mr. speaker , this appropriations bill contains much crucial funding , most importantly money to provide additional armor for our troops and vehicles in iraq and electronic jammers to protect them from roadside bombs . 
while i strongly support this funding , i am disappointed that i must vote `` no '' on this bill . 
we have a responsibility to the men and women who we send into harm 's way as members of the united states armed forces . 
it is because of my desire to support our troops that i continue to insist that the administration develop a plan to win the peace in iraq and , to the best of our capability , protect the troops as they go about their mission . 
i believe that congress must hold the administration to the highest standards when the lives of our service personnel are at risk . 
a `` no '' vote is one of the few ways i have to protest the continued abdication of this responsibility by the highest levels of the bush administration . 
one positive part of this legislation is an amendment that i offered during house consideration with mr. markey to prohibit funds for torture and for sending detainees to countries that practice torture , which was carried into this conference report . 
the use of torture and rendition is morally reprehensible , puts americans at risk , is a poor way to obtain reliable information in our fight against terrorism , and sets back the cause of democracy . 
this is the very least that we can do as congress continues to abdicate its responsibility to investigate this horrific aspect of administration policy . 
perhaps most disappointing , this legislation also continues to be burdened with all the flaws of h.r. 418 , the `` real id act , '' which , among other things , placed the entire 7 , 514 mile border completely outside all legal protections . 
this is perhaps the single most damaging precedent since i 've been in congress . 
do we really want to be giving this responsibility to the department of homeland security , which has not been a paragon of efficiency and sensitivity during its three years of existence ? 
some of the environmental laws waived by this provision include : the noise control act , the clean water act , the farmland protection policy act , and the bald eagle act . 
this is not only bad public policy , it is unnecessary , as most of these laws have security exemptions already written into them . 
however , in addition to environmental laws , this provision would waive labor laws , safety standards , the national historic preservation act , and the native 