May 14, 2009

Today, Congressman Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) lead the debate on HR 2346, the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009. During the debate, Perlmutter urged Congress to provide additional funding to support our troops’ efforts in the War on Terrorism in and . The bill provides for much needed equipment, back pay for service members and veterans who served under stop-loss orders since 2001, a responsible plan for ending the war in by removing all combat troops by August 2010, and a plan to refocus efforts in .

Below are the remarks from Mr. Perlmutter from the floor of the House this morning. Please click here for audio and video of Perlmutter’s remarks:

Remarks from Mr. Perlmutter about HR 2346 - Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009

“Mr. Speaker, house resolution 434 provides for consideration of HR 2346, the supplemental appropriations act of 2009. No member of Congress takes today's vote lightly. In my two terms in Congress, I have had many late nights thinking about our troops who protect us all around the globe. Ones who I have met, ones from my district, and other nights thinking about how to bring them home safely and responsibly. Today we vote to fund them and their efforts in and . It is not a perfect bill and it is not the silver bullet which will end the wars within the next year. But it is a responsible plan to support our service men and women and assist them as much as possible.

Mr. Speaker, we cannot fully understand the next steps in and without looking at the steps our nation has taken to get here. Following the September 11 attacks, Congress authorized President Bush to take action against for harboring and enabling Al Qaeda to attack us. We were greeted as liberators for the most part and even had Osama Bin Laden cornered in the mountains of Tora Bora.

But in 2002 and 2003, President Bush and others changed the country's focus from the biggest threat to American security to a country which actually posed little threat, that being . Ever since that moment, we have been playing catch-up in both countries trying to defeat insurgencies while promoting democracy and economic development which are precarious at best.

Even experts concede achieving these missions simultaneously is difficult. Last November, President Obama and John McCain outlined two very different visions of our future involvement in and . In , President Obama's plan involved expeditiously transitioning authority to the Iraqi security forces, promote being economic development, and removing combat troops within a year. This vision is very close to the plan I described to my voters when I was elected to my first term.

In , the plan involving broadening the international coalition, eradicating Al Qaeda and the Taliban, powering women, and providing an increase in troops is what is provided for in this particular bill. Knowing full well President Obama's military and diplomatic goals in and , more Americans voted for President Obama and the plans he outlined than they did for Senator Mccain or his plans.

Over the course of the past few months, President Obama has put the pieces in place to keep his promise, putting a national security team in place, a bipartisan team at that, of Robert Gates, James Jones, and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Today's bill is a plan laid out by the President and his bipartisan national security team that finally understands that victory will not be achieved by military might alone. Many in the House today on both sides of the aisle have stated their opposition to this bill before the new President with his new ideas has even had a chance to implement his plan.

President Obama inherited an international mess. American voters chose President Obama and his plans, and it is time Congress gave our troops the resources they need to complete their assignments.

In my opinion, there are three components to this bill. First, in we provide funding for military operations, including $4.8 billion for lightweight mine resistant vehicles, mraps, and $1.3 billion for IED threat mitigation. The bill also provides $1 billion for economic development in . These are essential to President Obama in order to meet his intended date of August 31, 2010 to remove all combat troops from .

In we require the President to objectively report to Congress on five critical areas in and . Among these are questions of anti-corruption efforts, independent security forces, and political consensus. We also provide $52 billion of international aid development in that country. Lastly the bill focuses on our troops and domestic emergencies. We provide funding for H1N1 influenza, we also provide $470 million to address Mexican border violence and drug cartels. We also provide to our troops stop loss payments in recognition of their additional participation in the wars in the Middle East.

Mr. Speaker, today we will have an emotional debate about how our nation moves forward in and . The way forward in and is to vote yes today. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on the rule and the underlying bill and I reserve the balance of my time.”