Res. No. 1090 Title Resolution urging the United States Congress to reject the FY 2004 supplemental appropriations request submitted by President George W. Bush totaling $87 billion to fund ongoing military and intelligence operations, relief efforts and reconstruction activities in Iraq and Afghanistan and instead urging Congress and President Bush to allocate the $87 billion towards infrastructure and social service needs in the United States. Body By Council Members Seabrook, Barron, Comrie, Foster, Liu, Lopez, Sanders, Stewart and Vann Whereas, As a result of the September 11, 2001 terrorists attacks on America, President George W. Bush launched a global war against terrorism intended to find and hold accountable those individuals or regimes responsible for the attacks and others who may be deemed as posing a continuing threat to the security of the United States; and Whereas, President Bush's global war against terrorism has caused the United States to engage in military operations in Afghanistan to remove the country's ruling Taliban from power, to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden and the leadership of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, and to shut down any terrorist training camps; and Whereas, The global war against terrorism has also caused the United States to recently engage in Operation Iraqi Freedom, an operation that, according to President Bush, was intended to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, free its people, defend the world from grave danger and remove Saddam Hussein and his sons from power; and Whereas, As a result of these operations, in April 2003, the United States Congress enacted the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act for Fiscal 2003, an Act which set aside approximately $80 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and to help the United States in its worldwide efforts against terrorism; and Whereas, Under questioning before the United States Senate's Armed Services Committee on July 9, 2003, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld indicated that the cost estimates for operations in Iraq had reached $3.9 billion a month and that the estimated costs for the on-going operations in Afghanistan had reached an estimated monthly cost of nearly $1 billion; and Whereas, President Bush recently submitted a FY 2004 supplemental appropriations request to Congress that seeks an additional $87 billion to fund the war on terror and the ongoing military and intelligence operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and to aid in the reconstruction efforts in both of those countries; and Whereas, The $87 billion supplemental appropriations request submitted by President Bush would allocate approximately $65.6 billion for the Department of Defense and classified activities, including $51 billion for Operation Iraqi Freedom, $11 billion for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and approximately $4 billion for coalition partners and mobilization support; and Whereas, President Bush's supplemental appropriations request would also set aside approximately $21.4 billion for the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Department of State, including $20.3 billion for the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund, $800 million for pressing security and reconstruction needs in Afghanistan, and $140 million for State Department operations; and Whereas, In addition to the fiscal impact of the country's ongoing war against terrorism, over the last several years the United States has also experienced a national recession that has left millions of Americans unemployed and major tax cuts enacted by President Bush that has caused a federal deficit estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to be approximately $401 billion for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2003; and Whereas, The mounting costs of the war against terrorism, particularly the expenditures for the on-going military operations and the relief and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with the nation's current difficult economic conditions has raised concerns and opposition to President Bush's $87 billion request among Members of Congress and the general public; and Whereas, In light of the these mounting military costs and difficult economic conditions, several members of the House of Representatives have introduced an amendment to the supplemental appropriations bill that would require payments to State and local governments for infrastructure and social services needs in the same amount as the $20.3 billion in funds allocated for relief and reconstruction efforts in Iraq; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York urges the United States Congress to reject the FY 2004 supplemental appropriations request submitted by President George W. Bush totaling $87 billion to fund ongoing military and intelligence operations, relief efforts and reconstruction activities in Iraq and Afghanistan; and, be it further Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York instead urges Congress and President Bush to allocate the $87 billion towards infrastructure and social service needs in the United States. Body LS# 3228 RA 10/7/2003 H:/word/resolutions/seabrook/ls#3228 |1013| |1013|