tuesday, my staff talked with FEMA again regarding the status of the disaster declaration, and they expressed that they did not read the laws as we did and that they are still working with Arkansas to gather information. In other words, the bureaucracy began. Wednesday, February 28, I joined with both senators, Senator Lincoln and Senator Pryor from Arkansas in sending a letter to President Bush and FEMA Director Paulison supporting Governor Beebe's request for a Federal disaster declaration. Thursday, March 1, 2007, I again talked with FEMA Director Paulison regarding the lack of a response and movement of these mobile homes from Hope and expressed my displeasure with his office. It had been 6 days since the tornadoes and the communities were just beginning to regain electricity in parts of the town. At that point, FEMA says the reason for not declaring a disaster area is the high rate of insured homes and the fact that the State is capable of taking care of the damage. Supposedly, they told CNN, FEMA did, that the State has a surplus this year, and they do not need their help. Well, Mr. Speaker, that is the craziest thing I have ever heard of. The city and county is a very rural area. It is in the delta region. They lost half their sales tax base when a big retail store left about a year ago. They had a Fred's Dollar Store and a grocery store left, and they have been destroyed. They have, at least for a short period of time, perhaps up to a year, lost much of their tax base. At the same time, they are struggling to pay for a new county hospital and new city hospital there in Dumas, and they are not getting any help from the one agency that we thought was supposed to be there to help us in the time of need, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Friday, March 2, 2007, I again joined with Senators Lincoln and Pryor to send another letter to FEMA in support of Governor Beebe and the immediate need for mobile homes in Desha County. Saturday, March 3, during an address in Memphis, Tennessee, at the 55th Annual Mid-South Farm and Cotton Gin show, I commented on the lack of response from FEMA one week after the tornadoes. I went to Hope, and I stood in front of these 8,420 mobile homes to highlight the waste of taxpayers' money, the fact that these brand new, fully furnished manufactured homes are just 3 hours away from Dumas, yet they are not being put to good use. They are not helping the people some 3 hours away in Dumas. Then, Tuesday, March 5, 2007, that is today, I joined Senators Lincoln and Pryor in sending a letter in support of Governor Beebe's request to the U.S. Small Business Administration to request small business disaster loans be administered in Desha County to help the 25 businesses which were destroyed and the more than 800 employees who are now without a job or a place to work nearby, some 600 to 800 depending on which day it is and which businesses are able to get back up. My office hand delivered letters from me and photos I took, this photo right here. We delivered an 8x10 copy of this photo along with a letter today to President Bush, to FEMA Director Paulison, and to the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff, making one final plea to assist these folks in this forgotten delta county. Well, we have gone on long enough on this, Mr. Speaker, but I think it is important. As members of the Blue Dogs, we talk about accountability, and you cannot talk about accountability and the lack of it without talking about FEMA. Again 8,420 brand new mobile homes sitting there at the Hope airport, not doing anybody any good, and I have got 150 homes either totally destroyed or damaged like one 3 hours away. It has been more than a week. FEMA refuses to send a single mobile home to assist these folks. If they are not going to move them 3 hours away to a disaster area, Mr. Speaker, I can assure you these mobile homes will never be put to the public good. They will never go to help people if they are not going to help people 3 hours away in their time of need. I am, once again, Mr. Speaker, imploring the President and the director of FEMA and the Secretary of Homeland Security to do the right thing and to get some of these mobile homes moving to Dumas, where tonight 30 people are living in a metal building. They need our help, Mr. Speaker. That is what the Blue Dog Coalition is all about. We are about trying to restore common sense and fiscal discipline to our national government, and we are about accountability. In fact, Mr. Speaker, we have what is called the Iraq War Accountability Act, and we are going to be talking about that more this evening. Mr. Speaker, as you walk the halls of Congress, it is easy to know when you are walking by an office that belongs to a member of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. Why? Because you will see this poster. A poster reminding Members of Congress and reminding the people who walk the halls of Congress that our Nation is in debt. Today, the U.S. national debt is $8,811,969,377,773 and some change, and if you divide that by every man, woman and child in America, your share, Mr. Speaker, of the national debt is $29,245. It is time that this Nation get its fiscal house in order, and one of the ways we do that is by restoring accountability to our Federal agencies, which is what this business with FEMA is all about, trying to restore accountability and common sense and cutting through the bureaucracy and red tape to help people in their time of need. At this time, it is a pleasure for me to yield to my friend from the State of Ohio (Mr. Wilson). We are pleased to have Mr. Wilson as a new Member of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, and at this time, I recognize Mr. Wilson.

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Wilson), an important member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, for sharing your thoughts with us this evening as we try to, Mr. Speaker, talk about the need to restore fiscal discipline and accountability to our government. You gave a good example of putting an end to the debt and the deficit spending, and we have had examples this evening about restoring accountability to government, and the accountability and lack of it within FEMA. We are going to hear about other areas where we need to restore accountability within our Federal Government this evening, and we will talk some about the Blue Dog Coalition's Iraq War Accountability Act. We support our troops. In fact, we support them so much we want to make sure this $12 million an hour that is being sent to Iraq of your hardearned tax money, Mr. Speaker, is going to support our men and women in uniform. Unfortunately, as we have learned, much of it is not, and that is why we have this legislation, H.R. 97, the Iraq War Accountability Act. Mr. Speaker, if you have got any comments, questions or concerns for us, you can e-mail us at bluedog@mail.house.gov. That is bluedog@mail.house.gov. At this time, Mr. Speaker, I yield to another member of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa).

