www.justiceblind.com

Representative Virginia Foxx
240 Hwy 105 Extension
Suite 200
Boone, NC 28607

 Dear Representative Foxx

 In your tenure as Congresswoman for the Fifth Congressional District of North Carolina, you’ve consistently voted for authorization of federal funds for the Iraq war.  Yet, you voted against authorization of funds to provide support for victims of Hurricane Katrina, reportedly because of a lack of accountability to taxpayers.

 As it turns out, funding for the Iraq war is not accountable to taxpayers.  Please consider the following information from the “Iraq Study Group Report,” a group led by loyal and strong President Bush supporter, James Baker.  The report states:

 “The public interest is not well served by the government’s preparation, presentation, and review of the budget for the war in Iraq.

 “First, most of the costs of the war show up not in the normal budget request but in requests for emergency supplemental appropriations.  This means that funding requests are drawn up outside the normal budget process, are not offset by budgetary reductions elsewhere, and move quickly to the White House with minimal scrutiny.  Bypassing the normal review erodes budget discipline and accountability. 

 “Second, the executive branch presents budget requests in a confusing manner, making it difficult for both the general public and members of Congress to understand the request or to differentiate it from counterterrorism operations around the world or operations in Afghanistan.  Detailed analyses by budget experts are needed to answer what should be a simple question: ‘How much money is the President requesting for the war in Iraq?’

 “Finally, circumvention of the budget process by the executive branch erodes oversight and review by Congress. … When the President submits an emergency supplemental request, the authorizing committees are bypassed.  The request goes directly to the appropriations committees, and they are pressured by the need to act quickly so that troops in the field do not run out of funds.  The result is a spending bill that passes Congress with perfunctory review…

 “… Costs for the war in Iraq should be included in the President’s annual budget request, starting in FY 2008: the war is in its fourth year, and the normal budget process should not be circumvented.  Funding requests for the war in Iraq should be presented clearly to Congress and the American people.  Congress must carry out its constitutional responsibility to review budget requests for the war in Iraq carefully and to conduct oversight.” (pp. 59-60)

 As one of your constituents, I ask you, how do you explain your open-ended, unquestioned support of all this non-accountable spending for the Iraq war?  Further, as my Representative in Congress, what are you prepared to do about Congress’ non-accountable spending for the war?

 I’ve heard it said many times that you are responsive to your constituents.  As one of them, I eagerly await your answers.

 Sincerely,

 Dr. Matthew Robinson, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Appalachian State University