Cole Says "No" To Loaded War Supplemental

WASHINGTON – Today Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) issued the following statement regarding the emergency War Supplemental. Despite the House and Senate previously passing clean versions of the bill, the final version - the conference report - has been unnecessarily loaded with $108 billion in aid for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"Last month, the House of Representatives passed a clean troop funding bill on a strong and bipartisan vote - I had hoped to be able to do so again today," Congressman Cole said. "But unfortunately the Administration and the Senate chose to load up an otherwise good bill with a $108 billion global bail out. This will permanently increase by ten fold the IMF's ability to borrow from the U.S. Treasury. And this comes at a time when our own national resources have been so depleted by the Obama Administration's spending spree, that we would have to borrow the money ourselves in order to make it available to the IMF. Something is seriously wrong with the idea that the United States will essentially borrow money from China in order to establish a line of credit for an international bank to make loans to foreign countries - some of whom are our enemies."

"I am strongly in favor of funding our troops in the field of battle. But with the size of our troop commitment growing, and our new focus in Afghanistan unfolding, now is not the time to meddle with military funding measures. Unfortunately the Majority in the House of Representatives decided to push through with this legislation, knowing that they would lose the support of dozens of Republicans. It's clear that the Majority has lost the mantle of bipartisanship on this issue. If they are going to talk-the-talk of bipartisanship - they should remember to also walk-the-walk."

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