Mr. ROSS. An important member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of fiscally conservative Democrats who spends many a Tuesday night here on the floor with me talking about the need to restore common sense and fiscal discipline to our Federal Government. Why? Because today the U.S. national debt is $8,811,969,377,773 and some change. For every man, woman and child in America, their share, our share of the national debt is $29,245. It is what those of us in the Blue Dog Coalition have coined as the debt tax, d-e-b-t, and that is one tax that cannot go awayand cannot be cut until our Nation gets its fiscal House in order. Why is this important? Our Nation is borrowing nearly $1 billion a day. In addition to billing $1 billion a day, we are spending about half a billion every day paying interest on the debt we already got before it goes up another $1 billion today, a half a billion dollars a day. What could we do with that? Just in my district alone, give me three days' interest on the national debt, and I could complete I-49 across the western side of Arkansas. Give me another three days' interest on the national debt, and I could complete I-69 through the delta region of south Arkansas, two important interstate road projects that could help create economic opportunities and lift up one of the poorest regions in our country. Yet these priorities continue to go unmet. Why? Because of a lack of fiscal discipline, because too much of your hard-earned tax money is going to pay interest, not principal, but just interest on the national debt. Year after year, it is hard now to believe, but from 1998 to 2001, we had a balanced budget in this country and a surplus, the first time either a Democrat or a Republican had given us that, in about 40 years. Yet, we have squandered that, this administration and this Republican Congress, for the past 6 years, year after year, have given us the largest deficit ever in our Nation's history and the largest debt ever in our Nation's history. In fact, to put it in perspective, the total national debt from 1789 to 2000 was $5.67 trillion. But for 2010, the total national debt will have increased to nearly $11 trillion. That is a doubling of the 211- year debt in just 10 years. Interest payments on this debt are one of the fastest-growing parts of the Federal budget, the debt tax we call it, d-e-b-t; and it is one tax that cannot be repealed. Our Nation is spending more money paying interest on national debt than we are educating our children. If that is not wrong, I don't know what is. It is morally wrong. Well, you could see the current national debt is at an all-time high. Why do deficits matter? Because they do reduce economic growth. They burden our children and grandchildren with liabilities. They increase our reliance on foreign lenders who now own 40 percent of our debt. Mr. Speaker, this administration in the past 6 years has borrowed more money from foreign central banks and foreign investors than the previous 42 Presidents combined. Mr. Speaker, you might be surprised at who they are. It is kind of like David Letterman and his Top 10 list. Here is the Top 10 list of people that we have gone out and borrowed money from in the last 6 years. The United States of America goes out to other countries and borrows money to fund tax cuts in this country for folks earning over $400,000 a year. Here is the Top 10, we have borrowed, the United States of America has borrowed, $637.4 billion from Japan; China, $346.5 billion; the United Kingdom, $223.5 billion. You will love this one, OPEC, the United States of America has borrowed $97.1 billion from OPEC; Korea, $67.7 billion; Taiwan, $63.2 billion; the Caribbean Banking Centers, $63.6 billion; Hong Kong, $51 billion; Germany, $52.1 billion. Rounding out the Top 10 countries, where the United States of America has gone and borrowed money from foreign central banks and foreign lenders, you will not believe this one, Mexico. The United States of America has borrowed $38.2 billion from Mexico to fund tax cuts in this country for people who earn over $400,000 a year. We are trying to fix this, and in this new Democratic majority, I am proud to tell you that not in the first 100 hours, but the first 24 hours, the new Democratic leadership listened to the 43-member strong fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition and reinstituted what is known as the PAYGO rules, which means pay-as-you-go. Those were the rules that were in place on this House floor from 1998 through 2001 when President Clinton gave this Nation its last balanced budget. Some Republicans will have you believe, oh, that means they want to raise taxes to fund a program. Not so. That means that we think you should review programs and find programs that don't work and cut them to pay for new programs. Pay-as-you-go does not mean raise taxes to fund a new program. It means restore accountability to our government, no more rubber-stamp Congress. It means we are going to demand accountability from our Federal agencies; and when programs don't work, and when agencies don't know how to administer them, we are going to cut them and use that money to fund other programs that can work. Well, we have talked a lot this evening about accountability, and I am real proud to be joined by one of the authors of our Iraq War Accountability Act. We support our troops. In fact, the gentleman here with me tonight, from Pennsylvania, Mr. Murphy, is an Iraqi war veteran. My brother-in-law is serving tonight in the Middle East. We support our troops, but we also want to make sure that this $12 million an hour of your tax money that is being sent to Iraq is accounted for, and that it is being spent on our troops to protect them so they can return home safely. For the remaining 5 or 10 minutes we have got this evening, I recognize the gentleman from Pennsylvania, a new member but an important member of the Blue Dog Coalition, Mr. Murphy.

