AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. UPTON

   Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

   The Clerk read as follows:

   Amendment offered by Mr. Upton:

    At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the following:

   TITLE VII--ADDITIONAL GENERAL PROVISIONS

    SEC. 701. None of the funds made available in this Act may be used for embassy security, construction, and maintenance.

   Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that debate on this amendment and any amendments thereto be limited to 20 minutes, to be equally divided and controlled by the proponent and myself, the opponent.

   The Acting CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from California?

   There was no objection.

   The Acting CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton) is recognized for 10 minutes.

[Time: 16:30]

   Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 2 1/2 minutes.
   Mr. Chairman, I offer this amendment with the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Myrick) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) in a bipartisan amendment for two main reasons: The first is cost.
   What this amendment does, it says that none of the funds made available in this act may be used for embassy security, construction and maintenance. In essence it is about a $592 million savings amendment. I would note in a CRS document printed a couple of weeks ago, it states that the State Department has identified $990 million thus far for the new embassy in Baghdad. Fiscal year 2003 and fiscal year 2004 supplementals provided $35 million from the State's Diplomatic and Consular Program account, another $105 million came from the fourth quarter fiscal year 2004 Coalition Provisional Authority appropriations, and another $184 million of the Iraqi relief and reconstruction funds was designated for the embassy. This bill provides yet another some $590 million for this building.
   The second reason that I support the amendment and oppose this provision in the bill is that we knew years ago that we were going to need a new embassy, and yet last summer when plans were laid for construction of this particular site it was not included in the omnibus appropriation bill taken up in November. The 2006 budget request which came up in February, no moneys were included in the President's budget request for that as well.
   I would note that the National Taxpayers Union supports this amendment. I would also note that time and time again I supported more support for our troops, body armor, supported the President's request, but this embassy stuck into this bill with this process is not right.
   We need regular order and that is why the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Myrick) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) and I are offering this amendment on a bipartisan basis.  
 Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

  Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf).

   Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, Members should ask themselves how would they like if their children, their son, their daughter, or their husband or their wife was in this embassy here. Now we have talked a lot, and this committee has done a lot on body armor and Humvee armor. Forty-five people have been killed in the embassy in Iraq. From Irvine, California, Keith Taylor, rocket attack; Tracy Hushin, Long Island, New York, suicide bomber; Leslie Davis from Magnolia, Texas, suicide bomber; Rosharon, Texas, suicide bomber; Astoria, Oregon, suicide bomber; Chickasaw, Alabama, suicide bomber; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, near Fallujah attack; Cleveland, Ohio; Copperas Cove, Texas; North Branch, Minnesota; South Windham, Connecticut.

   This embassy was not built to be an embassy. This was Saddam Hussein's palace. It is a symbol of torture. It is not to be the symbol of the United States Government. We need to act quickly. We need to act quickly. If this amendment, if the Upton amendment passes, there will be a 6-month period whereby they will not have the protection.

   I will put this listing out so Members can review them. Fire in a wooded area, electrical fire in Saddam Hussein's palace, again the structure was not built for it. Fire in Saddam's palace, August, 2004. I will not mention the woman's name, blood on the wall of a rocket attack whereby this young woman was killed. And here is a picture of two Americans killed the day before the Iraqi election.

   We have had 1,500 military people die in the war in Iraq. It is help bringing about freedom. It is making a difference in the Palestinian area. It is making a difference in Egypt. It is making a difference in Lebanon. It is inappropriate for us not to fund a safe workplace for American citizens who are going to work in harm's way.

   Lastly, people say this is an expensive embassy. This is an embassy, but it is a village. There is a power plant. There are housing facilities. The Beijing embassy cost $434 million. There is no threat to American citizens in Beijing. There are no terrorist attacks.

   In Lebanon, 1983, 241 Marines were killed in a barracks with no setback. That same year in the American embassy in Lebanon, a number of Americans killed. There was the American bombing of the embassies in Tanzania and Kenya 1989. We have a moral obligation to the people that we are sending in this region to live in a situation and work where they will be protected.

   I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. As the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham) said as I was walking down to the well, how would Members like it if your children, your son or daughter or husband or wife had to work in this facility. I urge a no vote on the amendment.

 

 Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind).

 

 Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for bringing forth this amendment, with myself and the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Myrick).

   With all due respect to the previous speaker, this is not about debating the merits of the necessity or the needs for a new embassy in Baghdad. Having traveled to Baghdad twice, certainly there is a strong case that can be made that we do need to be moving forth on a new embassy, but this is how we are going to pay for that new embassy, getting back to regular order and procedure around here, and how we are going to afford the cost of this new embassy rather than just going into deficit spending.

