god ever mindful of those who place their trust in you you bless our comings and are going for you are god with us and guide every step of the way today we ask your blessing and serve this noble institution and its members with diligence prudence and right judge and may they be welcomed with sincerity and gratitude today lord we also pray for the honorable charlie norwood who will be carried from your church here on earth and laid to rest may the modest smile on his face come to a full expression as he hears you say well done my good and faithful servant enter the joy of your master grant his family and friends the consolation that comes from  may he and all those who serve and love others and work in public service through your mercy rest in peace and the chairs examine the journal of the preceding day and announces to the house her approval there out for santa clause wonderful one the general stance approved the pledge will be led by the gentlewoman from the virgin islands mrs christian has joined me in pledge of allegiance i pledge allegiance to the law of the united states of america and to the republic for which i same that you take this obligation freely without any natural reservation or purpose of evasion and that you will well and faithfully execute the duties of the office on which you are about to enter so help you god for what purpose does it does the gentleman from maryland drive them straight your offer a privilege resolution and ask for its immediate consideration to tell the united states senate the historic action we have taken this to the clerical report the resolution how frontally one sixty five resolved that the senate be informed that lorraine c miller a citizen of the state of texas has been elected clerk of the house of representatives of the one hundred tenth congress what purpose does the distinguished madam speaker offer another privilege resolution i ask her to make it consideration of before proceeding i would like to say that without objection the previous resolution is agreed to in motion to reconsider resolution one sixty six resolved that the clerk be instructed to inform the president of the united states that the house of representatives has elected lorraine's e mail or a citizen of the state of texas clerk of the house of representatives of the one hundred their lays before the house a communication the honorable the speaker house of representatives madam under calls to g of roll two of the roles of the u s house of representatives  here with designate miss margery c kalon her deputy clerk and mr jorge you sorenson deputy clerk to sign any and all papers and do all of their acts for me under the name of the clerk of the house which they would be authorized to do by virtue of this designation except such as are provided by statute in the case of my temporary absence or disability this does that nation shall remain in effect for the one hundred tenth congress or until modified by me with best wishes  d sincerely signed lorraine c miller clerk of the house the resolutions are necessary for the office of clerk and so there is much fanfare associated with that we are also equally as pleased to have the services of daniel p two years as our chief administrative officer of the house old the chairman entertain a few ten one minutes on each side for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise gentleman is recognized thank you madam speaker of speaker i had a one minute prepared to talk about the debate on iraq but i think what's more appropriate at this time is to talk about what this house of representative says experience in these since january the fourth the doors of this house of representatives indeed this country's been open to thought perspectives on issues that have been stifled for the last twelve years i want to thank the speaker for her leadership for the leadership of the democratic party and the chairman what they brought forward the first woman ever elected speaker  this country's history the first african american to be elected clerk history is being made the issues coming forth for middle america for people who are in need for the future of this planet i want to thank the speaker america is going in the right today while congress argues the resolution of retreat from iraq this illness of defeatism is spreading self proclaimed military experts are saying the war cannot be won even with more troops or have always had homegrown critics and doomsayers even in the military those in and out of the military who say we cannot win and should never be placed in a position to allow us to lose those critics records in the battlefield of hope this resolution this policy of no more troops for the troops these are volunteers in iraq in a precarious vulnerable situation since no help is coming to there are a what shall our troops now in iraq with less manpower fight a containment war fight not to lose or win not retreat to the hills this resolution is good news to the terrorists bad news for the troops we should find a more will to finish our mission in iraq and protect american interests with whatever number of troops is necessary duty require such and safety and on are demanding and that's just the way it is what purpose of the gentleman  mr speaker as we continue today to debate a resolution on the floor voicing this congress his opposition to the president's plan to send twenty one thousand five hundred more troops to iraq i think it's important that we stress that congress is not alone in opposing the president's escalation first of all it's critical that we remember that the people of iraq do not wish us to be in their country they wish to sort this out themselves and we need to honor that retired and military leaders in our country have also expressed their opposition to this plan retired general barry mccaffrey describes the president's plan as a full airing and retired general wesley clark said without such fundamental change in washington's approach there was little hope that the troop surge or raqi promises and accompanying rhetoric will amount to anything other than stay the course more and there's some lieutenant general raymond odierno the commander of the nasty multinational corps in iraq it's clear that you cannot solve this problem militarily you have to have a combination of military economic and diplomatic things that we need to do thank you and i yield back my time says we support the troops the second part says we're not going to reinforce the troops but that's kind of curious in a way i suppose isn't it who we would receive we would support them with up armored humvees with body armor with packs but  not going to allow other troops to help the troops we have there seems like you can't have it both ways it's self contradictory you picture davy crocket at the iowa ball and he's there and he's got  to the wall and he gets this black berry out and he checks with the congress of the congress says davy crocket we support you but we're not going to send anybody to help i don't think you can have it both ways when i was a legislator in the state of missouri i kept track of some of what i consider to be the silliest legislation that i had seen one of them was this lady that got so enthused about volunteering that she created a bill called mandatory voluntourism that was odd  here we go we're saying support but don't support this is curious and it undermines people like my son who has served in fallujah thank you comes time to expire what purpose of the gentleman from california  without objection this is speaker for four years president bush has been able to run the war in iraq any way he wanted to without any questions or proper oversight from congress that's change with the november elections when the american people said they wanted a check on the president's power just like the house is checking that power debating a simple resolution that says the president's message that this house does not agree with his plan to send more troops to iraq i hope this serves as a wake up call to the president and that the status quo in iraq is not acceptable to the new congress and this new plan is not a change in direction but it's an escalation of his same failed and dangerous policy the president has already heard from the bipartisan iraq study group and from his own generals that a military solution is no longer possible and yet that is exactly what he has proposed this to speaker this week democrats and republicans will send the president a strong message that we must change course in iraq and it's really time for the president to listen what purposes gentleman from michigan writes that object mr speaker i rise today to honor america's brave men and women currently serving in the name of freedom and to oppose this resolution of retreat as abraham lincoln said famously in his second inaugural address fervently do we pray that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away as americans we are reluctant warriors but throughout our rich history whenever our troops have been in harm's way america has supported the men and women in uniform and made certain our troops have the necessary resources to accomplish their mission without a doubt mistakes have been made and these mistakes are important to acknowledge but we must go forward with a new strategy in iraq based on quantifiable goals and measurable results we must not retreat at this critical time the american people long for true leadership and resolve and i urge my colleagues to put aside political posturing and partisanship and ensure our troops have the resources and support needed to complete this mission victory is the only option and i yield back my time for the purpose of the gentleman from ohio wri without objection rather than announce a diplomatic initiative similar to north korea to resolve the stalemate over iran's nuclear ambitions yesterday the president said that the iranian government is supplying deadly weapons to fighters in iraq even though he can't prove the orders came from the highest levels and saran why is he maintaining this i believe he's maintaining it to satisfy section two c of the one nine hundred seventy three war powers resolution which reads in part the constitutional powers of the president commander in chief to introduce united states armed forces into hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances in our exercise pursuant to a national emergency created by to attack upon the united states its territories or possessions or its armed forces so what's going on here is that the administration is seeking a justification for a military conflict with iran that's why the administration is changing its emphasis his justification now is to protect u troops in iraq and very significantly this