Memorial Day in California: Senator Feinstein on the Iraq War

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

“Simply put, I cannot vote for another $165 billion to give President Bush a blank check”

By Dianne Feinstein
United State Senator
California

Simply put, I cannot vote for another $165 billion to give President Bush a blank check and fund the continuation of the war in Iraq, without condition, for over another year.

This is a difficult decision and not one I take lightly. But I believe that the time has come for Congress to exercise the power of the purse and bring this war to a conclusion.

I am a strong supporter of our troops in the field. They have done a tremendous job under difficult circumstances. They weren't greeted as liberators as Vice President Cheney said they would be.

Instead, they found themselves targets in an internecine battle, whose roots go back hundreds of years. They found themselves in the crossfire between Sunni insurgents and Shia extremists. They've done everything asked of them, with the courage and dedication that we expect from our service men and women.

But President Bush has never provided an exit strategy for Iraq. He has never laid out a plan for bringing our troops home.

So, here we are more than five years after this war began. More than 4,000 troops killed. Tens of thousands injured. And no end in sight. $525 billion spent “all designated as emergency spending and none of which is paid for” simply added to our nation's growing debt.

This is the first major war that has not been paid for, but instead has relied time and time again on emergency supplemental funds outside of the federal budget.

I, along with many of my colleagues in the Senate, have voted again and again for a change of course to transition the mission. But the minority has obstructed the vote or President Bush has vetoed the bill each time we've tried.

So the power of the purse is the only tool we have to change the Iraq war. And it is time to bring this war to a conclusion after five long years.

The $165 billion supplemental funds the war for one year and one month, or until July 2009. This is all funded on the debt. I simply cannot agree to do it.