[Page: H1483]

   This amendment speaks to a larger issue. The last time I was in Iraq, which was last fall, I noticed one thing, we are dropping a lot of concrete in Iraq today, which is an indication that we are going to be there for a very, very long time. And year after year coming forward with more multibillion supplemental spending requests, all deficit financing, is not a sustainable policy.

   We need to get back to regular procedure and regular order around here, and what better place than to start on a nonemergency creation, the siting of a new embassy to get it to the appropriate committee for proper oversight and hearings of deliberation, and then finding the appropriate offsets to pay for this.

   I am going to support the supplemental today, as I have past supplementals. I believe our troops need to get all of the tools and resources to do their job safely and effectively. They have been doing a terrific job under very dangerous circumstances, including our State Department personnel, who are working in the current embassy within the Green Zone in Baghdad which is also at times a free-fire zone.

   But at some point we as a Chamber and as a body need to get back to the regular process of starting to anticipate these costs, starting to appropriate it and budget for it so we do not leave a huge legacy of debt for future Congresses and for our children and grandchildren to inherit. That is what this amendment speaks to.

   I want to especially commend a couple of units serving us so well from western Wisconsin, the 128th Infantry Guard as well as the 1158th Transportation Unit. In fact, earlier this morning I got up and ran over to Walter Reed Hospital to visit with some of our troops, including Specialist Andrew Carter from the 128th who almost had his foot blown off due to an RPG that was fired at him during one of his passing patrols.

   Just last week we lost another member from western Wisconsin who was shot down in the line of duty, Staff Sergeant Andrew Bossert. He will be buried in Wisconsin this Thursday. I am sure Members will join me in sending our thoughts and prayers to his family, his parents, but especially to his wife Olya who lives in Wisconsin.

   What we need to start considering at some point is whether or not the ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan should be paid for as part of the normal budgeting process. These are no longer surprises and no longer emergencies. We know we are there. We know what the mission is going to entail and the costs we are facing. I think this is a good place to start by having this embassy go through the regular process where we can find offsets and an ability to pay for it.

   Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

   Mr. Chairman, I am sure all Members are very concerned about the proposed embassy compound in Iraq and the number of dollars that are involved. I think it is very important that I share with Members our discussion with the Secretary of State. She feels it is absolutely critical that we move forward very quickly with this money, first and foremost because we have almost 4,000 American personnel whose lives are in jeopardy under current conditions. Indeed, if this compound goes forward quickly, their security will be assured.

   The Secretary has been given great assurance that the compound can be completed in 24 months. There is only one small hook, and that is in order to get a contractor to bid on such a job in this territory, the money has to be there in the pot. So within this bill we are providing the funds to make sure the funds are available and we can move quickly. This embassy and the compound are designed to solidify our mission, allowing us to be successful in Iraq as well as the Middle East. It is very important that we go forward with this money now.

   Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Myrick), a coauthor of the amendment.

   Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Chairman, we are all grateful to our troops and those serving in Iraq. We are grateful for what we are seeing happening there, and we want to do what we can to support those efforts and make sure that our troops have what they need.

   But every time when I go home, no matter what the subject is that we are talking about in any meeting, the thing that always comes up is the deficit. Somebody always says, ``But what are you doing about the deficit?''

   My concern with the embassy being in the supplemental is exactly that, it is over and above the regular process. I have no problem with building an embassy in Iraq. We need an embassy in Iraq, but we have also known we need an embassy in Iraq, and why did it not come through earlier if it is that much of an emergency.

   Yes, it is a huge amount of money and I understand it is not just a building, it is a compound, but it is three times what we have spent in Afghanistan already.

   If we do not start getting some discipline in this body in what we are doing, we are never going to get back to where we all want to be, and that is what we did in 1997 was start to balance the budget, and we were well on the way. Sure, we have had a lot of problems. We had the war, the recession, other problems which have interfered with that, but we have to have some fiscal discipline and just putting things that are not actual emergencies in a supplemental spending bill in my opinion is not to be done. A supplemental is for emergencies and I do not consider an embassy to be an emergency.

   My constituents at home agree with this. As I said before, whenever I am anywhere they always say what are you doing about cutting spending, what are you doing about the deficit?

   I hope we can bring this embassy back through regular order and make it happen because we want to be sure the people are protected, and then pass the supplemental today. The other things in the supplemental are needed. There is no question about that. Our chairman has done a very, very good job with this bill, but I have a problem with funding the embassy in a supplemental.

   Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.