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his work in helping write the Iraq War Accountability Act, which calls for transparency on how Iraq war funds are spent. It creates a Truman-like commission to investigate the awarding of contracts, the need to fund the Iraq war through the normal appropriations process and not the so- called emergency supplementals that hide the funding, and using American resources to improve Iraqi assumption of internal policing operations. Another example of how the Blue Dogs are leading the way, Mr. Speaker, in trying to restore accountability to our government here at home as well as in Iraq. And in closing, Mr. Speaker, as I began this Special Order this evening, I talked about the terrible tornados that devastated Dumas and Desha Counties in my district, and I enter into the Record two letters addressed to the President, one February 28 and one March 5, 2007. Congress of the United States, Washington, DC, February 28, 2007. Hon. George W. Bush, The White House, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. President: We are writing to support Governor Mike Beebe's request for a Presidential declaration of major disaster for Desha County in Arkansas. Currently, the State of Arkansas and local communities are beginning the process of recovering from the heavy rains, high winds, and tornadoes that touched down in Arkansas on Saturday, February 23rd. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 501(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, we ask that the State of Arkansas receive a federal disaster designation for the damage assessed in Desha County. As you are probably aware, we represent a predominantly rural state where municipal governments are often ill- equipped to respond to disasters of this magnitude. We have no doubt that all available resources at the state and local level are being used, but federal assistance will be needed to help the affected communities recover. We would also like to specifically request that Desha County be approved for the FEMA Individuals & Households Program (IHP) to include Temporary Housing and assistance with Mobile Homes and Travel Trailers, Small Business Administration disaster loans, and Direct Federal Assistance. The availability of rental property is restricted with the closest jurisdiction being approximately 45 miles. As you know, many of the manufactured homes and travel trailers purchased by FEMA for use in the Hurricane Katrina disaster are currently sitting unused in Hope, Arkansas. It is our belief that these manufactured homes and travel trailers should be made available to those Arkansans left homeless by Saturday's storms. The inability of FEMA to find a permanent home for these manufactured homes and travel trailers in areas affected by Katrina has been a source of frustration for the Arkansas delegation and our constituents. However, their close proximity to the disaster in our state provides a perfect opportunity to put some of them to a good use. Mr. President, we respectfully request your swift consideration and approval of this request. If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, Blanche L. Lincoln. Mark Pryor. Mike Ross.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, September 11, 2001, was a day I will never forget. From my office window I saw the smoke rise from the Pentagon shortly before my staff, several constituents and I were evacuated. A few hours later, I would learn that a young naval petty officer from my district named Nahamon Lyons was among the casualties in that attack on the Pentagon. Picking up the phone and calling his mom, Mrs. Jewel Lyons, back in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was one of the most difficult calls I have ever had to make. There was no one who wants to put an end to terrorism more than I do. That is why I supported our President when he chose to send U.S. military forces to Afghanistan to go after those who attacked our Nation on 9/11. I met with the President at his invitation in the White House on September 26, 2002, to hear his case for a preemptive strike in Iraq. I kept my notes from that important meeting, and this is what the President told us. He said that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction; he said that Saddam Hussein trains terrorists on weapons of mass destruction; and he said that if military force is used it will be fierce, swift and tough. We now know that none of that information was accurate. I do not know whether the President intentionally misled our Nation or received bad intelligence. Perhaps we will never know, but regardless, both possibilities trouble me. Had I known that the information the President shared with me on September 26, 2002, was not accurate, I would have never given him the authority to use force in Iraq. At worst, the President misled us, and at best, our intelligence failed us. There is not a more difficult decision Members of Congress must make than whether to send our brave men and women in uniform into harm's way. And when we are asked to make those decisions, we must know that our intelligence is correct. We have all been personally touched by this war. I have a brother-in- law in the United States Air Force who is currently serving in the Middle East. My first cousin was in Iraq when his wife gave birth to their first child. I have also traveled to Walter Reed Medical Center and met with countless soldiers who have suffered life-altering injuries in combat, many from my home State of Arkansas. The most recent was a U.S. Marine, Staff Sergeant Marcus Wilson of Dermott, Arkansas, who recently lost his leg in Iraq. And I have visited with too many families of soldiers who are not coming home. On August 11, 2004, I visited Iraq when the 39th Infantry Brigade of Arkansas had over 3,000 soldiers stationed there, and if the President gets his way with this escalation of the war, they will be back in Iraq by early next year. Let me be clear on one very important point. I strongly believe that as long as we have troops in harm's way we must support them. I also want to see to it that our government keeps its promises to our military veterans. When we invaded Iraq, the President said we were doing so with the intent of removing the evil regime of Saddam Hussein from power and to find and eliminate his weapons of mass destruction. We have since learned that there were no weapons of mass destruction, and not only has Saddam's evil regime come to an end, but he has now been put to death. So I ask, why are we still there? We now find ourselves spending nearly $9 billion a month to try and force our way of life on a people who live a long way from Arkansas. Had I known then what I know now, I would never have voted to give the President authority to use force in Iraq and, instead, would have directed the full strength of our military to Afghanistan to go after Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, those who actually attacked our Nation on 9/11. It is my duty as a U.S. Congressman to demand accountability from this administration, accountability for the decisions that are being made in Iraq, accountability for how these decisions are carried out, and accountability for how our hardworking taxpayers money is being spent. Sending 21,000 new troops into Iraq is not a new direction. It is simply an escalation of the war. I am not advocating that we leave Iraq tonight, but we must begin to accelerate the training of the Iraqi Army and police force and replace American soldiers on the front lines of this war with Iraqis. I rise this evening in support of this resolution to stop the escalation of this war. We can no longer tolerate more of the same, and we must demand from this President, our Commander in Chief, a new strategy and a new direction in Iraq. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, this afternoon, I rise on behalf of the 44- member-strong, fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, as we demand from this Government fiscal accountability as well as fiscal responsibility. Mr. Speaker, as you walk the halls of Congress, it is easy to know when you are walking by the door of a fellow fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition member, because you will see this poster as a welcome mat to his or her office to remind Members of Congress, to remind you, Mr. Speaker, to remind me, and to remind the American people and all of those who walk the halls of Congress, that the U.S. national debt today is $8,696,414,214,377.65. For every man, woman and child in America, their share, our share, my share of the national debt is $28,900.92. That is a big number. A lot of people think, well, it really does not matter what the debt is, our Government can simply print more money. I wish it was that simple. Our Nation today is spending the first half a billion dollars it collects in taxes not to improve veterans' health care, to protect our troops, to build roads, to fund health care, to protect Social Security and Medicare, to ensure the 47 million folks without health insurance have access to it. No. The first half a billion dollars that we collect every day in taxes from the hard-working people in this country go to simply pay interest, not principal but interest, on this number, the national debt. And those which should be America's priorities will continue to go unmet until we get our Nation's fiscal house in order. This is something that affects every man, woman and child in America. We have a plan, a 12-point plan for budget reform to ensure that we can live within our means, that we can pay down this debt and restore fiscal discipline and common sense to our Government. One of those 12 points, by the way, Mr. Speaker, is what we referred to as PAYGO rules, which means pay as you go. And I am real proud that the leadership under this Democratic Caucus in the first 24 hours, not 100 hours, but the first 24 hours, the Democratic leadership reinstituted PAYGO rules on the floor of the House. Which means, quite simply, if you want to fund a new program, you got to show us where the money is coming from. Now the Republicans tend to think that that means that to fund new programs you raise taxes. I find it quite interesting that the Republicans think that PAYGO, pay as you go, means raise taxes to pay for new spending. It does not mean that. It means cut programs. It means make the tough choices to put an end to the waste in Government. I got some 8,000 brand new, fully furnished mobile homes sitting at the airport in Hope, Arkansas, that were destined for Hurricane Katrina storm victims but never reached them. That is $400 million right there. We are not talking about raising taxes to pay for a new program. But I can tell you what we are talking about, Mr. Speaker. We are talking about putting an end to the days of the Republican leadership borrowing money from China to fund a new program creating this large number, making it go up daily. It is still going up nearly a billion dollars a day under the Republican budget that was approved last year. No more of that, Mr. Speaker. No more borrowing money from China to build a rain forest in Iowa. We are demanding that you show us how you pay for your projects and your programs. We are going to restore fiscal discipline and accountability to our Government. This week, the President came out with his budget; and we will be visiting more about the President's budget during this hour. But another thing that the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition is doing is we have gotten together and we have written and endorsed what is referred to as House Resolution 97. And House Resolution 97, we have 39 cosponsors. It is providing for Operation Iraq Freedom cost accountability. Put quite simply, we are demanding accountability on how your tax money, Mr. Speaker, and the tax money of the hard-working people of this country is being spent in Iraq. You ask 100 different people what they think about this Iraq policy, you will get about 100 different answers. You will find some Members of the Blue Dog Coalition that are for the surge, some are against. I am against the surge. I think the American people want us to go in a different direction in Iraq. But one of the things that unites us as a coalition and the things that we have endorsed and that we have written and we are trying to put in place is House Resolution 97, which has four crucial points that demand fiscal responsibility in Iraq. Point number one, a call for transparency on how Iraq war funds are spent. The American people are sending some $9 billion a month to Iraq. That is about $12 million an hour. And the American people in this country that work hard and pay taxes deserve to know how their money is being spent in Iraq. Number two is the creation of a Truman Commission to investigate the awarding of contracts. It is time, Mr. Speaker, to put an end to war profiteering in Iraq. Number three, a need to fund the Iraq war through the normal appropriations process. Play by the rules. No more of this so-called emergency supplemental appropriations to hide from the American people the true cost of the war. Finally, number four, use American resources. This is America. We are the leader of the free world, and we should be using our resources to improve Iraqi assumption of internal policing operations. In other words, it is time for the Iraqi people to step up to the plate and buy into this and take more responsibility and accountability. I am joined this hour by a number of my Blue Dog colleagues, Mr. Speaker. At this time, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Chandler).

