Louise Slaughter

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 438 provides for consideration of the Senate amendment to H.R. 2206, making emergency supplemental appropriations and additional supplemental appropriations for agricultural and other emergency assistance for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007, and for other purposes. Mr. Speaker, when my fellow Members of Congress and I speak and debate and cast our votes on this floor, we seek to reconcile our ideals with what is possible to achieve. We seek to do what is right in principle and necessary at any particular point in time, and pray that the two are one and the same. That struggle has formed the foundation of the fight Democrats have waged since January, and it is the basis of what we are doing today. This war was not challenged by the last Congress. It was supported by the last Congress. It was defended by the last Congress. Year after year, the Republican-led House kept this war alive. But the public rightly lost faith in the war and those who would support it unquestionably. We all know what the result was. The first opportunity the new majority had to change course in Iraq came with the first version of this bill. That legislation conditioned any future support for the conflict upon proof that our efforts were bearing some fruit. What is more, it would have ended the war by August 2008 at the very latest. Democrats, and some Republicans, united, and that bill was passed by the House. Democrats in the Senate agreed, and the conference report that was sent to the President was even stronger. The same benchmarks were in place, but the war was to end 6 months sooner, by March of next year. Our position was clear and unequivocal. For the first time since 2003, a majority of the United States Congress supported a new direction in Iraq, and it was a direction which would lead to an end to the war. The President vetoed that bill. Our Constitution requires two-thirds of the Congress to overcome a veto. Two-thirds of the public stood squarely with the Democrats in this Chamber, and a handful of Republicans, who voted to overcome it. But what we needed was significant support from the other side of the aisle, and we did not get it. Since then the President's made it clear that he will veto any legislation which even mentions the word ``timeline,'' and so he left my fellow Democrats and me with a choice. Some would have us ignore his words and simply send him a new copy of our original bill. I certainly relate to those feelings. But as appealing as this may seem, I do not believe that it would be right. The President and his allies in Congress have put our soldiers in harm's way, and Mr. Bush is willing to keep them there no matter how much they suffer. If this Congress delayed funding by continuing to back a bill we cannot pass at this time, we would not force the President to end the war. All indications are that he would leave our soldiers in Iraq, and without adequate funding, they would have to do even more with even less. The Democratic Party is the party that supports our soldiers. We're the party that fights for them to have proper equipment, training and rest. We're the party that demands that they be given a sensible strategy for victory before going into battle. We're the party that demands that they receive proper medical care once they return. We understand the mistaken judgment and obstinacy of the White House, and so we will not prevent any funding from coming forth from this Congress, an outcome which would permit the President to further add to the struggles that our troops endure every day. Ultimately, of course, supporting the troops means ending the war entirely, and the legislation we bring to the floor today goes as far as is possible at this moment to achieving that goal. Mr. Speaker, I ask everyone listening to look at the victories that have been won here. The President previously said he would block any bill which contained benchmarks for the war, but now the only legislation the House will deliver to him contains no fewer than 18 benchmarks linking economic aid to improvements in the Iraqi situation. Furthermore, the President and members of the Republican minority derided what they called ``unrelated spending'' during our first debate on this bill. They did so even though Democrats were seeking only to fill the gaps left by last year's failure to give us a budget. But today we will pass a minimum wage increase. We will increase funding for military health care and for veterans' health care, and critically needed funding for agriculture disaster aid, children's health care, and recovery from Hurricane Katrina. What is critical for all of our citizens to understand is that what is missing from this bill, a timeline to end the war, has been neither forgotten nor conceded by the Democrats in the Congress. To the contrary, our path forward is clear. We will fight every day until the world's greatest deliberative body lives up to its billing and actually represents the will of the people its serves. As I said before, at least two-thirds of the American people oppose the President's approach to Iraq and want this war brought to a close. It's time that two-thirds of this Congress wants the same. And we all know where the remaining votes have to come from. Some days in Iraq are worse than others, but all days there are bloody. Four American soldiers died on Monday. Six more died on Tuesday. Three lost their lives yesterday. Three hundred twenty-one civilians have been anonymously murdered in Baghdad just this month, an average of 13 a day. We must not be afraid to speak what is a simple truth. Every day that the Republican minority in this Congress stands by and empowers the President to perpetuate this war, they are saying the day's deaths in Iraq are acceptable. They're saying that those lives lost are part of a price they're willing to let others pay, other mothers, other fathers, other sisters, other brothers and other children, not theirs. But they are alone. Official Pentagon assessments now speak of Iraq's ``civil war,'' meaning the Pentagon itself has broken now from the White House. The generals on the ground are admitting that our whole approach to Iraq must change. That dialogue, even with insurgent groups the President swore he would never talk to, must replace the open-ended warfare, which means the surge has failed. And, of course, the overwhelming majority of the American people are not willing to accept the sacrifices asked of our soldiers and Iraqi civilians not because of a lack of will, but because of an abundance of reason. They correctly see the war as it is being fought today has never and will never yield the intended results, that our soldiers have been given a mission that has failed them and the people of Iraq time and time again. The Democrats in both Chambers of this Congress stand with them. A handful of principled Republicans stand with us as well, but not yet enough. The American people will continue to demand that their voices be heard. They will continue to demand their Representatives no longer willfully ignore their wishes, and my fellow Democrats and I will continue to demand the same. Together we will struggle until our collective ideals becomes one with what is possible to achieve and until this representative Congress actually represents its constituents and forces the President to do the same. