mr. chairman , i will vote for this supplemental appropriations bill today . 
i have been a critic of the bush administration 's policy in iraq . 
but i think even those who have supported it should be deeply concerned about the escalating cost of our efforts there . 
if approved , the president 's emergency supplemental appropriations request will bring the total cost of our operations in iraq so far to over $ 200 billion . 
this amount gives me pause , but congress must not fail to supply our troops . 
when i visited iraq last year , i met with our troops and it is clear to me that more resources , including body armor and military equipment , are needed to safeguard their lives . 
the bill we are considering today provides these resources . 
it includes important provisions to raise the military death gratuity from $ 12 , 000 to $ 100 , 000 and to increase funding for add-on vehicle armor kits , night-vision equipment , and electronic roadside-bomb jammers . 
it includes funding for contract linguists for the army and additional body armor for the army and marines . 
and thanks to the passage of the markey-blumenauer amendment , which i supported , the bill reaffirms the u.s. commitment to the u.n . 
convention against torture . 
it also provides funding for tsunami disaster relief , $ 1.3 billion to train and equip afghan security forces and the afghan army , $ 92 million for darfur and $ 150 million for food aid to sudan and liberia , and $ 580 million for peacekeeping programs , most of which are for sudan . 
importantly , the bill appropriates the president 's request of $ 200 million for economic development in the west bank and gaza strip . 
but large as it is , the bill still falls short in some respects . 
more funding is needed for veterans ' health care and mental health care and helping members of the national guard transition back to civilian life . 
and most problematically , the house-passed rule incorporated into the bill the real id act , legislation that i opposed when the house passed it in february . 
i opposed it again by voting against the rule . 
i believe the real id act does not strengthen national security , but it does create undue difficulties for asylum seekers and excessively expands the powers of the secretary of homeland security . 
the bill also lacks answers to some tough questions . 
how many more supplemental requests like this one does the administration plan to present to congress ? 
what is our post-election strategy in iraq ? 
can we account for the billions of dollars already spent in iraq , and are the remaining billions of dollars in reconstruction funds being well spent ? 
why ca n't we get a solid answer about the numbers of trained and equipped iraqi troops ? 
that lack of information is why i voted for an amendment proposed by representatives tierney and leach to create a select congressional committee -- based on the truman committee that existed during world war ii -- to investigate and study the awarding and carrying out of government contracts to conduct military and reconstruction activities in iraq and afghanistan . 
adoption of that amendment would have improved the bill . 
the failure of this amendment makes it even more important that we continue to ask questions , not only to provide accountability to american taxpayers , but also to keep faith with the real needs of our troops in the field . 
estimates of future u.s. costs in iraq are mind-boggling -- ranging from $ 400 billion to $ 600 billion over the next decade . 
that 's why it 's so important for us to do the job right this time , the more effectively we use these billions to train and equip iraqi troops , the more quickly iraqis will be able to fend for themselves , which means a ticket home for our troops . 
so the bill could be improved -- and i have supported amendments that would do that . 
but the bottom line is that we need to provide the funding necessary to keep our troops supplied and protected . 
with our troops stretched thin , forced to perform longer tours of duty and short of equipment and supplies , funding for our men and women in uniform must not be held hostage to disagreements about the wisdom or folly of bush administration policies . 
