27 March 2003
Rumsfeld Urges Congress to Support Supplemental Funding Request
(Vows Iraq's Saddam Hussein will be removed) (2420)
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said March 27 that the
coalition's battle to disarm Iraq and end the regime of Saddam Hussein
is still closer to the beginning than the end, but the outcome is
assured.
"Saddam Hussein's regime will be removed. The only thing that remains
unclear is precisely how long it will take," Rumsfeld said in prepared
testimony for two congressional appropriations committees March 27.
The committees were considering legislation requested by President
Bush for a supplemental appropriation of $74.7 billion to pay for
military operations in Iraq and the global war on terrorism.
"The costs of military operations in Iraq, and the other missions
currently under way in the global war on terror, cannot be absorbed
without the emergency supplemental appropriation the president has
requested," he said.
Rumsfeld told the committees that what the coalition forces have
accomplished since the war in Iraq began last week is remarkable.
Of the total $74.7 billion [$74,700 million] Bush is seeking, the
Pentagon would receive $62.6 billion to pay for its operations, he
said.
The Pentagon request includes:
-- $7.1 billion for the round-trip costs to transport troops and
equipment to the Persian Gulf region and back;
-- $13.1 billion to provide fuel, supplies, repair parts, maintenance,
and other operational support;
-- $15.6 billion for incremental personnel costs;
-- $7.2 billion to begin replacing cruise missiles, smart bombs and
other key munitions;
-- $12 billion for stability operations, military operations to find
and destroy terrorist networks, humanitarian assistance, and the costs
of finding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction;
-- $1.5 billion for coalition support in the global war on terrorism
-- including $1.3 billion for reimbursement to Pakistan and other key
nations cooperating in the effort in Afghanistan, and $165 million for
training the Afghan National Army; and
-- $6.1 billion for other requirements to support operations in Iraq
and the war on terrorism.
Following is the text of Rumsfeld's remarks, as prepared:
(Note: In the text, "billion" equals 1,000 million)
(begin transcript)
FY 2003 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations
Testimony as Prepared for Delivered by Secretary of Defense Donald H.
Rumsfeld
Senate Appropriations Committee and House Appropriations Committee --
Subcommittee on Defense
March 27, 2003.
Washington, D.C.
Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity
to update you on our progress in the global war on terror, and to
discuss the President's emergency supplemental request to fund
worldwide operations in support of that war.
We are now less than a week into Operation Iraqi Freedom. The major
ground war began last Thursday at 10 p.m., and the major air war
started on Friday, the following day at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. So while
the conflict is well begun, it has only begun -- we are still closer
to the beginning than the end.
Already, coalition forces have made good progress. The men and women
in uniform-U.S. and coalition forces alike-are doing a superb job.
They have engaged the enemy in demanding circumstances-enduring wind
gusts in excess of 85 miles-an-hour, and sand storms so intense that
they literally turn day into night, blacking out the sun. They face an
adversary which has demonstrated its contempt for the laws of
war-dressing its forces as liberated civilians; sending them out
waving white flags, feigning surrender, in order to draw coalition
forces into ambushes; using hospitals as a base from which to launch
attacks and hiding behind human shields.
In spite of these challenges, what coalition forces have accomplished
in less than a week is remarkable:
-- Coalition aircrews have flown thousands of sorties, striking
leadership and Republican guard targets day and night.
-- Coalition ground forces have raced across more than 200 miles of
Iraqi territory -- through enemy fire and inhospitable terrain -- to
reach a point just south of Baghdad in less than a week. It is an
impressive rate of advance.
-- They have secured Iraq's southern oil fields, preventing an
environmental disaster and the destruction of critical resources that
the Iraqi people will need once Saddam Hussein has been removed.
-- In the North, the coalition has launched devastating attacks on
terrorist targets, is having success in disrupting terrorist
operations, and has prevented an Iraqi advance on the Kurds.
-- In the West, coalition forces have had good success securing the
region and dealing with the regime's capability to threaten
neighboring countries from that part of Iraq.
