mr. speaker , i wish i could give my full congratulations . 
i appreciate the leadership of our members of the appropriations committee ; but might i say , mr. speaker , that there are a lot of achilles heels in this particular legislation . 
i will quickly say that my good friend , the gentleman from california ( mr. dreier ) xz4001150 , talks about security . 
and , frankly , this bill and the president 's mark and budget cuts border security in half , cuts the ice officers in half . 
so , really , there is no border security in this bill . 
and then they try to patchwork immigration . 
today i am going to introduce the save america comprehensive immigration act that really confronts the question that americans are concerned about , getting in front of the immigration concern and not behind it . 
the real id bill takes away americans ' rights , denies asylees the opportunity to come into this country where for years we have brought those that have been mutilated and raped . 
it is not a bill that confronts the values of america . 
and then , of course , it is a back-door way to correct the abuse that was rendered in the committee on the judiciary characterizing members ' amendments that dealt with protecting children and providing rights to clergy and grandparents as having to do with a criminal act . 
there is no response to that , other than a back-door opportunity to clarify the record . 
where is the apology ? 
why were these amendments mischaracterized in the first place ? 
particularly since the same amendments , dealing with clergy , dealing with taxicab drivers , dealing with grandparents and aunts and uncles , providing teenagers that opportunity to consult with them , were also in 2002 , and never characterized as wrongly as they were characterized now . 
this is a wool-over-your-eyes . 
unfortunately , the tragedy in iraq continues to grow , now almost 160 people killed in the last 4 days . 
when is the administration going to speak to the issue of a solution in iraq . 
this bill does not answer the question . 
certainly we support our troops . 
we wish for them the best . 
these moneys are necessary , but they are clouded with a lot of baggage that does not help the american troops . 
this is a `` no '' on the rule , and this certainly is worthy of consideration of this appropriation that does not answer the concerns of americans . 
while our soldiers are fighting , rome is burning . 
this is a bad bill , and it is a bad rule . 
mr. speaker , i rise to oppose the rule in h.r. 1268 , the emergency supplemental appropriations act for defense , the global war on terror , and tsunami relief for 2005 purports to do and i thank the chairman of the committee on the judiciary for what section 2 of the rule proposes to do . 
for representative nadler , representative scott , ranking member conyers , and me , section 2 of this rule represents an effort to appease aggrieved members of congress . 
the cure is not complete , and i plan to offer a point of personal privilege to highlight this unfortunate action by the majority next week . 
section 2 of h. res. 258 section 2 of the rule provides that `` the chairman of the committee on the judiciary is authorized , on behalf of the committee , to file a supplemental report to accompany h.r. 748 . '' while i thank the gentleman from wisconsin for his effort , unfortunately , this language is neither hortatory nor fully protective of the privileges offered by house report 109-51 . 
previous question on rule h. res. 258 mr. speaker , we must include in the underlying conference report a concurrent resolution adding the tierney-leach accountability amendment . 
the tierney-leach accountability amendment would create a select congressional committee -- based on the truman committee that existed from 1941 to 1948 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 . 
we must look to our history , mr. speaker , and look to the truman select committee as a precedent for a select committee to investigate government contracting during wartime . 
in 1941 , with the united states engaged in a major military build-up as part of world war ii , senator harry truman ( d-mo ) became aware of widespread stories of contractor mismanagement in military contracts . 
senator truman rightly called upon congress to create a select committee to study and investigate contracting , which congress did on march 1 , 1941 . 
from its creation in 1941 until it expired in 1948 , the truman committee held 432 public hearings and 300 executive sessions , went on hundreds of fact-finding missions , and issued 51 reports . 
throughout , the truman committee earned high marks for its thoroughness and efficiency and ensured that taxpayer dollars were being well-spent . 
there is ample evidence of the necessity of a modern-day truman committee . 
since 2003 , numerous questions have arisen about u.s. government contracting in iraq . 
from the start of our involvement in iraq , questions have arisen about how contracts have been awarded , the size of those contracts , the quality of contractor work , and the use of taxpayers dollars . 
since 2003 , there have been many examples of the misuse of american taxpayer dollars in iraqi contracting . 
nearly $ 9 billion of money spent on iraqi reconstruction is unaccounted for because of inefficiencies and bad management , according to the special inspector general for the iraqi reconstruction . 
in one case , the inspector general raised the possibility that thousands of `` ghost employees '' were on an unnamed ministry 's payroll . 
furthermore , a government contractor defrauded the coalition provisional authority of tens of millions of dollars in iraq reconstruction funds and little is being done to try to recover the money , according to the reports of whistleblowers . 
for example , the firm was paid $ 15 million to provide security for civilian flights into baghdad even though no planes flew during the term of the contract . 
ensuring vigilant oversight of taxpayer dollars should not be a partisan issue . 
vigilant congressional oversight of large sums during wartime should not be a partisan issue . 
the truman committee was created at a time when democrats controlled the white house , the house and the senate . 
a democratic congress was demanding careful oversight of a democratic administration . 
democrats are pleased that this select committee is being cosponsored by a democrat and a republican -- rep . 
tierney and rep . 
leach . 
we owe it to american taxpayers to oversee how taxpayer dollars are being spent . 
billions are being spent in iraq and afghanistan . 
indeed , according to crs , this $ 81.3 billion supplemental appropriations bill being considered by the house is in addition to the $ 201 billion that the department of defense has received , since the 9/11 attacks , for soldiers deployed or supporting operations in iraq and afghanistan . 
what is in question is how taxpayer dollars are being spent , whether taxpayers are getting their money 's worth , and whether the high-quality equipment and services that warfighters deserve and require are being delivered . 
a new truman committee would allow us to get the facts on u.s. contracting in both military and reconstruction activities and to fix whatever problems exist . 
mr. speaker , for these reasons , i oppose the rule . 