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) as much time as he may consume.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I believe it's my time to yield time following your speech.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Nonetheless, I think we do alternate.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. I seek time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to yield 4\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. Perhaps my good friend from California has not heard the news. The Pentagon has now said that we are indeed enmeshed in a civil war and we now have a plan B. What we are going to do now is deal with insurgents so that we can try to pacify them and get pockets of peace somewhere, here and there in Iraq, never mind the Iraqi Government we have been holding up all this time. This may be news to him, but as far as I am concerned, the Pentagon has really called it straight, and I consider it a break with what the White House has been telling us. We know the President said time and again he would never negotiate with any insurgents. Well, that was yesterday. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I have one other besides myself.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. I am.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the Chair of the committee (Mr. Obey) to respond.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. I yield to the gentleman from California.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. I will yield 30 seconds to Mr. Obey to respond.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. I will yield 30 seconds.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I would urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 40th anniversary of the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion on May 21st, 2007, and the many fine clergy women and men of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice who continue this tradition of service. At the time the Clergy Service was founded, hundreds, if not thousands, of women died each year because of unsafe, illegal abortions. Many of the women suffering the health hazards of an illegal abortion were the most vulnerable, including women of color and low-income women. The heroic clergy who came together to form the Clergy Consultation Service felt a moral responsibility to help women in need. The Clergy Service provided comfort, hope, and access to doctors who performed safe abortions and treated women with dignity and respect. Participating ministers and rabbis risked public censure and criminal prosecution to provide compassionate counseling and spiritual support to women with an unintended pregnancy. Today, the tradition of support for women has continued through the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and the Clergy for Choice Network. Over one million American women sought illegal abortions annually at the time the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion was established. In 1965 alone, 17 percent of all pregnancy-related deaths were due to illegal abortions. The largest percentage of abortion deaths was among women ages 35-39 with five or six children. In my home State of New York in 1967, the only legal reason for performing an abortion was to save the life of the woman. Senior minister of the Judson Memorial Church in New York City, Reverend Howard R. Moody, along with social justice activist Arlene Carmen, recognized that women needed reliable information on how and where to obtain safe, albeit illegal, abortions. With a small group of ministers and rabbis, Reverend Moody founded the Clergy Service. The New York Times ran the statement announcing the service. ``Confronted with a difficult decision and means of implementing it, women today are forced by ignorance, misinformation and desperation into courses of action that require humane concern on the part of religious leaders.'' The statement continued: ``We believe that it is our pastoral responsibility and religious duty to give aid and assistance to all women with problem pregnancies. To that end we are establishing a Clergymen's Consultation Service on Abertion which will include referral to the best available medical advice and aid to women in need.'' Following the announcement, the Clergy Service was inundated with calls and visitors from around the country seeking assistance. From its inception until 1970 the service grew from 26 ministers and rabbis in New York to 2,000 clergy in 25 States referring almost 100,000 women to doctors. I commend Reverend Moody and the clergy men and women who joined the service over the years. Their selfless service is an inspiration to all who honor women as moral decision-makers and all who seek dignity and justice for women.

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Chairman, I am proud today to offer an amendment to H.R. 1585, the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, that will make certain the Niagara Falls Air Reserve base continues to play an integral role in our homeland defense. The Niagara airbase is home to the 914th Air Reserve and the 107th Air Guard. Both units have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and are responsible for patrols over large metropolitan areas and key infrastructure throughout the Northeast and Midwest. The value of the men and women serving at Niagara was clearly demonstrated during the tragic events of September 11th. The 107th was the first Refueling Wing to fly Combat Air patrols over New York City. In addition, a specialized unit of the 914th, trained in identifying and preparing the remains of disaster victims, was instrumental in the 9/11 recovery mission. The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission determined that the airbase would better serve our Nation if the 107th Guard unit became an Associate Air Wing of the 914th Reserve. This is the first time in Air Force history that a Guard unit will associate with a Reserve unit. Predictably, the Air Force is facing a number of unprecedented challenges in attempting to shift assets around in order to meet the BRAC mandate. I and the Western New York Congressional delegation have been working with the Air Reserve and the Air Guard for over a year and a half to determine the optimal allocation of aircraft at the base to ensure that both units can adequately complete their missions. The uncertainty surrounding what comes next at Niagara has created a lot of anxiety for the service members at the airbase and the Western New York community. The Air Force must determine a way forward with Niagara this year to ensure that the base continues to play a key role in protecting our Nation. Accordingly, my amendment simply directs the Secretary of the Air Force to submit a report to the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services detailing the Air Force's plan for future aviation assets at the Niagara airbase. I want to thank Chairman Skelton and his staff for working with me to draft this amendment, and I urge the House to adopt it.