justification could relieve the president of needing congressional authorization you know back then it was time expired what purposes gentlewoman from north carolina to protect us and we are undermining their efforts the other side has done some very awful things for political gain in this session but this event is the pit of poc recy the height of hypocrisy history has shown us that involvement in sending all the resources necessary was essential to winning world war two and we did in fact preserve freedom and democracy and many americans were against world war two calling for isolationism and passivism hoping that hitler would stay true to his word regardless of the extensive military buildup the united states had no choice but to enter the war to save europe and democracy that was the definitive conflict of that era we're now facing the definitive conflict of ours mr speaker this is a tremendous disservice to our troops their families and the american tradition of being honorable liberators fighting for democracy this resolution is an insult to our troops and the american people were objection i'm so proud to be an american i'm so proud that we have first amendment freedoms and why this house of representatives as the size of a step up a debate the issue of iraq i'm not ashamed that i want much for the call well i'm not ashamed to say that the babies that have died in iraq come from cleveland chicago illinois to come home and get out of harm's way i'm not unpatriotic i'm his patriotic as  i stand here to say to america the day that the democrats and the calls of representatives and the democrats in the senate want to defy fortunately we have a strong leader in the house and we're debating somehow the finnick thing to get off of stupid and not the people and their families know that we care about them i give my get the rest of my time i've got to accept gentleness times acquired what purpose of the gentleman from virginia arise for permission to address the house for one minute revise and you mr speaker mr speaker this is a historically can iraq they have passed a new gadget for two thousand and seven an overwhelming majority of the iraqi council of representatives voted in favor of the forty one point one billion dollar budget that will aid iraq with rebuilding security and move them forward to be more self sufficient we should celebrate this achievement as evidence that we are making progress in iraq and we should allow the new strategy to stretch strategy a chance to work the two thousand and seven i wreckage it represents a twenty one percent increase over the two thousand and six budget over ten billion will be dedicated to reconstruction efforts and capital investment projects this year and over seven billion will be in to provide security to protect iraq from insurgents that continue to work against the cause of freedom this is great news from iraq we are making progress i applaud the dedication to fiscal responsibility in iraq and urge my colleagues to celebrate the success stories like this one in iraq and i think you know when the time's expired what purpose is the gentleman from ohio wri without objection mr speaker the iraqi resolution that we are debating here is bipartisan over the last two days democrats and republicans have come to this florida voice their opposition about the escalation plan for this war there is also a strong bipartisan support for a resolution in the senate that would express the chamber's opposition to the president's plan there unfortunately senate republican leaders are preventing the debate and the resolution preferring instead to blindly follow the president why have democrats and republicans come together to express our opposition to the president's plan unlike the president we have listened to the military experts his own generals the american people the troops fighting in iraq and the bipartisan iraq study group that said this war no longer can be won militarily congress must express an opinion to this president's plan over the last month the house and senate committees have conducted fifty two hearings in iraq conducting remarks without objection mr speaker this afternoon i'll have an opportunity to talk about the war resolution but this morning i'd like to just talk for a second time and energy independence several weeks ago we heard the president announce part of his agenda for making america more energy and bennett but the real question is how do we get there the president laid out a plan to place new dear kone and fuel efficiency standards on our domestic automakers which i believe are of the wrong approach to energy independence it's the wrong approach because it would force our domestic automakers to invest in old technology and to stifle exact exact very exciting new technologies our domestic auto industry is near an innovative breakthrough such as the usage of alternative fuel new battery technology in advance h id vehicles i believe it's in our national interest to provide federal support to advance the auto technologies of the future to help achieve energy savings both general motors and ford recently unveiled advanced plug in hybrids that use a  battery helping that technology become commercially viable will advance our efforts to conserve energy by light years and to create great new jobs here in america if my colleagues want true energy independence and a thriving domestic auto industry we must focus on got objection mr speaker over the last two days republicans who support the president's troop escalation plan has had to have a message point the first is that the resolution opposing the president's plan is non binding and meaningless and the second is that the resolution will be the end of civilization to borrow a term from a columnist they can't have it both ways what we're doing over these three days of debate is having a real discussion about changing the course of the war in iraq for those who support the bush cheney escalation this debate serves as a prime opportunity to explain why they think this escalation will work when for other surges have not worked it is a shame that some have ignored the merits of the resolution and focused on political calculation in fact several republican senators a letter saying this debate should not even be about the iraq war today if we let democrats force us into a debate on the surge or the current current situation in iraq we lose far from it mr speaker no one will lose by having a debate in fact our great democracy benefits and the american people win by knowing that we are charting a new direction gentlemen time has expired for what purpose of the gentleman from new york rise mr speaker i rise today because i am very supportive of our troops around the globe and in particular those when harm's way in iraq i wholeheartedly support age conrad sixty three mr speaker in president january twenty ninth two thousand and two state of the union address in regards to protecting america responding to service threat and capturing a comma bin laden he said this is a regime that agreed to international inspections then kicked out our inspectors this is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world states like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil arming to threaten the peace of the world and by seeking weapons of mass destruction these regimes pose a grave and growing danger they could provide arms to terrorists giving them the means to match their hatred secretary rice after being named secretary to succeed collin powell warned six months before the invasion in iraq that saddam hussein could deploy a nuclear weapon saying that the administration did not want a smoking gun we want to know as new yorkers when will we find a some of them live and they will learn my message liar for what purposes the gentleman from new mr speaker of the november elections clearly showed iraq is the number one issue weighing on americans minds a vast majority of people across the nation strongly disagree with the president's plan to nearly twenty one thousand five hundred additional troops into iraq my policy majority in this congress has also voices application to this measure this week here in the people's house we will have an opportunity to express our opinions on the troop escalation and then we will have to vote whether on that we what the president's plan the american people want to debate and while there this one going on in this house the senate republican leadership continues to block debate in the senate one has to wonder what senate republic worried about after all republican senators like john warner and chuck hagel joined with democrats oppose their own resolution opposing the troop escalation on the senate republican leaders really willing to stifle the voices of their own republican colleagues so that they can continue to protect the bush administration is time for a real debate it's time for a new direction on this war and his time is expired the purpose of the gentleman from new  without objection is to speak of the debate taking place here in the house this week is long overdue we're approaching our fifth year of this war and this is the first time congress is debating the strategy president bush wants to implement in iraq congress c no longer stand on the sidelines and the president has to know that to escalate the war in iraq is not acceptable the president hopes this troop escalation plan will help secure baghdad and reduce the sectarian violence that is ripping the country apart but there is no evidence to support those hopes in fact on four different occasions that president increased troop levels in iraq and every time these plans fail to calm the violence in iraq additional troops are not going to make a difference because there simply is not a military solution to the war in iraq the devastating sectarian violence is going to continue but our troops should no longer be asked to serve as referees in a battle between religious sects that have been fighting for centuries i yield back gentleman's time has expired pursuant to section three of house resolution one fifty seven proceedings will now resume on house concurrent resolution sixty three which of corporal report by title house concurrent resolution sixty three disapproving of the decision of the president announced on january tenth two thousand and seven to deploy more than twenty thousand additional united states combat troops to iraq when proceedings were postponed on wednesday february fourteenth two thousand and seven time for debate on the concurrent resolution on that day had expired pursuant to the revolution resolution it is now in order for a further period of debate on a concurrent resolution the gentleman from new york mr meeks and a gentleman from those