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Kentucky for his valued insight into H.R. 97, which is the Blue Dog-endorsed House resolution to demand accountability and fiscal responsibility in how tax money is being spent in Iraq, some $9 billion a month; put another way, some $12 million an hour. Let me be clear that as members of the Blue Dog Coalition, we support our troops 110, 120, 130 percent. We can't do enough for our troops. And as long as we have troops in harm's way, we are going to be there to ensure they have what they need to get the job done and to get it done as safely as possible, and hopefully get on back home to their families. This has impacted every family in America in one way or another. My brother-in-law is in Kyrgyzstan now, which is the entry point for Afghanistan, just as Kuwait is oftentimes the entry point for Iraq. My first cousin was in Iraq when his wife gave birth to their first child. Before coming down here today, I visited with a Ms. Watson in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, whose son, and she is so very proud of him and I am too, Lt. Colonel Watson, continues to serve us today in Baghdad. We thank him. We thank all soldiers for their dedicated service to our country. This is about accountability. This is about having responsibility and oversight on how our tax money is being spent in Iraq. Not only that, but this hour is dedicated to talking about this new Bush budget that was delivered to Capitol Hill yesterday. Thank goodness that, as Members of Congress, we get a vote on this budget, that we can ensure that funding is there for education and for our veterans. And, yes, we are creating a new generation of veterans in Afghanistan and Iraq today. And we have got to be there for them. I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee, a former cochair of the Blue Dogs for policy, Mr. Cooper.

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cooper) for his valued input and insight into this budget process. The President has done the annual ceremoniously bringing of the budget, if you will, to Capitol Hill. And, in fact, Mr. Speaker, here is a copy of it. This is the budget of the United States Government for Fiscal Year 2008 from the Office of Management and Budget. And it is quite a lengthy document. But if you read over it, you will learn that the budget submitted this week continues the same policies that helped create the fiscal mess now facing our government. While the administration's budget claims to reach balance in 2012, unfortunately, this budget is in deficit every year under realistic Bush policy assumptions. The budget continues to make the wrong choices for the American people. It proposes substantial cuts to programs that benefits seniors, working families and children, all to help pay for an extensive tax cut for folks earning over $400,000 a year. It is about priorities, Mr. Speaker; and the priorities found in this budget, this budget as delivered this week by President Bush, are misplaced. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott).

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Georgia, a very active member of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, Mr. Scott. I hope he will stay for the remainder of this hour as we discuss the President's budget for fiscal year 2008, as well as the Blue Dog Coalition-endorsed House Resolution 97 to demand accountability on how the hardworking people of this country's tax money is being spent in Iraq. Mr. Speaker, in the 6 years of the Bush Administration, the government has posted the highest deficits in the Nation's history. The administration has squandered the budget surplus it inherited, transforming a $5.6 trillion projected 10-year surplus into a deficit of some $2.9 trillion over the same period, a swing of $8.4 trillion, based on realistic estimates of the cost of the President's policies. The President's new budget calls for a deficit of $244 billion for 2007, and $239 billion for 2008, marking 6 years in a row of deficits of more than $200 billion. This budget that the President delivered to Capitol Hill this week includes $244 billion worth of hot checks for fiscal year 2008 and $239 billion worth of hot checks for fiscal year 2009. Unbelievable, Mr. Speaker. That means that this Nation will continue to borrow about a half a billion dollars a day every day, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Every day, under the Bush budget, we will borrow over a half a billion dollars, and that is before we spend a half a billion dollars each day paying interest on the debt we have already got. America's priorities will continue to go unmet until we get our Nation's fiscal house in order. Meanwhile, this budget continues to climb the climb of decline of our Nation's debt, which has already grown by $3 trillion during this administration. Put another way, this President, this administration has borrowed more money from foreign lenders, foreign central banks than the previous 42 Presidents combined. In fact, we had only borrowed $623.3 billion in foreign holdings in 1993. Today, foreign lenders currently hold a total of about $2.199 trillion of our public debt. I was with the President at a meeting Saturday morning. The gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner) asked him about whether he believed borrowing so much money from foreign central banks and foreign investors was a security threat to our country. His response was that he didn't know how much money we had borrowed from foreigners. So, Mr. Speaker, I hope the President is listening to us today, because, Mr. Speaker, I want to share with you, Mr. Speaker, what I refer to as the top 10 list. This is the top 10 list of the 10 countries that we have borrowed the most money from: Japan, $637.4 billion; China, $346.5 billion; the United Kingdom, $223.5 billion. Can I go back to China for a moment? You know, we don't do business with Cuba because they are Communist, and yet we do business with Communist China out of a spirit of international relations. And while we are all focused on the Middle East and what is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, Cuba has hired China to drill for oil on their behalf 55 miles from Key West, Florida, when the United States does not allow drilling within 100 miles of Key West. Can you imagine that? And yet we have borrowed $346.5 billion from China to give folks who live in this country who earn over $400,000 a year a tax cut and to leave our children and our grandchildren with the bill. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Georgia. Point well taken. Thanks for sharing that with us. Let me just round out the top 10 current lenders. These are the countries the United States of America is borrowing money from in order to provide tax cuts for folks in this country earning over $400,000 a year. That is in the President's budget. That is what he is proposing to do. Here is what he has done already. In the past 6 years, our Nation has borrowed more money from foreigners than the previous 42 Presidents combined. Again, Japan $637.4 billion; China, $346.5 billion; the United Kingdom, $223.5 billion. OPEC. And we wonder why gas was approaching 3 bucks a gallon in August. Our Nation has borrowed $97.1 billion from OPEC to give folks who live in this country a $400,000 tax cut. That is exactly what the President is proposing to continue. Mr. Speaker, I dare say that in this new Democratic majority, we will stop that. Korea, $67.7 billion. Taiwan, $63.2 billion. If China decides to invade Taiwan, the gentleman from Tennessee, Mr. Tanner, has made this point before, our country and our fiscal house is in such a mess that if China decides to invade Taiwan, we will have to borrow more money from China to be able to afford to go assist and defend Taiwan. The Caribbean banking center, $63.6 billion. Hong Kong, $51 billion. Germany, $52.1 billion. A lot of discussion about our border, and I believe we must secure our border, but are you ready for this: the United States of America has borrowed $38.2 billion from Mexico in the past 6 years to fund tax cuts for people who live here earning over $400,000 a year, leaving our children and grandchildren with the bill, which is the very reason why our Nation today is in debt $8,696,414,214,377. That is a big number. How do you explain it? If you divide it by everybody that lives in America, some 300 million of us, every one of us owes $28,900. I don't know about you, Mr. Speaker, but I can't afford to write a check for $28,900 to the government. It is what we call the debt tax, D-E-B-T, and it is one tax that can't go away until we get our fiscal house in order and begin to meet America's priorities again. Today, the money is going to pay interest on the debt, and it is going to borrow more money to fund the war that is costing us $9 billion a month, again, a big number, break it down, $12 million an hour. $12 million an hour. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Wilson).

