Supplemental Spending for Iraq & Afghanistan. The Senate version of this bill (S. 1689) would appropriate $86.5 billion in fiscal 2004 supplemental spending for military operations and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unlike the House version (H.R. 3289), S. 1689 also included an amendment requiring that $10 billion of the approximately $20 billion in Iraqi reconstruction aid be initially offered as a loan — and be converted into a grant only if 90 percent of Iraq’s bilateral debts, estimated at $130 billion, are forgiven by its creditors. (This amendment was deleted from the final version of this legislation, known as the conference report. The conference report was approved by voice vote in the Senate and roll call vote in the House.)
The Senate passed S. 1689 on October 17, 2003 by a vote of 87 to 12 (Roll Call 400). We have assigned pluses to the nays because the U.S. military was sent into Iraq to enforce UN resolutions, when the only proper use of our nation’s armed forces is to protect the lives and property of American citizens, and the huge U.S.-funded infrastructure rebuilding program in Iraq and Afghanistan is another example of unconstitutional foreign aid.
