Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009

Floor Speech

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Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, let me first say at the outset that I support President Obama and his Administration in their overall foreign policy objectives and implementation. However, I cannot vote for this War Supplemental request because I believe that it does not represent the departure from the past that we all hope for and which is urgently needed to move our country forward in a new course.

While I understand that there's a momentum building toward winding down our involvement in these conflicts and the move away from the war-making culture, I believe that there must be a sharp departure from past policy in order for us to achieve that goal.

This War Supplemental budget will significantly expand our military presence in Afghanistan, while at the same time it does not go far enough in eliminating our longstanding presence in Iraq, either.

I am very concerned by the fact that almost 90 percent of the funds are going for military operations and equipment replacement. While it contains some beneficial items like economic development and agriculture programs in Afghanistan, efforts to strengthen rule of law in Iraq, humanitarian assistance for Gaza--which I strongly support--wildfire suppression, and efforts to fight against the spread of a new flu pandemic, all these items combined amount to less than 13 percent of the total budget.

I also believe that funding for the war and military occupation and funding for diplomatic, humanitarian and other benevolent efforts must be separated. It is disingenuous and deceptive to combine these two and force the lawmakers to make the choice they shouldn't have to make; that is, supporting funding for the wars in order to get humanitarian assistance for Gaza.

President Obama has made strong, inspirational statements that signal positive change of policy toward the Muslim world, but this budget will send a contradicting message to those statements. Approving this budget will send the message to the Muslim world and the international community at large that we are not serious in getting to the root-cause of the problem, which is our extensive engagement in war-making. At the end of the day, the best way to achieve our objectives is to send consistent messages that demonstrate our unwavering determination to scale down our military footprints.

Supporting this bill will surely perpetuate military operations that are likely to fail or become a pyrrhic victory.

President Obama will give a major speech in Egypt on how he would reduce those military footprints and increase civilian-led involvement. But the figures in this War Supplemental budget, over $75 billion for military operations versus merely $7 billion for state and foreign operations, will perpetuate the picture of how much we still prioritize war-making over diplomacy and development.

With these reasons, and despite my continued support for the President and the Administration, I cannot support this War Supplemental budget request.

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