As the battle unfolds in Iraq, coalition forces are also engaged in
operations elsewhere in the world in support of the global war on
terror. Just a few weeks before the Iraq campaign began, the al-Qaeda
network was dealt a serious blow with the capture of one of their most
senior operatives -- Khalid Sheik Mohammed. And last week, as
Operation Iraqi Freedom got underway, coalition forces also launched a
major assault on terrorists operating in the southern mountains of
Afghanistan -- Operation Valiant Strike. Many other anti-terrorist
efforts are underway throughout the world-efforts that are, of
necessity, often unseen, but which are helping to protect our people
from further acts of terror.
The point is this: all elements of national power are fighting the
global war on terror on all fronts. The coalition is putting steady
pressure on al-Qaeda, in Afghanistan and across the globe. And the
Iraqi regime is discovering they made a serious miscalculation in
rejecting 12 years of efforts to secure their peaceful disarmament.
The campaign could well grow more dangerous in the coming days and
weeks, as the forces close in on Baghdad. But the outcome is assured.
Saddam Hussein's regime will be removed. The only thing that remains
unclear is precisely how long it will take.
We do know this much: these efforts cost money. The costs of military
operations in Iraq, and the other missions currently underway in the
global war on terror, cannot be absorbed without the emergency
supplemental appropriation the President has requested.
Since the new fiscal year began, every month since October 2002 --
October, November, December, January, February and now March 2003 --
we have had to borrow from other programs to pay for the costs of the
global war on terror.
That pattern cannot continue much longer. The Services have already
gone through all of their discretionary spending for the 1st, 2nd and
3rd quarters of 2003 -- and will soon have exhausted 4th quarter
discretionary funding.
If this continues, we will run out of discretionary funds by late
spring/early summer -- which could force us to curtail training,
maintenance and other critical activities.
The President has submitted a supplemental request of $74.7 billion.
It includes $62.6 billion for the Department of Defense to support
military operations in Iraq and throughout the global war on terror.
Our troops are depending on it -- those engaged in battle, those
preparing for battle, those stationed at critical outposts across the
globe, and those deployed here in the United States defending the
homeland.
The request for DoD includes, among other things:
-- $7.1 billion for the round-trip costs of transporting our forces
and equipment to and from the theater of operations;
-- $13.1 billion to provide war fighters in theater with the fuel,
supplies, repair parts, maintenance, and other operational support
they need to prevail;
-- $15.6 billion for incremental personnel costs, such as for special
pay and compensation for mobilized reservists;
-- $7.2 billion to start reconstituting our forces by replacing the
cruise missiles, smart bombs, and other key munitions being expended
in the course of the conflict.
-- $12 billion for stability operations, military operations to root
out terrorist networks and deal with any remaining pockets of
resistance, humanitarian assistance, and operations to search for and
destroy Iraqi WMD.
-- $1.5 billion for coalition support in the global war on terror --
including $1.3 billion for reimbursement to Pakistan and other key
cooperating nations assisting the effort in Afghanistan, and $165
million for training of the Afghan National Army.
-- And $6.1 billion for other requirements outlined in the request to
support military operations in Iraq and the global war on terror.
Of the $62.6 billion the President has requested for DoD in this
supplemental, $30.3 billion are funds that have already been spent or
committed-including the cost of flowing forces into the region to
support the diplomatic efforts before Operation Iraqi Freedom began.
If the Iraqi regime had agreed to voluntarily disarm and prevent a
war, the costs of sustaining that military pressure through the rest
of the fiscal year would have been in excess of $40 billion. So even
without a war, the costs of disarming Iraq would have been
significant.
The President has also requested funds in this supplemental for both
an Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund, and a Natural Resources Risk
Remediation Fund to help with emergency fire fighting and repair of
damage to oil facilities. It is important that we have these resources
available.
