Dissenting Statement on FY '06 National Defense Authorization Act

Statement from the House Floor

By Rep. Cynthia McKinney

Thank you Mr. Speaker.  I am against this rule and the underlying the bill.  Good substantive amendments that the American people need to hear debate on were not ruled in order.

I offered an amendment to force the Pentagon to share the names of the companies that have received $20 billion dollars to make Pentagon computers talk to each other.  According to the GAO, DOD business systems remain fundamentally flawed, unable to provide timely reliable information and leaving the DOD vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse. And yet we continue to give the Pentagon more and more, despite their admission they can't track $2.3 trillion dollars, and despite the fact they lost $100 million in Iraqi building funds and $9 billion dollars in Iraqi oil revenue.

Both my amendments would force the Pentagon to tell us where all of this money is going. My second amendment would have required the pentagon to tell the American people who had the contracts to operate the detention centers like Abu Ghraib that have so shamed us recently. Just imagine what we could do for Americans in need without all that Pentagon waste.

I do, and that's why I ask these questions. Other amendments addressing critical issues were not allowed, and I can think of no reason why the majority refuses to allow a full debate on these critical issues confronting us today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.