feelings if this were the only issue is a matter only matter of troop strength and numbers then the issue would lend itself to military and strategic solutions and we would not be having this debate that's not the real issue however that's not the reason that every member of this congress is being granted the opportunity to speak on this issue know my fellow members of congress the real issue we are addressing today is not that simple the real issue goes to the very heart of american democracy last november the american people voted for a change in leadership they did so overwhelmingly because they want a new direction in iraq the american people also voted for a new congress because they had lost faith in the old a congress we had lost our footing and as a result our nation lost its way on the international stage i believe that last november's call for a new direction the rock is also prepared to provide law and order for their country but instead alot im still with insurgents i travel with some of you to iraq last memorial day and enjoyed what i thought was speak of denigrating american efforts in this country we need the new leadership of congress do not stand here as a fetus and not as opponents of this nation's best interests when the fools to reach that kind of conclusion from this discussion we stand here today to say there is a victory to be achieved but it's not a military conquest the victory interest of the american people it begins with the understanding and acceptance of this congress as a full partner in the future of this activity many of us have seen firsthand and witnessed f which lie ahead no matter which direction we take we do not take these steps lightly now we stand ready to create new paths to new victories we stand ready to and you see as the kind of victories which will restore america's respect around the world and self confidence here at home we cannot achieve this by military might but by diplomacy the need for a stable iraq i not just an american and just it is a regional and global concern our acts neighbors must be brought to the table american troops must disengage from the red zone and redeployed to the outskirts of iraq where they can remain at the ready and not service pockets for insurgents the best way for the iraqi government to gain the so the american people is for our people to step up it's call them to step up and take control of their speaker he was conscientious committed to peace and momentarily praised his laurels burned in the bombings his valorous and vain efforts had but hasten the plan is people yet in eulogising this english worthy sir winston churchill an ardent opponent of the deceased policy of appeasement unexpectedly struck a conciliatory chord toward the late neville chamberlain quote it is not given to human beings happily for them for otherwise life would be intolerable to foresee or to predict to any large extent the unfolding course of events in one phase men seem to have been right in another they seem to have been wrong then again a few years later when the perspective of time is lengthened all stands in a different setting there is a new proportion there is another to a man of his conscience the only shield to his memory is the rectitude and sincerity of his actions it is very imprudent to walk through life without this shield because we are so often mocked by the failure of our hopes and the upsetting of our calculations but with this shield however the fates may play we march always in the ranks of honor and quote mr speaker while not serving in this chamber during the debates on the resolution authorizing the president of the united states to use martial force to remove iraq's that this regime for numerous just causes including its refusal of honor its gulf war cease fire and united nations resolutions during my time as a temporary custodian of my constituents office i have striven to ensure our nation's victory in the battles for iraq afghanistan and in the overarching war on terror in doing so for three years i have four times traveled to iraq and wants to afghanistan to meet with our troops visit visited wounded citizen soldiers eulogized our fallen and console their grieving families as a witness to their courage sacrifice and suffering i have been morally compelled to support every appropriation for our military and civilian personnel in harm's way oppose every policy injurious to our country's common cause a victory advance my own ideas on how to secure our victory including the introduction of bipartisan the ultimately an accepted legislation to establish concerted congressional oversight over the course of this conflict and refused to condone a resolution by my republican peers which failed to meet its duty and immediately afterwards introduced a resolution of my own in order to veil my duty to our soldiers my constituents and our country as a staunch supporter of our nation's mission in iraq afghanistan and throughout the world i did so in the belief it is morally imperative for every sovereign american citizen and their congressional servants to do ensure our valiant troops victorious and come home to their loved one arms were i to do otherwise a lapse in my moral duty i would not only be violating our troops and my constituents trusts have the violating the dictates of my time since it is equally true of course that within this house of the members dictates of conscience have led them to a decidedly different though equally constant course of action to these members and their fellow citizens who have done so to date i share the sentiment sir winston held for never chamberlain you are an american worthy who however the in the ranks of honor yet because the resolutions rest before us is a craven exposition of political expediency in a time of national crisis today many may stray from the ranks of honor this resolution is nonbinding which means the resolution has no force of law to compel future legislative acts in compliance with its dictates and some then this resolution legally changes nothing americans money will still on a bit of legal silicate our troops continue deployment into harm's way despite the united states congress collectively condemning the president's announced troop reinforcement plan this impotent resolution is injurious in the eyes of its opponents because it will undermine the morale of our troops their families and our fellow citizens even as  our enemies and this impotent resolution is injurious because it will not stop what many of its supporters report will be a loss of life and a lost cause by neither stopping the war nor speeding our victory and the calculatedly doing nothing in this time of national crisis this resolution is immoral this immorality is manifest in how the resolution guilefully attempts to insinuate the united states congress can simultaneously support our troops and oppose their mission during a time of war if an act is not in our national interests such as the president's plan is deemed to be in this resolution the act is injurious to the national interest at best the act will expend resources or most tragically plain lives of our furthering the cause of victory better than anyone our troops understand this therefore this congress does not support our troops what it proclaims they are risking their lives in a doomed mission injurious to america yet if congress persists in this insanity the members must meet their responsibility to enumerate the reasons they disapprove of the president's and in point of fact the mission upon which our troops have already embarked but this resolution does not provide any rationale for its conclusion that's rather than deserving our collective concurrence this resolution deserves our universal condemnation to this some supporters will object and allege to defenses for this resolution fatal admission do not the supporters floor remarks prove the rationale sufficient to sustain this resolution no if war remarks alone are sufficient to sustain the resolutions conclusion than floor remarks alone will be sufficient to logic pales before some members impulsive news of the moment let us then move to some of the resolutions support or second far more distressing defense a vote of disapproval on the president's plan will set the stage for additional iraq legislation which will be coming to the house floor as no one who participated in the crafting of this covert legislative agenda has danger inform the american people as to its aims one wonders if it will cut off funding for our troops in harm's way or cut off critical reconstruction funding in the supplemental appropriations bill toppling an unheralded but essential pillar of the president's new victory strategy and proving the purse to cassidy of the present resolution while we wonder and worry according to newspaper reports there is a strategy to make this rumored legislative plan palatable to the public this strategy tactics which is instigators are more than happy to relate to the media are reputed to include a coordinated multimillion dollar t v campaign by leftist special interest pressure groups no doubt somewhere beyond this ephemeral stream of time there lurks got in fairness let us disdain a priority speculation and instead examine a previous resolution to glean the potentiality of the present resolution supporters legislative plan the following passages  excerpted from the previous resolution which albeit more forthrightly also expressed also opposes the commander in chief's decisions quote resolved that this convention does explicitly declare as the sense of the american people that after four years a failure by the experiment of war during which under the pretense of a military necessity of war power higher than the constitution the constitution itself has been disregarded in every part and public liberty and private right alike trodden down and the material prosperity of the country essentially impaired just as humanity liberty and the public welfare demanded immediate efforts be made for sation of hostilities to that end at the earliest practical moment peace may be restored and quote this previous resolution to express its support for our troops in harm's way quote resolved that the sympathy of the democratic party is heartily and earnestly extended to the soldiery of our army and sailors of our navy who are and have been in the field and on the sea under the flag of our country and in the event of its attaining power they will receive all the care protection and regard the brave soldiers and sailors of the republic have so nobly earned and quote this previous resolution is the democratic party platform of eight hundred sixty four if the past is prologue let us be firm and fair request if the resolution supporters possess a