Statement Of Senator Tom Harkin (D-Ia) On Senate Passage of the Supplemental Spending Bill

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May 22, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today released the following statement after the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 passed the Senate. The bill includes $73 billion in non-emergency, discretionary spending authority for the Department of Defense, for operations, personnel costs and equipment reconstitution for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The package also includes $1.5 billion for pandemic preparedness. It passed the Senate by a vote of 86 to 3.

“This spending bill includes provisions to meet the needs of our troops and fund military operations and ensure that our forces engaged in operations overseas have the best force protection equipment available as well as the most effective weaponry, communications gear, munitions, and other essential items. And with this funding, we are refocusing our efforts and attentions to the situation in Afghanistan – a shift in priorities that represents a much-needed step in the right direction for our national security interests.

“The bill also contains funding for a Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund, to train and equip Pakistan security forces to increase their counterinsurgency capability at a much-needed time. The enemies who attacked us on 9/11 were based in Afghanistan and are now based in Pakistan. We have a profound national interest in destroying al Qaeda and preventing the Taliban from taking over in either of those countries.

“I am particularly pleased that the bill includes funding to bolster pandemic preparedness and response. We are all relieved that the current H1N1 flu has been relatively mild, at least in the U.S., but it is imperative that the United States be prepared with a vaccine this fall. We need continue to invest in research to develop new antivirals that can replace the current ones, if necessary, and invest in state and local public health preparedness.

“President Obama intends for this to be the last of the ‘emergency’ supplemental spending bills to fund our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan and I commend him in that effort. Starting next year, we can incorporate war funding into the overall budget – a move that will bring more accountability to our budgeting.”

Source: Senator Tom Harkin