Posted at 6:28 p.m., Thursday, May 5, 2005
Congressmen split vote over military funding
Associated Press
Hawai'i's two U.S. representatives split their votes today as the House voted overwhelmingly to approved an $82 billion spending bill, mostly for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.Rep. Ed Case voted for the measure that was approved 368-58.
Fellow Democratic Congressman Neil Abercrombie voted against the bill, which he called a "slush fund for Halliburton."
Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, provides much of the logistics for the U.S. military in Iraq.
In a news release issued by his Washington office, Abercrombie cited a section of the bill that allows for unrestricted Department of Defense transfer authority for $6.2 billion.
"This is a staggering amount of money the DOD can play with, without any accountability to Congress, the public or anyone else," Abercrombie said.
"It goes to very heart of how our nation is governed," he said. "We demand transparency and accountability from governments in other parts of the world, but that's exactly what's missing from this bill.
"It allows huge sweetheart contracts for companies like Halliburton, it hides the true cost of the war, and it keeps the public in the dark about how their dollars are being spent," Abercrombie said.