victory strategy or otherwise for ever these public servants must immediately reveal it to the sovereign citizens of the united states if you sell strategists refuse they will incur the american people's inference this legislative plan assumes and will hasten our nation's defeat in iraq how else could one explain these individuals already having a legislative plan and an accompanying media plan premised upon our troop reinforcements failure and doing so regardless of potential american victories on the ground or the advice of our military commanders perhaps while they jamir from revealing it these anonymous commanders in chief will dubiously calling their legislative plan an exit strategy it is an irrelevant distinction right now the enemy is actively seeking to murder more american and iraqi soldiers and civilians so right now and for the immediate future an exit from iraq is a defeat in iraq whatever one pretends to the contrary one will never convince our enemies otherwise yes it is all too human to wish the world were different algae human to rationalize away one's misguided actions being composed of frail fallible human beings even great assembly such as they come to the temptation we must not writing well before churchill's magnanimous eulogy of chamberlain and to the contrary warning the british people's representatives of how history was phyllis george dangerfield clo assessed is national leaders mismanagement of state affairs during the pre war years of one nine hundred ten through one nine hundred fourteen quotes along that roll of distinguished and original faces they would pass from time to time as lightly as a shadow upon the waters and alarming an alien spirit a spirit dangerous an indefinite the spirit of whimsy in the hostage crisis in the time of abuse or when the stuffy air of the common seemed almost to glitter with the shining salt this floor though not in this resolution itself and virtually professed three key defenses of their decision one defense is they were misled into supporting an iraqi regime change because of the false claim it did or might possess weapons of mass destruction merciless mercifully let us stipulate these elected officials perform their due diligence on the matter and especially for our democratic colleagues so situated they did not overly trust the man so many of them had accused of stealing a presidential election and there were numerous justifiable reasons for authorizing the president ited states to military execute a regime change in iraq as those reasons are written in that resolution i will not dwell upon them for they do not constitute the crux of the matter which is this the war aims of regime change was a success it is the post war failure of iraqi reconstruction breeding our present perils thus even if a member of congress can be excused for authorizing force on the basis of being misled the member of congress cannot be excused for failing to demand adequate post war reconstruction planning nor for a three year failure to demand constructive changes to an inadequate post war reconstruction plan the tailing with this defense some of the resolutions supporters ardor for the regime change was a mistake because this is ministration his boss to wreck the reconstruction beyond salvaging and the fledgling democracy is now in a state of civil war this argument has the merit of being partially correct for despite the hard learned lessons of our nation's former successes in doing so this administration utterly failed to comprehend and implement the fundamental principles of reconstructing a defeated belligerent nation importantly this does not preclude reconstructing iraq now hereon violence much of it instigated and perpetuated from external elements iraqi is not in a civil war relative calm exists in most of the beleaguered nation's provinces and if one dares to look there agonizingly slow but significant stylings of incremental progress in the establishment of order this progression will be expedited by the administration's new plan which finally incorporates the two fundamental principles of iraqi or any reconstruction plan one a liberal democratic  its traditional roots of order not from a centralized bureaucratic government downwards and to a nation's transformational evolution into a liberal democracy must contemporaneously provide transactional benefits to its citizens these fundamental principles will be implemented through critical initiatives such as prevention of reconstruction teams in accord on oil revenue allocations and a national reconstruction reconciliation process amongst others but you are in the support of terrorized iraqi security must first be established so they may commence securing the blessings of liberty this is why the troop reinforcement is required and why the twin pillars of troop reinforcement and grassroots reconstruction can achieve a joint american and iraqi victory over the enemies of liberty the ineluctable fact of our this victory is must be won with the help of iraqis which is disconcerting to many of this resolution supporters who believe the iraqis are unwilling to fight for their freedom and are incapable of perpetuating it  secured this argument often intersects with the charge our mission in iraq is untenable shifted from effectuating regime change to erecting a model democracy and the above reasons they think this is impossible this deplorable argument is antithetical to the self evident truth written into our own declaration of independence sadly it is not without precedent once more let us reference another resolution this one opposing a military mission creeping toward a decidedly different goal resolved that the emancipation proclamation the president ited states is as unwarranted in military as in civil law a gigantic usurpation at once converting the war professedly commenced by the administration for the vindication of the authority of the constitution a crusade for the sudden unconditional and violent liberation of three million negro slaves a result which would not only be a total subversion of the federal union but a revolution of the social organization of the southern states the immediate and promotes the present and far reaching consequences of which to both races cannot be contemplated without the most dismal foreboding of horror and dismay the proclamation invites serve i'll insurrection as an element in this emancipation crusade as a means of warfare the inhumanity and diabolism of which are without example in civilized warfare and which we denounce and which the civilized world will denounce as an unofficial disgrace to the american people and quote so much for the prognostications of the democrat controlled illinois legislatures hundred sixty three resolution thankfully by the grace of god in the sanguine sacrifice of the american people it was this illinois legislature not our african american brothers and sisters or our nation's great emancipator who are to be denounced by the civilized world for all eternity what of our legislative body not resurrects the specter of our own judgement which hovers above and shadows us as we seek to ensure we are not forever weighed in the balance and found wanting it is as it should be as it must be notwithstanding its non binding nature even after this resolutions disposition our duty demands we make moral decisions affecting our nation's victory or defeat and our fellow citizens lives and is this not why even while bearing malice towards none of them in defending his own war plan our own malign president warned his opponent's history is a harsh mistress quote is it doubted then that the plan i propose if adopted would shorten the war and thus lessen its expenditure of money and of blood is it doubted that it would restore the national authority and national prosperity and perpetuate both indefinitely is it doubted that we here congress and executive can secure its adoption will not the good people respond to united in earnest appeal from us can we can they by any other means so certainly are so speedily assured these vital objects we can succeed only by concert it is not can any of us imagine better but can we all do better objection whatsoever is possible still the question recurs can we do better the dogmas of the quiet past or inadequate to the stormy present caijing is piled high with difficulty and we must rise to the occasion as our case is new so we must think anew and act a new most distant elves and then we shall save our country fellow citizens we cannot escape history we have this congress and this administration be remembered in spite of ourselves no personal significance or insignificance to spare one  another of us the fiery trial through which we pass will let us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation we say we are for the union the world will not forget that we say this we know how to save the union the world knows we know how to say it where even here we here hold the power and bear the responsibility and giving freedom to the slaves we assure freedom to the free honorable liking what we give and what we preserve we shall no please save or meanly lose the bass last best hope of  other means may succeed this could not fail the way is plain peaceful generous just a way which if followed the world will forever applaud and god must forever bless my friends history harkins your honorable hearts to reconsider supporting this immoral resolution if one believe all human beings are equally god's children whether they be free or yearning to be free one cannot after a cruel civil whole condemn twenty million of god's equally beloved children to a saturnalia slaughter if one supports our troops one cannot divide their causes injurious to our country if one seeks our victory in the war on terror one cannot advocate a retreat and defeat in the face of our enemy my friends with the thought of fog of war a fiery trial looms increase ever nearer along the trail rather than curse the darkness and dread the echoes of histories verdict let us acquit ourselves of lasting honor by leading our searching nation through these trying to transfer missional times and into a transcendent triumphal tomorrow but us are in the esteem of the latest and later generations of all free people by reaffirming revolutionary republic cherishes the self evident truth of all human beings here and to breathe free let us in our nation's finest traditions and truest character remove iraqi people's bonds of oppression and replace them with bonds of brotherhood amongst our free sovereign and secure peoples let us in the face of terror march always in the ranks of honor and courageously and selflessly secure the iraqi people's blessings of liberty and in so doing secure our own blessings of liberty for a