Congressman Kildee Analyzes Terrorist Threats, Economic Policy
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Congressman Dale Kildee views events from perspective of 14 terms in Congress
Congressman Dale Kildee, D-Flint, is concerned about the continuing threat from Al Queda and the United States economy.
Speaking to the Bay City Rotary Club recently, Kildee analyzed world affairs from the perspective of his 27 years in Congressunder six Presidents plus two years spent in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan under a Rotary International Fellowship in 1958-59.
"The U.S. faces two major conflicts, he said: 1) The war on terrorism. 2) The war in Iraq.
"Al Queda is still very much alive and we must be willing to bear the cost," said the veteran legislator. "The war on Iraq is not quite so," he added, noting that he voted against authorizing the war. "I questioned the need, but once the decision was made the troops have to be given everything they need to carry out their mission. We can't have a repeat of what happened in Somalia."
Serious questions remain about international support and our exit strategy from Iraq, according to the Congressman. "It's alot easier to win the war than the peace, which is how we will be judged," he cautioned.
Kildee said his fellowship in the Middle East taught him about the real nature of Islam. "Real Islam is not what we find the terrorists doing. The basis ofthe Muslim religion is to surrender to God's will and from that get peace."
On the domestic front, Kildee is concerned about President Bush's tax proposals. "Is it prudent to cut taxes by $2 trillion when we have the terrorist threat abroad?"
He made the inevitable comparison between the Clinton and Bush administrations. "We had four years of surpluses under President Clinton," the Congressman noted. "We had a $236 billion surplus in 2000 and we began to pay off the national debt. People felt good and there was a sense of economic patriotism. Now we face a record budget deficit of $400 billion, the largest in history. More than 2.7 million jobs have been lost."
Kildee opposes the current and future tax cuts President Bush has proposed. "This will drive us deeper in debt and we certainly have no agreement that this will stimulate the economy."
He noted that the Senate was recently forced to increase the national debt limit to $984 billion just to keep the government running. "There are concerns on both sides of the aisle," he said, referring to both Republican and Democratic dissenters to the President's economic policy.
"The secret of the success of the American economy is investment and purchasing power," theveteran Congressman opined, referring to Henry Ford's $5 a day wage which gave working men the purchasing power to afford the cars he was making.
"We should provide investment with a reasonable hope of increasing earning power," he said.
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