But let me be clear: when it comes to reconstruction, before we turn
to the American taxpayers, we will turn first to the resources of the
Iraqi government itself and the international community. That is why
the President last week seized frozen Iraqi assets in the United
States-so that they can be put to use to rebuild the country. Once
Saddam Hussein is gone, the U.S. will work with the Iraqi Interim
Authority that will be established to tap Iraq's oil revenues, the
funds Iraq is owed in the UN's "oil for food" program, and other Iraqi
resources to fund their reconstruction effort.
Reconstruction will require a significant international effort. The
threat posed by Saddam Hussein's regime is a global threat -- which is
why some 47 nations have publicly associated themselves with the
coalition in Iraq, and many more are helping privately. Already, a
number of countries have indicated that they want to help with
reconstruction and stability in a post-Saddam Iraq.
Mr. Chairman, in addition to needing this supplemental, we also need
greater flexibility in how we spend it -- so we can adjust to the
constantly changing circumstances of the war.
It is our hope that the period of intense combat in Iraq will be as
short as possible-and that the coalition operations can shift quickly
from combat to restoring stability and civil order, supplying
humanitarian assistance, and helping Iraq's people rebuild and assume
functional and political authority from the coalition.
That is our hope. But when it will happen is not knowable.
-- We do not know when the period of intense combat will end.
-- We do not yet know how much damage there will be to Iraq's
infrastructure-though the coalition forces are making efforts to keep
that damage minimal while inflicting maximum damage to regime targets.
-- We do not know how the international effort will unfold and the
specifics of what each country is willing to offer.
-- Moreover, France has announced it will veto any new Security
Council resolution and block coalition efforts to give the UN an
appropriate role in the post-Saddam reconstruction effort.
-- That means we cannot know the extent to which the UN will be
permitted to help the Iraqi people, what access the coalition will
have to the UN's "oil-for-food" program funds, when economic sanctions
might be lifted, and the answers to many other unknowns.
The point is that: with so many unknowns, we will need some
flexibility. Just as the military plan General Franks developed has
flexibility built into it so that our forces can deal with unexpected
events on the battlefield, our budget plan must also have flexibility
to deal with changing circumstances on the ground.
That is why it is important that the funding requested for the Defense
Emergency Response Fund (DERF) be appropriated in that fund-with its
own transfer authority -- so we will have the flexibility to respond
to the inevitable changes on the ground.
It is also important that Congress approve the general provisions the
President has requested in the supplemental-especially the request for
increased general transfer authority (GTA). The President has
requested a General Transfer Authority ceiling of 2.5% of the FY 2003
DoD budget. That figure is reasonable. Increased flexibility is
needed.
The President has requested a war supplemental of $74.7 billion. That
figure is not the cost of the war; that figure is the best estimate of
the money that the State Department, the CIA, the Department of
Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense need to carry us from
October 1, 2002 through the end of this fiscal year.
We can't know how long the effort in Iraq is going to last -- and we
certainly can't tell what it is going to cost. It is not knowable.
What I do know is that, whatever it ends up costing, it will be small
compared to the cost in lives and treasure of another attack like the
one we experienced on September 11th -- or a weapons of mass
destruction attack that could be far worse.
The Milken Institute estimated that metropolitan areas throughout the
U.S. sustained losses of about $191 billion as a result of 9/11 and
some 1.6 million jobs were lost as a result of the attacks. And that's
not to mention the cost in lives lost and the pain and the suffering
of so many who lost husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and
daughters, sisters and brothers on that terrible day.
Our mission in the global war on terror is to do everything in our
power to prevent a chemical, biological or nuclear attack that would
make 9/11 seem modest by comparison -- an attack where we could lose
not 3,000 people, but 30,000 or 300,000, or more.
Yes, $74.7 billion dollars is a lot of money -- but the cost of not
investing that $74.7 billion would be far greater.
Mr. Chairman, we need the funds-and we need flexibility in how they
are spent, so we can adapt to unforeseen and unknowable circumstances
that will unfold in the weeks and months ahead.
We will continue to brief the Congress regularly as events unfold on
the ground, as these unknowns come into better focus. We appreciate
the strong support you have shown for the President, and for the men
and women in uniform. They are doing a remarkable job and I know that
they will succeed in their mission.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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