name generations of american children mr speaker fully cognizant of my moral duty to our troops my constituents my country and my creator i cannot in good conscience support this resolution which is injurious to the cause of our nation's victory and in consequences patiently and more therefore i urge simply rubber stamp what he says and so over these next three days what we're doing is our jobs and what the american people elected us to do it is my pleasure to now yield five minutes to the gentle lady from illinois the chief deputy with the honorable jan gentleman from illinois reckon i for five minutes i thank the gentleman for yielding mr speaker i rise on behalf of my constituents in illinois to say as strongly as possible for myself and for the that we reject president bush's decision to deploy more than twenty thousand additional united states combat troops to iraq tragically the president and his administration are dealing with an iraq that exists only in their imagination  in monday's new york times quote we need to stop pretending that there is something sane about continued u s involvement in this ruinous war we keep sending troops into the combat zone and they keep sinking ever deeper into the ancient middle east sand to keep sending young people off to die in a war that everybody knows is pointless is criminal unquote each time that the bush administration has proclaimed that we must stay the course because the war has just reached a turning point that turn has led to a dead end may two thousand and three president bush declared mission accomplished by the end of two thousand and three four hundred eighty six of our troops were dead and two thousand four hundred eight were wounded and yet we stayed the course in iraq in june two thousand and four president bush said quote we're handing over sortie to a sovereign iraqi government a turning point will come in less than two weeks unquote by the end of two thousand and four one thousand three hundred thirty four of our troops were killed and ten thousand four hundred eight were wounded and yet we stayed the course in iraq in june two thousand and five i suppose and cheney said i think they're in the last throes if you will of the insurgency and in december two thousand and five president bush said quote the year two thousand and five will be recorded as a turning point in the history of iraq the history of the middle east and the history of freedom unquote by the end of two thousand and five two thousand one hundred eighty of our troops were killed and sixteen thousand three hundred three hundred fifty four were wounded and yet we stayed the course in iraq in a two thousand and six president bush called the formation of a new iraqi government a turning point by the end of two thousand and six three thousand one of our troops were killed and twenty two thousand seven hundred thirty six were wounded and yet we've stayed the course in iraq and just last month vice president cheney proclaimed well i think if you look at what's transpired in iraq we have in fact made enormous progress unquote and president bush told us that his new strategy desk the war in iraq quote will change america's course in iraq and help us succeed in the fight against terror unquote since those remarks may just days ago more than one hundred twenty troops are dead and yet once again we are being asked to stay the course in iraq my colleagues across the aisle want to characterize this troop increase the fourth escalation as a new day action but the american people know that or they recognize stay the course when they see it and they're saying no and the administration continues the charade that if you don't support this war and this has collation then you don't support the troops shame on them it is they who have failed to serve the troops who have served us so well from day one our troops were sent into the war theater without the proper equipment to maximize their safety families have bake sales to provide their to buy their loved ones that are vests and helmets just last month the pentagon's inspector general found that the defense department hasn't been able to properly equip the troops it already has with enough guns and ammunition and ammunition to effectively complete their missions that's a quote soldiers are stored body armor armored vehicles and communication equipment and they are gion this war is costing twelve million dollars every hour twenty four seven for four years nearly half a trillion dollars in our soldiers don't have enough body armor and munition communications equipment if our troops aren't a priority who is halliburton blackwater other corporate charms of the president don't lecture us about caring for the troops the executive director of iraq and afghanistan veterans of america recently said of our returning soldiers and marines quote and when they come home there aren't nearly enough transitional care services job placement transitional housing it is just not there quote twelve million dollars an hour to wage this war and our veterans are returning home without the proper care they need our support for the troops compels us to oppose this war and this escalation of the terrible options the president has left us after four years the absolute worst is to continue to send our young men and women in uniform to die in the meat grinder that is iraq and to put them in the crosshairs of a next month we will mark the fourth anniversary of the president's decision to launch a war of choice against iraq many of us came to the floor of this house in the weeks before the invasion to urge the president to take a different course the white house ignored those appeals for restraint the president's montreaux was and these are his words bring it on and for almost four years after the invasion the president had a rubber stamp congress right here that never seriously questioned his misguided policies in iraq it was the scene of problems here no problems conduct no oversight congress when the president stood below the vander mission accomplished aboard the u abraham lincoln in may two thousand and three the rubber stamp congress believe the slogans rather the facts on the ground when vice president cheney declared that the insurgency was in its quote final throes back in may two thousand and five the republican congress accepted that verdict without question when the president unveiled his so called plan for victory at the naval academy in november two thousand and five the congress parroted the talking points sent down from the other end of pennsylvania avenue the days of the rubber stamp congress are now over this congress will no longer serve as the mouthpiece for the white house this congress is finally standing up to do its job as a separate and co equal branch government ladies and gentlemen the message from the last election was clear and the american people have an uncanny ability to cut through the slogans and get to the heart of the matter they understood clearly that more of the same in iraq was not working and the american people understand why quote general casey and general  told us that the escalation of more troops in iraq is not the answer that it will make matters worse not better increasing the number of american troops in iraq will put off the day when the iraqis the  must make the difficult compromises necessary to achieve political and national reconciliation putting more american forces in the middle of a bloody sectarian civil war will only lead to further violence and more american and more iraqi casualties it is time for the iraqis to assume more responsibility not less the bush administration has been wrong about this war from the beginning and it is war wrong with respect to its proposed course of action now the recommendations of the bipartisan independent baker hamilton commission provide for the responsible redeployment of our forces and represent the best way forward in iraq and to those who would suggest that having this debate will undermine our troops i say shame on you the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general peter pace put that canard to rest just last week when he said and i quote there is no doubt in my mind that the dialogue here in washington strengthens our democracy period end of quote our men and women fighting in iraq understand the strength and vibrancy of this democracy and they understand it is our duty in this congress to exercise  best judgment for america's national security what has harmed our national security is not the debate in iraq but the lack of serious oversight over the bush administration's decisions and conduct what in bold is our enemies is not the exercise of our democracy but misguided policies that have weakened our national security our national security is weakened when our credibility around the world is undermined by false claims regarding weapons of mass destruction our national security is weakened when the chaos in iraq allows iran to greatly expand its influence in the region our national security is weakened when america's diminished standing in the world has eroded our ability to influence the actions of others our national security is weakened because we have diverted our attention away from completing the mission against the architects of nine eleven against osama bin laden al qaeda and the terrorist network that continues to operate along the afghan pakistan border we must change course we must strengthen our national security position not compound the errors we are of already made that is what this resolution is all about we hope the president will join us in that effort let's chart a new direction now together last two days really dozens and dozens of speeches and frankly speeches of exceptionally high quality on both sides of the issue i listen particularly to speakers who are here in two thousand and two when the momentous decision to go to war w actually made those who were opposed to i've admired because in their opposition in october of two thousand and two they were taking an unpopular position but clearly one that they believed in and i think they deserve our respect for that even if don't agree with that particular point of view second i've watched those who voted in favor of that tough decision and i've watched as they've stuck to that decision because they believe the stakes are so important for the united states and they've done so even when public opinion has turned against their position and i admire that and frankly i've watched the koreans who have changed their position who are first for the war now are opposed to it it's easy to deride people in that position but quite frankly i watch them and they have their anguished and their opinions and their conclusions they are sensitive obviously