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Ohio for joining us during this Special Order to discuss the President's budget, which has been delivered to Congress this week, as well as to talk about the War Accountability Act, House Resolution 97, to demand transparency, accountability and just good government, Mr. Speaker, in how we are spending the hardworking people of this country's tax money in Iraq. There are a lot of misplaced priorities in this enormous budget. Here is the top ten list: Number one, it includes tax increases for middle-class families. Number two, it has cuts in it to health care and to seniors. Number three, while it is very cold outside right now, while much of the country is frozen, if you will, Mr. Speaker, it cuts home energy assistance for those who need help the most with finding the money to afford to heat their home in the winter months. After 5 years following 9/11, it has devastating cuts to police and firefighters. In direct opposition to the wishes of the people of this country, here it comes again, it has a plan to privatize Social Security. The President's budget includes cuts to veterans health care. At a time when we are creating a new generation of veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan, the President's budget includes cuts to our veterans. We need to ensure that our veterans receive the health care they so desperately need. I don't know about you, Mr. Speaker, but I get letter after letter and call after call from veterans who have to wait in line weeks and months at a time to be able to see a doctor. That is not the kind of health care we promised America's veterans. We should honor them by properly caring for them. It includes cuts to education and cuts to housing assistance. And with Iraq veterans returning with devastating injuries, it includes cuts to the brain trauma research that is so desperately needed by many of these returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush's budget says a lot, but it does very little. It is filled with misplaced priorities. I will challenge you, Mr. Speaker, to read it for yourself, make your own decision. As members of the Blue Dog Coalition, we are not here to beat up the President. He can't even run again. We are here to reach out across that aisle and work with him and work with the Republican Members of Congress, because the American people have sent a message very loud and clear, they want us to work together. That is what the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition is all about. We want to work in a bipartisan manner to put this Nation on a track toward a balanced budget, to pay down the debt, and to restore some fiscal discipline and common sense to our Nation's government. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee, Mr. Lincoln Davis. (Mr. LINCOLN DAVIS of Tennessee asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Tennessee, an active member of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. And the gentleman is exactly right. As members of the Blue Dog Coalition, we are sick and tired of all the partisan bickering that goes on in Washington. As members of the Blue Dog Coalition, we don't care if it is a Democratic idea or a Republican idea. All we care about is, is it a commonsense idea, and does it make sense for the people who sent us here to be their voice? That is really what the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition is all about: restoring fiscal discipline, accountability and common sense to our government. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott).

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Georgia. Mr. Speaker, if you have any comments or questions or concerns, you can e-mail us at BlueDog@mail.house.gov. I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of my friend Daniel Gathright, who passed away January 25, 2007, in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Dan Gathright was a pillar of the community of Arkadelphia and of Southern Arkansas for decades. While attending school at Southern State College, now known as Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Dan worked as a dispatcher at the Magnolia Police Department. Upon graduating, he worked at Washington Regional Hospital in Fayetteville before being named Assistant Administrator at Crittenden Memorial Hospital in West Memphis. In 1979, Dan moved to Arkadelphia and joined the Baptist Medical System where he served as Administrator of Twin Rivers Medical Center. He was later named Administrator and Senior Vice President of Baptist Health where he served until his death. Dan Gathright was a member of the First Baptist Church of Arkadelphia, the Arkadelphia Rotary, the Clark County American Red Cross and a Board Member of the Arkadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Dan also served as President of the Clark County United Way and the Arkadelphia Band Boosters. His dedication to making Arkadelphia a better place to live could not have been greater. I am glad our paths crossed and I had the honor of knowing and working with Dan on health care issues. My deepest condolences go to his wife, Shayron Looney Gathright of Warren; his son Michael Gathright of Frisco, Texas; his father, Archie Gathright of Magnolia; his sister Maretta Bullock of McNeil; and to his 2 grandchildren. Dan Gathright will be greatly missed in Arkadelphia and throughout the State of Arkansas.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of my friend Nathan Barrett, who passed away January 25, 2007, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Nathan Barrett was a pillar of the community of Warren and Bradley County for decades. After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Nathan returned to Warren where he was the owner and operator of Barrett-Pirtle Pharmacy since 1960. In 1964, Nathan received the A.H. Robins Bowl of Hygeia Award, one of the most prestigious professional pharmacy honors in Arkansas. In 2005, Nathan was honored by the Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy for 50 years of service as a certified pharmacist. Nathan was a member of the First Baptist Church of Warren where he served as Deacon, Sunday School Director and member of the choir. Nathan was also a member of the Warren Rotary Club, past President of the Bradley County Chamber of Commerce, an Eagle Scout and a member of Order of the Arrow in the Boy Scouts of America. His dedication to making Warren and South Arkansas a better place to live could not have been greater. I am glad our paths crossed and that I had the honor of knowing Nathan and calling him my friend. My deepest condolences go to his wife, Mary King Barrett of Warren; his two daughters, Edie Coleman of Ft. Worth, Texas, and Laurie Moore of Ruston, Louisiana; his sister, Peggy Barrett of Greenbriar; and to his 4 grandchildren. Nathan Barrett will be greatly missed in Warren and throughout the state of Arkansas.