   I thank my coauthors, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) and the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Myrick). I want to say it is not an easy task taking on the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis).

   I too would like to say I am voting for final passage of the supplemental. It is important that we have adequate resources for all of our troops. I have been to Iraq twice. I have been to the current embassy in Baghdad twice as well. I have seen the improvements. We have spent something like $100 million already trying to make that facility safe. It is within the Green Zone.

   

[Time: 16:45]

   This new embassy where they want to build is just down the river. Frankly, I would have preferred to see it go where Camp Victory is. I asked that question, in fact, yesterday. I was not very pleased with the answer that I got, but maybe in a few more months we will get it right and put it someplace that would be truly safe for all of our folks that are there. At the end of the day, those are the questions that all of us should be asking.

   Whether it be in an authorization bill that came through this Congress the last year or in the omnibus bill or in the President's budget for fiscal year 2006, this bill no matter what train track it is on will not get to the President until May. We ought to take the time to do this right, to ask the right questions and to make sure that all of our people, whether they work for the State Department or whether they work for the armed services, have the right resources; but it ought to go the regular order. That is the way this House ought to operate.

   Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

   Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood).

   (Mr. LaHOOD asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

   Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Chairman, I just want to say I think this is about as dumb a thing as we can do. I think to take the money away from people who are doing the hard work, these are our people. These are people that are there because they care about our country and they care about freedom and they care about bringing hope and opportunity to the people of Iraq. And the

[Page: H1484]

   Vote against the Upton amendment and say to our friends over there, we care about your safety, we care about what you are doing, and we thank you for the tough, tough job you are doing in an area that is probably as dangerous as anywhere in the world.

   Vote against the Upton amendment.

 

   Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

   I appreciate the remarks of my colleague from Illinois. I would suggest that in voting for this amendment, Members would be voting against the view of our Commander in Chief, the President of the United States. The Secretary of State has spoken very strongly about the urgency of this matter. There is little doubt that we have the appropriate place, we have the plans in place, we can get it done quickly. We need the money up front. That is why it is here. Because of that, Mr. Chairman, I urge a ``no'' vote on the Upton amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

   The Acting CHAIRMAN (Mr. Camp). The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton).

   The question was taken; and the Acting Chairman announced that the noes appeared to have it.

   Mr. UPTON. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

   The Acting CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton) will be postponed.

AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. UPTON

   The Acting CHAIRMAN. The pending business is the demand for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton) on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote.

   The Clerk will designate the amendment.

   The Clerk designated the amendment.

   RECORDED VOTE

   The Acting CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.

   A recorded vote was ordered.

   The Acting CHAIRMAN. This will be a 5-minute vote.

   The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 258, noes 170, not voting 6, as follows:

[Roll No. 73]

AYES--258

NOES--170

NOT VOTING--6

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 73
(Republicans in roman; Democrats in italic; Independents underlined)

H R 1268 RECORDED VOTE 15-Mar-2005 5:38 PM
AUTHOR(S): Upton of Michigan Amendment
QUESTION: On Agreeing to the Amendment

	AYES	NOES	PRES	NV
REPUBLICAN	119	107		5
DEMOCRATIC	138	63		1
INDEPENDENT	1
TOTALS	258	170		6

---- AYES 258 ---

Andrews Baca Baird Baldwin Bartlett (MD) Barton (TX) Bass Becerra Berry Bilirakis Bishop (GA) Bishop (NY) Blackburn Blumenauer Boehlert Boehner Bonner Boucher Boyd Bradley (NH) Brady (TX) Brown (OH) Brown (SC) Brown, Corrine Brown-Waite, Ginny Burgess Butterfield Buyer Camp Cannon Capps Cardin Cardoza Carnahan Carson Castle Chabot Chandler Chocola Clay Cleaver Clyburn Coble Conaway Conyers Cooper Costello Cuellar Cummings Davis (FL) Davis, Jo Ann Deal (GA) DeFazio DeGette Delahunt DeLauro Dent Dingell Doggett Duncan Ehlers Emanuel Etheridge Evans Feeney Filner Fitzpatrick (PA) Flake Foley Fossella Foxx Frank (MA) Franks (AZ) Gallegly Garrett (NJ) Gibbons Gingrey Gohmert Gonzalez Goode Goodlatte Gordon Green (WI) Green, Al Green, Gene Grijalva