to the the the easy and cheap criticism of opportunism and i've declared my are those frankly in my own party who have broken with their president and their party over a position that they believe in deeply i don't agree with them but i admire them what i don't admire is a democratic leadership that has brought us i resolution which is divisive without it orders no action and i've spoken on that at length before and i'm not going to go into it now i want to stay instead focus on the issues at stake like all of those elected in two thousand to two thousand and four two thousand and six i was not part of the initial decision to go to war and frankly i often think how fortunate i was to have been spared that responsibility but of course none of us on this floor ever truly escapes responsibility my attitude toward this conflict reflects that of my district and frankly that of my father who was a career noncommissioned officer in the united states army i recall once when he was talking about war he summed it up pretty simply when you're in it when it that's what i've tried to do with my vote my voice my energy since i've been elected to represent my district i've done so because frankly in some areas i've seen prague press removing saddam hussein from power was a good thing and i'm proud that that was accomplished and it would not have been accomplished without the valor and the professionalism of american men and women in arms i'm pleased to have seen a constitution formed in iraq that is the envy of the arab world i'm proud to have seen three elections take place all of which had increasingly high participation and had frankly higher percentages than vote in our own elections i was hopeful when i saw a coalition government formed that had curves that had sunni's that had shia that at other elements in the iraqi population i've been impressed with the rocking forces that do stand and fight and let's make no mistake about it most of the fighting and dying militarily is being done by a rockies and they deserve our respect for that and frankly i think like all americans i was enormously relieved when i see actors like the late alza cari people who would kill americans anywhere any time who are not from iraq being sought out with the help of iraqis and killed our away from our shores that's important and that's something we should acknowledge i've also supported the war because i feared the consequences of defeat in iraq and believe me there are consequences to losing the war and these are real if we are not successful in iraq we will have an emboldened enemy not just the terrorists that we deal with they're bad enough but also the states that use terrorism as a tool of diplomacy will states like iran states like syria will draw comfort will have demoralized friends in the region and around the world that wonder whether or not they can really count on us once we make a commitment we will see the death of an infant democracy never a good thing for the lovers of freedom we will see a sectarian bloodbath in iraq that will result in the death of tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of iraqis and we'll see destabilize region in which the united states has vital interests and to which our own security is an immensely tied i've knowledge that things have not gone in iraq as i certainly and i think everybody regardless of their position on the issue would have hoped no question that we underestimated what was required not to defeat saddam frankly that was done brilliantly but to secure iraq we've underestimated the persistence and the difficulty of the outside players would would create for us we underestimated anxious people inside iraq would be to settle old scores instead of the look ahead and we've underestimated the impact of the divided loyalties of iraqis themselves where so often we see sect against sect ethnicity against ethnicity cry began stride but these difficulties in mistakes regrettable as they are do not change the consequences of losing in iraq for the region for iraqis and most importantly for ourselves at this critical point the president has offered a plan to avert defeat and if the iraqis are up to the task to turn the tide it has an american military component and that's what this resolution resolution deals with but contrary to what i've heard on the floor it's not a major escalation in forces it's not an effort to allow the iraqis to avoid the fighting nor is an effort to win military militarily it's an effort to buy the time needed to create an environment in iraq that will allow iraqis to succeed politically that will allow them to begin and push forward the reconciliation process and review the  programs that will allow them to share power with one another that will allow provincial elections to take place that will allow or oil revenue to be distributed more equitably that will allow iraqi units to time to train stand up and continue to and fight more professionally and professionally and proficiently than they have the u s force is indispensable in achieving these measures but it will not be and is not intended to be decisive what will win or lose in iraq ultimately are iraqi politicians can they put their differences aside iraqi soldiers can they fight for their country instead of against one another and the iraqi people can they put aside the differences and demand better leadership the nave received thus far from their own people some will say this is a hopeless task but our military leaders and our troops in the field don't tell us that general petraeus a man whom all sides acknowledge is not only professionally capable but a dedicated and great patriot elvis he thinks this is an achievable mission if he has the forces he needs to succeed the average soldiers that i talked to from my district in other units also tell me they believe this is doable but they want us and congress and in this country to have the political resolve to match their personal courage history teaches us that freedom is a powerful force we should trust it and it also teaches us sometimes it needs outside help all of us as americans are justly proud of the american revolution we often forget it took a french fleet of french army and dutch money to finally finish the job mr speaker because i believe the consequences of losing in iraq are horrible for iraqis for americans and for the cause of liberty and our friends around the world because i think that we the iraqis and the americans together can still win because i believe that defeat has catastrophic consequences for the united let's just papers this week the congress finally takes off its obligation to change course in iraq we have arrived at a new moment few responsibilities are more solemn for a member of this body than one in which he or she is obligated to register a vote of no confidence in their president in a time of war under different circumstances i think most americans would want to give their president the benefit of the doubt on matters of war that they would want to trust the president's judgment to do what is right for our country for our national security interests and for our troops and their families who never leave our prayers it is a measure of how desperate matters have a comm iraq that the congress considers this resolution of disapproval today we find ourselves embroiled in a war that is not winnable a religious war that is inconsistent with our original mission there a war the american people no longer support and with thirty one hundred american lives lost sectarian violence threatening to spill over into the entire middle east and no prospect for a stable constitutional democracy in iraq in sight today we consider this war for not what we wish it were but for what it has so clearly and tragically to come a mistake of historic proportions as such i will support this resolution opposing the escalation of this tonsillectomy and with this debate the congress takes up its cause the to tional responsibility with a sense of urgency and accountability that the public so desperately seek from us for too long the congress has asked to a few questions and been all too willing to put politics and idiology before our nation's security to be sure matters of war are the most serious that i will deliberate over in the united states congress indeed such a vote was my first in the congress in  this moment congress now has the opportunity to take the country into a new phase of this war to me nothing matters more than getting this right four years ago i voted against authorizing the president to go to war because as i said on this house floor i believed taking unilateral action against iraq would quote weaken our moral authority our military effectiveness and our ability to keep a vent under control afterwards and today one month into the new congress and for the first time since the previous majority rushed to authorize this war in october of two thousand and two every member of this institution democrat or republican will face a different choice with the situation so clearly out of control members can trust president bush one more time as he escalates the conflict in iraq or they can support a change in direction that begins to redeploy our troops out of iraq that uses our military in the right way to make our country safer and raise america's standing so that we have both allies and moral authority to address our threats to be sure of all the concerns we take to the fore with it is that to tear your rating well fear of our troops that is most alarming of course to every american takes comfort in the heroism and the determination that our soldiers have shown they have performed magnificently but they have been charged with an impossible mission that undermines sacrifice and has strained our military in countless ways from manpower to morale as the father of one marine who's son had been deployed for the second time to iraq wrote to me and i quote you forget what you like to actually sleep through the night without waking up to the horrible thought that you might not ever see your son again but just because we all know our troops will do anything their country asks of them but let us not ask them to escalate an unwinnable war today virtually everyone agrees we need a new strategy everyone that is except for the president who continues to pursue an objective the consensus judgment of our nation's intelligence agencies says has no chance of success and these are proposing and that's the latest in the current strategy the president rejects conclusions drawn by the national intelligence estimate the bipartisan iraq study group his own generals and perhaps most importantly the american people in thirty seconds in so doing he sends what could be as many as one hundred seventy