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, this afternoon I rise on behalf of the 44- member strong fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. Mr. Speaker, as you walk the Halls of Congress, you will notice these Blue Dog Coalition posters along the hallways which signify that you are walking by the door to an office of a fellow Blue Dog Member. And the reason you will find these posters scattered across the Cannon, Longworth and Rayburn House Office Buildings is because we are committed to restoring common sense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government. And it is important to us, Mr. Speaker, that we remind every Member of Congress, as well as the general public that walk these Halls, that our Nation is in debt. In fact, the U.S. national debt, as of today, is $8,721,415,192,294. And we ran out of room on the poster, Mr. Speaker, but 43 cents. Our national debt, $8,721,415,192,294.43. That is a big number. What does it mean? Well, Mr. Speaker, I will tell you what it means. For every man, woman and child living in America, including those children being born today, their share of the national debt is $29,093.20. It is what we refer to as the debt tax, D-E-B-T. That is one tax that cannot be cut, that cannot go away until we get our Nation's fiscal house in order. Why is it important? Because our Nation is borrowing about $1 billion a day. But, Mr. Speaker, before we borrow $1 billion a day, we are going to spend a half a billion dollars paying interest on the debt we have already got. And many of America's priorities in the area of education, veterans benefits, health care, roads, many of America's priorities continue to go unmet and they will until we get our Nation's fiscal house in order. As members of the Blue Dog Coalition, which is just another name for fiscally conservative Democrats, we are concerned about this. But, Mr. Speaker, our concerns do not end with the debt and the deficit. We are also concerned about accountability, and this Democratic Congress is going to restore accountability to this Chamber, to this administration, and, yes, to the Government of the United States of America. The Constitution clearly gives Congress, not only the power and the authority, but it is our constitutional duty to provide oversight of this administration. And yet this Republican Congress that we have had for the past 6 years has been nothing more than a rubber stamp for President Bush and his administration. It is time that Congress did its job. It is time that Congress put the rubber stamp in the drawer and pull out the Constitution and read it and understand that we have a duty, a constitutional duty, to provide oversight to this administration and to this government. We are going to do that. And we are doing it in many areas, including providing for accountability for how the hardworking people of this country's tax money is being spent in places like Iraq. Mr. Speaker, you ask a hundred different people what they think about this Iraq war policy, you will get about a hundred different answers. And by the way, very few or none of them are going to agree with the direction that President Bush is currently going. If you ask fellow Blue Dog members, you will get different answers as well. I, personally, am opposed to the surge. Others may not be. That is something that we believe each Member must make a decision on and speak from their heart and represent their constituency. But one of the things that we are united on as Blue Dog members is restoring accountability for how this money is being spent in Iraq. Mr. Speaker, I want to show here a couple of numbers that are very important. One is the cost of the Iraq war. They spent $2.5 billion pre-invasion in 2001 and 2002. In 2003, $51 billion was spent. In 2004, $77.3 billion was spent. In 2005, $87.3 billion was spent. In 2006, $100.4 billion. 2007, to date, we are getting ready to vote on another supplemental appropriation bill for the war, but to date, $60 billion. That puts the total cost to the taxpayers of America at nearly $400 billion, $378.5 billion. Now, what does that mean? That is a lot of money. How do you break it out? The total cost for 2006 alone, $100.4 billion. That is $8.44 billion per month of your tax money, Mr. Speaker, going to Iraq. Another way of putting it, $275 million a day, or about 11 or $12 million per hour. And yet there has been a lack of accountability on how your tax money is being accounted for and how it is being spent in Iraq. So we, Mr. Speaker, have what is called House Resolution 97 that we have filed as members of the Blue Dog Coalition. And it is a resolution to provide for Operation Iraqi Freedom cost accountability. And let me just get to the meat of it. Basically, the resolution says this: that within 30 days after the adoption of this resolution, and every 90 days thereafter, the Department of Defense Inspector General and the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction shall prepare and transmit to Congress an unclassified report with a classified annex, if necessary, that would contain, one, a detailed accounting of how military and reconstruction funds in Iraq have been spent thus far; two, a detailed accounting of the types and terms of contracts awarded on behalf of the United States, including the methods by which such contracts were awarded and contractors selected; three, a description of efforts to obtain support and assistance from other countries toward the rehabilitation of Iraq; and, four, an assessment of what additional funds is needed to complete military operations and reconstruction efforts in Iraq, including a plan for security of Iraq, a detailed plan for how any future funds will be spent and a statement of how those funds will advance the interests of the United States and Iraq. If either Inspector General fails to submit a quarterly report, the Government Accountability Office shall conduct an audit and report to Congress. Sanctions shall be imposed against contractors who have engaged in fraud or abuse or war profiteering. Congress should create a Truman-like committee to conduct an ongoing study and investigation of the awarding and carrying out of contracts by the United States to conduct activities with regard to