2 Top Democrats Press Bush for Details on 9/11 Spending

[kskiska]

WASHINGTON, April 26 — The senior Democrats on the House and Senate appropriations committees pressed the White House on Monday for a full accounting of how the Bush administration had spent $40 billion in emergency money that was provided by Congress just days after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Building on a report that the White House had prepared for the invasion of Iraq by diverting $700 million from post-Sept. 11 emergency appropriations, the two lawmakers, Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia and Representative David R. Obey of Wisconsin, said they had "numerous concerns" beyond the $700 million about the use of the emergency money.

"When the Congress provided the extraordinary authorities in response to the Al Qaeda attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, it expected that tax dollars would be managed carefully so as to provide assistance to the victims of the attack, to secure our homeland and to improve our national security," the lawmakers said in a letter to the White House.

Mr. Byrd and Mr. Obey said that contrary to the requirements of law, there appeared to have been no consultation with Congress on how $20 billion specifically handed over to the president for his allocation had been distributed. They also said the administration had not submitted required quarterly reports on the use of the entire $40 billion for almost a year.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/politics/27SPEN.html

[whistle]

1. Hold Bush's feet to the fire on this....

:kick:

[wicket]

2. Bless-you senator Byrd!

He is a true patriot!!!! :)

[BadGimp]

3. Eyes Popping

Is it posisble there is this much blatant corruption??

[Terry_M]

4. Nooooo

Of course not ;)

[truthisfreedom]

5. 40 billion dollars, and we have no idea how it was spent?

and he'll have fun fun fun till kerry takes his treasury awayyyy...

[loudsue]

6. ROFL!!! Love it, tif!!

:bounce: GO BYRD & OBEY!!! :bounce:

Get Sen. Waxman in on this, and y'all have a picnic on the White House lawn!! Just camp out there until shrub comes clean.

We need some more Grand Juries for this administration!!!

:kick::kick::kick:

[DeepModem Mom]

7. kick

[dusty64]

8. I'm glad someone is bringing

this up. I understand it to be a VERY impeachable offense as well as making a complete mockery of our regimes endless "war on terra".

[Just Me]

12. Impeachable offense was committed by deceiving congress,...

,...the American people and the world concerning the bogus WMD claims!!! And that offense was a blatant, in your face kinda' act. Just imagine the high crimes and misdeanors that have been committed behind closed doors by the neofascistcons!!!

[underpants]

14. Apparently the Repubs were briefed

Republicans in charge of the appropriations committees, who have raised no objections to the spending, have said they were generally kept abreast of how the emergency money was being used.

[Tellurian]

9. Well, somebody signed off on the unauthorized allocation of funds...

someone should start looking at Asscroft. In reading the Executive Orders written by Bush over the last 3 1/2 yrs. Bush has given Asscroft extraordinary powers of discretion with regards to Energy and Communications issues. It probably includes the release of federal funds without congressional approval.

[Tellurian]

10. Posting the article labeled as duplicate here for further info:

Democrats demand accounting on terrorism funds



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two senior Democrats demanded on Monday that the White House provide an accounting of how $40 billion in emergency antiterrorism funds was spent after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The demand from Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin comes in the wake of a book by Bob Woodward, "Plan of Attack," that alleges the administration bypassed Congress and shifted some funds from the war on terror to prepare for war against Iraq in 2002.

"We have numerous concerns about the administration's stewardship of these funds," Byrd and Obey, the top Democrats on the Senate and House Appropriations committees, wrote in a letter to President Bush.

At issue is whether Byrd, Obey and other congressional offices were properly notified about how the money was spent.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/26/congress.iraq/index.html

[Bandit]

11. Bush* didn't submit REQUIRED quarterly reports?

Hmmmm. Why does that have such a familiar ring to it. Oh I know Bush* didn't submit for Requiredflight physical either. Seems he doesn't like doing required things does he?

[underpants]

13. pssst follow the money

I the "bulk" of it is not what we need to be concerned about we need to know about ALL of it.

Bob Woodward reported in his new book, "Plan of Attack," that the administration had used $700 million to make ready for the Iraq invasion without telling Congress. The administration has said it complied with all spending laws and did not use the bulk of that $700 million until after the House and the Senate had passed resolutions authorizing force against Iraq.

[underpants]

15. Notice at the end how they STILL try to tie 9/11 to Iraq

"The president asked for, and Congress provided, unprecedented flexibility for funds to wage the war on terror in the wake of 9/11," said the official, Chad Kolton, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget. `Since then the administration has kept Congress fully informed about obligations from the emergency response fund."

[central scrutinizer]

16. Were the funds for NYC included here?

Remember when * promised to help New York City rebuild and help the families of the first responders, etc. Once the cameras were turned off, they immediately started backtracking.

http://www.pkarchive.org/column/082603.html

excerpt:

Immediately after 9/11 there was a great national outpouring of sympathy for New York, and a natural inclination to provide generous help. President Bush quickly promised $20 billion, and everyone expected the federal government to assume the burden of additional security. Yet hard-line Republicans never wanted to help the stricken city. Indeed, according to an article by Michael Tomasky in New York magazine, Senators Phil Gramm and Don Nickles attempted to slash aid to New York within hours of Mr. Bush's promise.

Matters were patched up sufficiently so Mr. Bush could make his triumphant appearance at ground zero the next day. But then the backtracking began. By February 2002, only a fraction of the promised funds had been allocated — and Mitch Daniels, the White House budget director, accused New York's lawmakers of playing "money-grubbing games."

Why this stinginess? A source told Mr. Tomasky that "Gramm just doesn't like spending money. And Nickles . . . he's just anti-New York." That sums it up: even after 9/11, hard-line conservatives opposed any spending, no matter how justified, that wasn't on weapons or farm subsidies, while some people from America's "red states" just hate big-city folk.

[apnu]

17. I just emailed my senators and representative on this...

Here is the message I used, should others wish to use it as well when contacting their senators and reps.

text in bold and italics should be changed to personalize the letter/email
<snip>
Dear Representative/Senator,

I came across the New York Times article entitled "Top Democrats Press Bush for Details on 9/11 Spending" (link: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/politics/27SPEN.html -- free registration required) The article details the questions Senator Byrd and Representative Obey are raising on the Bush Administration’s use of funds in post 9/11 America. I urge you, as my representative, to join Senator Byrd and Rep. Obey in this effort to investigate this issue.

The misuse of funds in the defense of our nation is a subject far beyond partisan politics, and so, I urge you to call on all members of the House/Senate to join Representative Obey or Senator Byrd in his endeavor to investigate any wrong doings.

If wrong doings are discovered, I then urge you, to call for the appropriate consequences to be leveled against those who committed any crimes to the fullest extent of the law. If that means impeachment -- then so be it, you will have my support.

Sincerely,
full name,
Registered voter, resident of state's district, city/town
</snip>

on edit: for more personalization

[ConcernedCanuk]

18. Well - heck, they don't even really have to check out that 40 billion

.
.
.

The fact that they've spent over 110 Billion on Iraq should tell us all where King George's priorities lie.

Sheesh!

Not only that,

How many troops and tonnage of war machines are dedicated to Afghanistan as compared to Iraq?

Sheesh again!

BUT

If ya can nail the boy king on misappropriation of funds

GO FOR IT!



"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower

April 16, 1953

http://costofwar.com/

[dusty64]

19. Yet another impeachable offense

swept under the rug by congress and Pravda. Well at least these two are trying, wheres the rest of the Democrats?