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 387 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 387 provides for consideration of three bills, including the supplemental appropriations for the Iraq war. It is striking to realize that for 4 years the war in Iraq has been funded by supplemental appropriations measures. From the beginning the White House has refused to plan ahead. Instead it has counted on Congress to accept its demands and pass one supplemental bill and then another time and time again, with no end in sight and no accountability required in return. The American people have rejected a House that blindly accepts the administration's predictions about Iraq, all the while ceding its role in deciding matters of war and peace, the most solemn responsibility given to the Congress. My fellow Democrats and I promised a new way forward. And so the first funding bill that we delivered to the President reconciled our party's conscience with the brutal realities the war presented to us, realities that we, unlike some in the administration, are willing to acknowledge. We sought then, as we do now, to end this war but to do so responsibly, without adding to the suffering the Iraqi people and our soldiers have already experienced. Our first bill provided the President with all of the funding he requested but attached conditions to it. We asked for the President to stand before the Nation and justify the war. We asked him to show how it was meeting the objectives that he himself had set out: the promotion of political progress in the country and the increase of internal security in Iraq, all of which is his responsibility. And we said the war would not go on forever, that it must have an end, not an irresponsible end but an end. The President rejected our offer out of hand. He told us that while he would never compromise, we had to. Mr. Speaker, stubbornness is not the same as strength. Being obstinate is not equivalent to having conviction. This President famously told the world that he would refuse to alter his policy in Iraq even if, as he put it, nobody stood by him except his wife and his dog. But he is not making decisions that impact only himself. The weight of his decisions are being borne by the American people and the people of Iraq. His decisions are costing American lives and they are costing Iraqi lives. They are overstretching our military. They are undermining the national security of this Nation. And they are not improving the wretched conditions of the Iraqis the war is theoretically helping. The President must not be allowed to ignore everyone: the majority of the generals, the majority of the House, the majority of the Senate, the majority of the Nation, and the overwhelming majority of the world. He must not be allowed to ignore everyone when it is they who are bearing the burden of his war and suffering the consequences of his administration's mistakes. He must understand that his opinion, as sincere as it may be, is not the only one that matters. He must yield. The bill we are considering today will, once again, give him the chance to acknowledge the demands of the citizens of this country. They are demanding a change of direction in Iraq, and this bill delivers it. This legislation will fund military operations in Iraq between now and July. By then the President's surge plan will be in full effect, and its impact, either positive or negative, will be obvious. The President will report to Congress on the state of political and military progress in Iraq, and then we will vote on whether or not to provide the remaining funds that have been requested. Our degree of financial support at that point will be based not on endless promises or rosy scenarios, but on concrete reality on the ground in Iraq. Accountability is being introduced into the conduct of this war. Mr. Speaker, let me also add that during the last debate on this supplemental, the President and his supporters told us the measure was ``unclean,'' that it contained spending unrelated to the war effort. That spending, Mr. Speaker, was for critical projects the last Congress failed to fund by not passing any budget at all for the year 2007, which included funding for veterans care, recovery from Hurricane Katrina, health insurance for children, home heating oil for low-income families, and much more. In other words, there is nothing dirty about it. My fellow Democrats and I refuse to abandon it. We are going to fund these vital and important projects because people are counting on them. What is more, we campaigned on increasing the minimum wage, and this supplemental spending legislation will do that as well. And I hope we don't hear anything more about so-called ``unrelated spending.'' Mr. Speaker, it is long past time for this body to abandon the destructive rhetoric that has labeled this plan a form of ``surrender.'' It is time to stop branding the Democrats, and a growing number of Republicans, who seek to end this brutal conflict as ``defeatists.'' We want our country to be secure. We want our military to be sound. We want the Iraqi people to be able to live with dignity. But we see that this war fought in this way is undermining all of those goals. And we are not alone. We speak for a clear and vocal majority of the American people, and we represent their wishes. For the sake of our citizens, for our soldiers, and the people of Iraq, we will be heard. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Arcuri), a member of the Rules Committee.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remaining time. Mr. Speaker, I do not want to contradict my colleague from California, but we do not know the pain of this war. Members of Congress know it a little better than most people because we try to comfort the bereaved and visit the ones who are maimed, but we don't really know the pain of this war. We can't know about the 35,000 or more young people with life-altering wounds, people 18 and 19 years old who will live with them for the very rest of their lives. We don't know the loss other people have sustained because nothing much is required of us except to pay the bill of $10 billion a month, mostly borrowed from China, so we can finance this war. There is no compelling reason why we should go on forever with this. Nothing that we are asking the President to put on the Internet is anything but classified and who is going to believe it anyway. If the President is running out of money for the troops, it is simply because he vetoed the money that he asked us for that we sent to him. The fault, the blame lies exclusively with him. And with that I ask all of my colleagues to vote for this rule on both sides of the House. Obviously, numbers of them didn't want to come down and talk today. Please vote for this rule. Cleanse your conscience. Let's do a good thing today for those people who count on us in Iraq.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 7\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), who will explain why we didn't deal with agricultural disasters last year.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to another gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).