Operation Iraqi Freedom and make such recommendations to the House as the Select Committee deems appropriate. Funding requests for Operation Iraqi Freedom in fiscal year 2008 and beyond must come through the regular appropriations process and not be hidden through these so-called emergency supplementals. In furtherance of the partnership that is critical to success in Operation Iraqi Freedom, the administration should firmly condition further American financial, military and political resources upon steady improvement in Iraq, assumption of principal responsibility for internally policing Iraq. In other words, Mr. Speaker, this resolution says that it is time for this administration to be accountable for how the hardworking people of this country's tax money is being spent in Iraq, no more rubber stamps for this administration. We will fulfill our constitutional duty of providing oversight. And it also says, Mr. Speaker, that the President should do all he can to get Iraq to take responsibility for their own actions and to take the lead on trying to restore order to that country. And it also says that this administration must be held accountable for how your tax money is being spent, that there should be transparency to the process, and full disclosure of who is getting paid to do what in Iraq when it comes to private contractors, and to make sure that this war profiteering in Iraq by private contractors comes to an end. That is basically what the resolution says. Mr. Speaker, every one of us in the Blue Dog Coalition, and I think every one of us in this Congress, Democrat and Republican alike, supports our troops. We can't do enough for our troops. And I can tell you, as far as I am concerned, as long as we have men and women in uniform in harm's way, I am going to do my part to ensure that we provide them the resources they need to get the job done as safely as possible. But it is also important that this Congress fulfill its constitutional oversight responsibility and demand that this administration be accountable for how your tax money, some $275 million a day, is being spent in Iraq. And there are reports that indicate that at least 20 percent of the money going to Iraq cannot be accounted for. Think what we could do to provide health care benefits, housing benefits and other benefits for our veterans. And in Iraq and Afghanistan we have got a new generation of veterans coming home, and we have got to be there for them as a country. We cannot do enough for our men and women in uniform. We cannot do enough for our veterans. We have got to be there for them. We have also got to be sure that this money, some $100.4 billion in 2006 that this administration is sending to Iraq, is accounted for and that it is being spent in support of our soldiers and that we have the resources to take care and to honor our veterans, including a new generation of veterans coming home today from Iraq and Afghanistan. A number of fellow Blue Dog members will be joining me this evening as we talk about providing for Operation Iraqi Freedom cost accountability. And one of those who has joined me is a fellow Blue Dog member, someone that is very active in the Blue Dogs, was a member of our nominating committee for officers earlier this year, and that is the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Chandler). And I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky.

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Kentucky, former State auditor, former State attorney general for his leadership within the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, and someone who played an important role in helping us draft this resolution, House Resolution 97. And I certainly thank him for helping sponsor this resolution that, hopefully, we will get through the House to demand accountability, fiscal responsibility and accountability for how this administration spends billions of tax money, Mr. Speaker, in a place a long way from Arkansas and a long way from America, and that is in Iraq. And I couldn't help but think when the gentleman from Kentucky was talking about accountability, I think it is important to note that Congress has appropriated over $25 billion to various departments and agencies for reconstruction projects that are intended to improve the lives and living standards of the Iraqi people, and, yes, to endear them to our way of life; and yet we find that only half the projects have been completed. For example, the Special Inspector General for Iraq reconstruction reported that funds allocated for health care projects, health care projects, are more than 65 percent expended--that is, the funds--but fewer than 36 percent of the projects have been completed. Funds were allocated for construction of 142 primary health care clinics and only 20 were completed. Likewise, the Inspector General reported that a contract was made to construct 20 rehabilitation hospitals, and only 12 were completed. A New York Times report found that thousands of weapons intended for Iraqi forces, the good guys in Iraq, our allies in Iraq, are missing. This study investigated 19, count them, 19 contracts that totaled $133 million for more than 370,000 weapons. No one knows where these weapons are. Three hundred seventy thousand weapons in Iraq, bought with U.S. tax money, are missing, and no one can account for them. We need accountability in Iraq.

Mr. ROSS. Because this Republican Congress for the past 6 years did not fulfill its constitutional duty of providing oversight of this administration and the Department of Defense. There was no oversight. It was rubber stamp after rubber stamp, and more money after more money, and no accountability.

Mr. ROSS. The gentleman is right. It shouldn't matter if it is a Democratic Congress or a Republican Congress, the American people are sick and tired of all the partisan bickering. What the American people want is for us to provide leadership and accountability on how their tax money is being spent. And I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that as members of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, we are going to do our part to hold this administration accountable to find out where in the world this $133 million of your tax money, Mr. Speaker, that went to purchase 370,000 weapons, what happened to them. It doesn't matter if there is a Democratic President or a Republican President, the gentleman from Kentucky is absolutely right, what matters is being accountable and being good stewards of the tax money of the people of this country. I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky.