Congressman John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee issued the following statement regarding his vote on H.R.1559 the wartime emergency supplemental appropriations bill:

AFirst, my vote is a vote to support our brave troops and to ensure they have all of the equipment and supplies that they need while they diligently perform their duties in times of great danger. My vote should not be misread, however, as endorsing President Bush=s reckless diplomacy, his disdain for the U.N. and his decision to start this war.

          I have opposed this war as a matter of failed policy that will come back to haunt us in the coming years.  That is still my view, even if the current hostilities end as soon and as favorably as we all hope they do, now that the war has started.  I have opposed the decision to go to war as a perversion of the democratic process, because of all the misrepresentations that the Bush Administration has made to the American people in an effort to drum up support for war.  And I have opposed the war as an unconstitutional action because the war was not properly authorized by the Congress as required by Article I Section 8 of the Constitution.

Second, I will vote Aaye@ because the measure contains crucial funding for homeland security efforts by our states and cities, whose police, fire departments, emergency medical services and other personnel will be the Afirst responders@ to any future terrorist attacks. In particular, my vote is heavily influenced by the need for immediate financial help to the largest hospital in Detroit preserve its outstanding homeland security capabilities.

Detroit Receiving Hospital is the only adult Level 1 trauma center and decontamination unit in the City of Detroit. It is the only hospital able to provide state of the art response to terrorism disasters, including bioterrorism and chemical attacks.  It is also a leading teaching hospital for training physicians in the management of incidents involving weapons of mass destruction. These critical missions are in jeopardy because this hospital is steadily losing money as the hospital of last resort for uninsured patients. It is a classical example of an unfunded federal mandate: everyone must receive urgent care but no one is required to fully pay for it.  In its present condition, Detroit Receiving simply will not be able to maintain its special trauma treatment and training capability. I understand that homeland security funds for the states contained in this bill will be allocated to facilities such as Detroit Receiving Hospital so that their preeminent trauma treatment and training capacities can be preserved.  That impels me to support this bill.

This legislation is not satisfactory. The President=s proposed supplemental appropriation sent to the Congress was disappointing and distorted. He proposed a grossly inadequate amount for homeland security, although the President knows full well that our states and cities  face fiscal crises that have prevented funding adequate anti-terrorists precautions and response teams. The shortfall was so clear that this bill increases the President=s request for homeland security somewhat. But it still falls short of the amount that the Democrats proposed to add and which our states and cities desperately need.

Despite these and other objectionable features of the bill in its present form, I will support it, so that our troops are assured of the supplies and support they dearly deserve, and so that Detroit receives some of the funds they need to maintain and improve the medical facilities component of homeland security. For me, those are the overriding imperatives.@