mr. chairman , i rise to offer an amendment to h.r. 1268 , the $ 81 billion supplemental appropriations bill before the house today , that will continue to fund the president 's misadventure in iraq . 
my amendment would cut funds that should never have made it into the supplemental in the first place , millions of dollars to finance the regular operations of the department of defense , which should be paid for through normal defense budget negotiations , not through a supplemental spending bill that does not even count towards the president 's incredible budget deficit . 
once again , by funding the war through another supplemental , the bush administration is pulling a fast one on the budget and on the american people . 
my amendment would take $ 186 million from dod 's operations and management , money that is funded every year in the defense appropriations bill , and split the $ 186 million evenly between the national guard and reserve personnel in the army , navy , air force , and marine corps to augment the meager funds that have been allocated for each of these branches . 
i offer this amendment today because i support the troops and because i have deep admiration for their courage . 
our brave soldiers are being used as pawns by their civilian superiors whose wastefulness and incompetence is betraying their duty to keep us safe . 
my amendment demonstrates the very wastefulness that runs rampant at the pentagon . 
the fact that the pentagon depends on an extra $ 200 billion for its regular operations and maintenance at the expense of our troops in the field is arrogant , incompetent , wasteful , and downright immoral . 
let us not forget that secretary of defense donald rumsfeld himself has stated that there is $ 22 billion of waste in the pentagon 's budget every year . 
the bush administration , and in particular the leaders at the pentagon , have demonstrated a potent lack of support for the troops through poor planning for the long military occupation of iraq , by neglecting to provide every soldier with the equipment needed to survive military combat , and by failing to adequately support our soldiers once they return home . 
hundreds of lives could have been saved if our troops had not been left as sitting ducks on the battlefield for over a year without enough body armor and plated armor for humvees that can save their lives during battle . 
worse , our troops are neglected when they finally get home . 
veterans health care continues to suffer under the administration 's reckless fiscal policies , and america has not kept its promise to properly provide for the health care of our soldiers once they have returned home from the war . 
the most disturbing thing about the president 's request for more iraq funding is the lack of accountability . 
why are we writing another check for a mission that has been so badly botched ? 
who is being held responsible for the misuse of the money we have already approved ? 
this practice of funding a war through supplemental spending bills underscores the lack of planning and arrogance that have characterized this war . 
a total of $ 200 billion appropriated for iraq after congress approves this latest bill , that is about $ 675 for every american man , woman and child . 
so where is this money going ? 
how much of it is enriching war profiteers ? 
why did the army waive its usual procedures and make full payment to halliburton despite legitimate questions about overbilling and financial mismanagement ? 
and why can we not get a congressional investigation into the $ 9 billion that mysteriously disappeared from the books at the coalition provisional authority ? 
if the president wants more money for this war , he can take it out of something he cares about , instead of taking it out of the hides of the american people . 
no more blank checks . 
if we are going to spend billions , let us at least spend billions on the people who deserve it , the brave troops in the field , and especially members of the national guard and reserve who are receiving less for their sacrifices . 
it is time we honor their commitment and that of their families by providing them with the resources they need and deserve . 