Gutierrez Gutknecht Hall Harman Hastings (FL) Hayworth Hefley Hensarling Hinojosa Holt Hooley Hostettler Hoyer Hulshof Inglis (SC) Inslee Istook Jefferson Jenkins Johnson, E. B. Johnson, Sam Jones (NC) Kildee Kilpatrick (MI) Kind King (IA) Kingston Kucinich Kuhl (NY) Langevin Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) LaTourette Lee Levin Lewis (GA) Linder Lipinski LoBiondo Lofgren, Zoe Lowey Lynch Mack Maloney Manzullo Marchant Markey Marshall Matheson Matsui McCaul (TX) McCollum (MN) McCotter McDermott McGovern McIntyre McKinney Meehan Meek (FL) Meeks (NY) Melancon Menendez Michaud Millender-McDonald Miller (FL) Miller (MI) Miller (NC) Miller, Gary Miller, George Moore (KS) Moore (WI) Moran (KS) Moran (VA) Murphy Musgrave Myrick Napolitano Neal (MA) Neugebauer Ney Norwood Nunes Nussle Oberstar Obey Olver

Ortiz Osborne Otter Owens Pallone Pascrell Pastor Paul Payne Pence Peterson (MN) Peterson (PA) Petri Pickering Pitts Platts Poe Pombo Porter Price (NC) Putnam Radanovich Ramstad Rangel Reichert Reyes Reynolds Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Ros-Lehtinen Roybal-Allard Royce Rush Ryan (WI) Ryun (KS) Sabo Salazar Sánchez, Linda T. Sanchez, Loretta Sanders Schakowsky Scott (GA) Scott (VA) Sensenbrenner Serrano Sessions Shadegg Shimkus Shuster Slaughter Smith (TX) Sodrel Spratt Stark Stearns Strickland Sullivan Tancredo Tanner Tauscher Taylor (MS) Terry Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Tiberi Tierney Towns Turner Udall (CO) Udall (NM) Upton Van Hollen Velázquez Walden (OR) Wasserman Schultz Watson Watt Weiner Westmoreland Whitfield Wicker Wilson (NM) Woolsey Wu Wynn Young (AK)

---- NOES 170 ---

Abercrombie Ackerman Aderholt Akin Alexander Allen Baker Barrett (SC) Barrow Bean Beauprez Berkley Berman Biggert Bishop (UT) Blunt Bonilla Bono Boozman Boren Boswell Boustany Brady (PA) Burton (IN) Calvert Cantor Capito Capuano Carter Case Cole (OK) Costa Cox Cramer Crenshaw Crowley Cubin Culberson Cunningham Davis (AL) Davis (CA) Davis (IL) Davis (KY) Davis (TN) Davis, Tom DeLay Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Dicks Doolittle Doyle Drake Dreier Edwards Emerson Engel English (PA)

Eshoo Everett Farr Fattah Ferguson Forbes Ford Fortenberry Frelinghuysen Gerlach Gilchrest Gillmor Granger Graves Harris Hart Hastings (WA) Hayes Herger Herseth Higgins Hinchey Hobson Hoekstra Holden Honda Hunter Hyde Israel Issa Jackson (IL) Jackson-Lee (TX) Jindal Johnson (CT) Johnson (IL) Jones (OH) Kanjorski Kaptur Keller Kelly Kennedy (MN) Kennedy (RI) King (NY) Kirk Kline Knollenberg Kolbe LaHood Lantos Latham Lewis (CA) Lewis (KY) Lucas Lungren, Daniel E. McCarthy McCrery McHenry

McHugh McKeon McMorris McNulty Mica Mollohan Murtha Nadler Northup Oxley Pearce Pelosi Pomeroy Portman Price (GA) Pryce (OH) Rahall Regula Rehberg Renzi Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Ross Rothman Ruppersberger Ryan (OH) Saxton Schiff Schwartz (PA) Schwarz (MI) Shaw Shays Sherman Sherwood Simmons Simpson Skelton Smith (NJ) Smith (WA) Snyder Solis Souder Stupak Taylor (NC) Thomas Tiahrt Visclosky Wamp Waxman Weldon (FL) Weldon (PA) Weller Wexler Wilson (SC) Wolf Young (FL)

---- NOT VOTING 6 ---

Bachus Leach

Sweeney Thornberry

Walsh Waters

 

   ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE ACTING CHAIRMAN

   The Acting CHAIRMAN (Mr. Duncan) (during the vote). Members are advised that 2 minutes remain in this vote.

[Time: 17:38]

Messrs. TAYLOR of North Carolina, NADLER, ENGEL, FORD and ROSS changed their vote from "aye'' to "no.''

 Mr. LoBIONDO, Mr. ROHRABACHER and Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California changed their vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''

 So the amendment was agreed to.

The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.