thousand troops into a civil war that is being waged along sectarian fault lines that have existed for more than thirteen thirteen hundred years to speaker i am not willing to stand here in the well of the house of representatives and not move to change our policy in iraq there are too many lives at stake our security is stake i support the conclusions or recommendations of i party bipartisan iraq study group that i've cross the rubicon on this war i support phased redeployment over the next year and will take every opera to mandate such a change in law that begins with stopping this escalation it is our obligation let us honor that gentleman's time has expired and gentleman from texas the speaker i'll make a statement later but right now i'd like to enter the congressman jeff davis from the state of kentucky who was in the u s military academy at west point and served this nation as an assault helicopter flight commander in eighty second reinforcing our troops in combat this week congress to spend its time debating a few kyl non binding resolution when in reality we should be debating policy initiative that will help our troops and their mission and lead to stability i believe that in fighting the war in iraq that there is room for an open and honest debate about the best way to advance the compelling national security interest of this nation honest debate respectful disagreement constructive dialogue our components of our great republic and it's important to honor the process that our institution provides furthermore this measure seeks to seek debate whether we support an operational decision that in reality should be made by the commanders on the ground not by politicians in congress what are we going to be debating next week mr speaker block in baghdad precinct t target this non binding resolution serves no purpose other than pacifying the democrats political base and lowering morale in our military at least one democrat has likened this type of resolution to a child's stopping in a corner the troops will be doing their job by completing the mission that they've been given and we in congress need to do ours our troops are fighting abroad don't get to debate the validity of their mission their enemies are real and they're fighting day in and day out to protect our country the iraqi people and themselves this resolution does not help make progress in iraq it does not provide a new approach in iraq and does not make our nation or our troops more secure that's what we need to be doing not wasting our time debating a measure that can disheartened and demoralize our citizens faithfully serving in theater well encouraging and emboldening the adversaries of stability we've seen the aggression of this faceless and cowardly enemy in the bombing of pan am one hundred three in one thousand nine hundred eight you know kate his attack on the u s s cole in two thousand and then the tragic events of september eleventh this enemy is driven by hate and seeks to do americans harm over the course of time it has become evident that we are involved in a long term struggle with islam experiences and to preserve our freedom and the freedom of the world every day our men and women in uniform in our civilian professionals risk their lives to protect our freedom from providing security to building an economy we're strengthening the security of our country and the international community we've not had a terrorist attack on our soil in over five years because of our vigilance and pursuing the security of our nation at home and abroad success in iraq is our only option for continued national security and the preservation of freedom i had the opportunity to speak to hundreds and hundreds of men and women in uniform whose experience fans all ranks all services and all units consistently they share an optimistic and sober message about the importance of continuing the struggle to defeat islamist extremists a resolution like this blurs the many successes that they have had in the war against the extremists the messages of our troops do not come without an understanding of the reality and the resources that we must commit to this mission quiting the terrorists will require a strong commitment and the road to victory will be won our partners in iraq have stated their commitment to the mission and we must stand behind them at the same time the iraqis must continue to assume responsibility for their success as a nation their commitment is not open ended success in countering an insurgency and surge in c largely happens outside the realm of combat security is only one aspect we must work on esta shing frameworks within iraq that can keep the water running and the electricity on which will in turn allow people to go to work and children to return to school returning normal like the iraqis is important but it should not be the sole responsibility of our troops who are providing security and stability we need to strengthen the involvement of the international community in this endeavor if we empower engage the iraqis i strongly believe that if we're to fully support our troops that we must listen to what they are saying and when the troops are saying that they're committed to their mission then i believe we should listen i remain a committed supporter of our troops and i thank them for their service soon congress will vote on the department of defense a supplemental budget and in it the pentagon is requesting five point six billion dollars for troop reinforcement this will be the real  of commitment not just meaningless or solution a yes vote on that funding supports the troops reinforcement being debated here today and a no vote will to delete funding on that important mission this will not only show people where congress stand but give accountability to our actions here in congress with the force of law behind it i support our troops and our civilian professionals and i intend to keep my commitment to my many friends on active duty and devote to provide them the funding for their mission when the time comes to my former comrades and friends and  the speaker of this house and to the democratic leadership qualities the opportunity to have every member every member to come to the floor of the people's house to talk about iraq and whether or not they agree with the president's escalation or not and i think that speaker and thank you mr macon also let me thank my colleagues across the aisle for the solemn entity and the of the debate that's taken place over these last several days i think is so important to the constituents that we are sworn to serve and they deserve to hear the voices that reside within the people's chamber and this debate in so many ways is an echo chamber for what americans already know they have found their voice and expressed it in several manner and several forums most notably and last november's election where they called for a new direction for this country not the staying of the course that it's currently on it's long overdue then the congress find its voice as well past is prologue and let's go back to june of two thousand and two when the president this year to the none of the bush doctrine the doctrine of or even larsen or other people that spoke out as eloquently as those former members of bush the elders cabinet how travel to jack murtha and the build up to the war we met with our investor in saudi arabia robert jordan who i said to him and bassett are you have a gathering storm here in saudi arabia with all the tensions in the middle east and he said congressman you're from the england gathering storm he said what we have here is the making of a perfect storm and if we unilaterally invade and attack this toothless tiger saddam hussein we will unwittingly accomplish what osama bin laden failed to do we will create a united islamic jihad against the united states professor graham allison wrote that this occupation has diverted deserted essential resources from the fight a taliban to regroup in afghanistan fostered neglect of the iranian nuclear threat undermined alliances critical to preventing terrorism devastated america's standing with every country in europe and destroyed it in the muslim world instead of following the wisdom of scowcroft and eagleburger  and so we find our troops today in the midst of civil war in the midst of sectarian religious and tribal conflicts that are more about settling old scores that seek revenge over the centuries then about creating a democracy and it is into that cauldron that we wish to send more troops more troops to the face that eighty seven percent of the iraqi public says they want a timeline for us to be out of there and over fifty percent of them think that it's zero to kill americans our troops need leadership that's worthy of their sacrifice it is important at this time both sides of the aisle as it has done understands the difference between the war and the warriors i conduct hearings back in my district i listen to what my constituents have to say and most earnestly to those men meant those parents those men and women who come to these hearings and talk about their children in harm's a holiday dinner with their entire family since two thousand and one i define success by being able to look into their eyes and tell them that the best path forward is the safe secure and strategic redeployment of our troops so that our army can regroup and restore itself and proceed after the people who took the towers down in  know it's an honor to be here today joined by members of congress who have served this nation nobley both in the armed forces and today as statesman and women in the united states house of representatives you know there's lots of ways people can serve this country dedicating time to the arms forces the greatest military in a whirl can be some of the most fulfilling time in one's life i know because i spent twenty nine years in the united states air force called or going for general westmoreland in the headquarters in sixty six i returned again and while flying in my twenty's the nation i was shot down landed in the middle of a vision of north vietnamese soldiers what followed for the next two thousand four hundred ninety four days can only be described as hell on earth or as my friend and fellow p o w jeremiah denton blinked the letters of one word over and over again in morse code into a movie camera as a desperate for help the late letters made up the word torture of my nearly seven years in captivity i spent more than half of that time in solitary confinement as you can imagine the north vietnamese would say and do anything to break our will the physical torture is not fit for describing is some of it is too graphic and to gory there were many times i would pray to god that i would pass out and slip into unconsciousness just s pain that i if i couldn't escape the beatings yet what also scarred me for life was the emotional torture that the north vietnamese broadcasts to taunt us and break our wills they constantly blared any american messages from back home over the last speakers the enemy knows that any and i merican murmur can be used as a weapon and the same holds true today the enemy wants our men and women in uniform to think that their congress doesn't care about them that they're going to cut the funding and abandon them and their mission they want congress to cave to the wishes of those who advocate a cut and run attitude and we should not allow that to happen we must learn from our mistakes we cannot leave a job like we left in korea like we left in vietnam like we left in somalia osama bin laden said that in somalia the united states pulled out trailing disappointment and failure behind it and we didn't blink an eye when the radicals bombed t in saudi arabia killing twenty and injuring three hundred seventy two or after the kenya embassy bombings that killed two hundred thirteen people and injured five thousand or that same day at tanzania embassy bombing killed eleven people and injured sixty eight on october the twelfth two thousand the u s s cole bombing killed seventeen and injured thirty nine and we all know how they tried to bring down the world trade towers and didn't stop till they completed the job september the eleventh all of these tragedies of terrorism happened without a united states response we can't waver in our for freedom we cannot abandon the bedrock of them ocracy they are the brave and selfless men and women of our united states armed forces we will stand up with them we must stand up with them and i will stand with them in congress because they stand for our freedom every minute of every day they are the reason we call america the land of the free and the home of the brave and i salute him now today the distinct privilege of managing time during this debate each person joining me is a shining example of do you honor and country and i know folks across america will learn a lot in command our leadership for organizing this very thoughtful and sober three day debate on a very serious issue mr speaker is co chair of the blue dog national security working group i rise to oppose t surge and to support tough and smart security strategies including those outlined in a trance ninety seven authored by the blue dogs to end war profiteering put future war costs on budget and a drop adopted truman committee to make those who have engaged in fraud and abuse in iraq accountable for their actions as we conduct this historic debate however i am mindful that a time zones away crouched in a tank somewhere in baghdad a nineteen year old private is doing his best to restore order to a city descending into all out civil war we owe this soldier and his mates and their families so much they volunteered to put their lives on the line to keep this country safe we in this chamber also want to keep this country safe but we do not share those day to day risks only a handful here have relatives in iraq living the life of the soldier i described mr speaker as we have sadly learned the intelligence that took us to war was wrong some of the most inaccurate claims that an operational relationship existed between al qaida and saddam hussein that vast c stockpiles existed with their locations pinpointed or presented by the administration as fact even though the intelligence community had discredited them that was shameful most intelligence agencies around the world thought however that saddam had w m d and the intention to use it against his people and u s interests they believed it and so did i but they were wrong and so was i the actions taken four years ago in iraq created a failed state we took out its government and occupied the country unsuccessfully about a year later millions of iraqis courageously elected a government but that government barely functions and we continue to occupy iraq militarily mr speaker there are no good military options left in iraq to the soldier currently in harm's way i say you are a hero you are doing your best to follow orders and to serve your country but i also say we have given you a mission impossible and that mission lost change we have a moral obligation to leave iraq in better shape than we found it and that will not be achieved by surging twenty one thousand five hundred more troops into baghdad the surge will not work and i  but abandoning iraq is not a viable alternative we must invest in strategies to contain and ultimately reduce violence there in order to create stability in iraq and in the region that must now be our focus the iraq study group made important recommendations to do this including changing the military mission in iraq tying future u s support to measurable progress on natural national reconciliation security and governance and aggressive diplomatic outr syria and iran but this administration rejected them two weeks ago as the bond sent a report by daniel byman and ken valek pa like carefully assessed options to contain the spillover from an iraqi civil war they include not trying to pick winners between the sunnies and shia pulling back from population centers providing support for iraq's neighbors and laying down red lines to iran all of these ideas have merit further good ideas come from david schaffer former ambassador at large for war crimes issues to put the iraqi government on an atrocity watch and warn its leaders that they can be prosecuted for war crimes of ethnic cleansing occurs mr mr speaker the bush administration has made calamitous mistakes in prosecuting this war the surge i fear is yet another one with this resolution congress starts action to force a change in strategy and to bring that soldier from virginia is recognized for five minutes thank you mr speaker and thank you congressman johnson for your service to our nation the past few years have been increasingly difficult ones for the american people for our military families and most importantly to our servicemembers in harm's way our troops have done everything that has been asked of them and more their sacrifices are unimaginable to many of us here on this floor through it all the only thing that they have asked is for our support through our words through our prayers and most importantly through our actions during my two visits to iraq the question that i encountered from service members was what are they saying that home they watch c span and i know with certainty that they are watching us right now the resolution that we are discussing today is not binding and therefore merely symbolic within the beltway the driving force it has more to do with the situation in washington than it does the situation in baghdad yet half a world away this resolution will have demoralizing effect for those men and women who we have asked to go into battle it is important for the american people watching this debate to know that this plan is currently underway the second brigade of the eighty second airborne division moved into baghdad nearly a month ago the fourth  brigade of the first infantry division is deploying this month with three more brigade set to arrive soon that means that we are not here today to discuss whether or not the troops will go we are discussing what message the troops will hear from us when they get there like many of my colleagues i am concerned about the situation in iraq last april i witnessed the election of the iraqi speaker since that time the iraqis have failed to make acceptable progress stabilizing their nation and strengthening their democratic institutions many of us have concerns about the plan will prime minister maliki live up to the commitments that he made in november does this play and get the most out of the twenty one trained and equipped iraqi battalions deployed outside of baghdad these are reasonable questions and ones i believe are within the scope of congress to discuss and resolve i appreciate debate and the american people appreciate debate but it is important to remember that the american people have sent here to solve problems unfortunately this resolution makes no attempt to solve the problems in iraq if congress believes that the president's plan can be approved on then congress has the responsibility to work with the commander in chief to ensure that the iraqis are meeting stringent benchmarks and are living up to their commitments this resolution is best defined by what it lacks this resolution fails to include the proposal for a bipartisan panel  outlining rigorous benchmarks and making sure they are met so that our troops may return home in victory this resolution fails to specifically protect the funding that our troops need to execute the mission this resolution fails to condemn the terrorists and insurgents who target both our troops and iraqis and most importantly it fails to reiterate that victory should always be the goal we were told this week would provide an opportunity for every member to go on the record yet the majority has not allowed a republican alternative that would next funding for the troops how do the american people know where their representatives  washington stand on funding for our troops when the majority won't allow that debate the american people are anxious but they want progress not defeat they want to see their aleck that officials working together to ensure success but half of our troops simply inserting a sentence saying that you support the troops is not enough when your actions say otherwise the consequences of retreat would be dire this is understood by our allies as well as our regional partners who have spoken up against withdrawal according to the iraq national intelligence estimate it would result in an immediate increase in sectarian violence and genocide and has the potential to destabilize the entire region for decades the instability in the middle east has repeatedly resulted in the deaths of american citizens and service you or retreat at this point in time could down the road necessitate our troops returning to iraq that is much more dangerous than the one they left i truly believe that the united states has the most formidable military in the world not because of our technological and tactical advantages but because our man and women in uniform fight in the name of a free and democratic people they fight on behalf of freedom for all knowing they have the full support and confidence of the american people when we take that support away we strip our troops for the greatest weapon in the fight against tyranny i asked my not to vote for this resolution but to once again and we have the opportunity every member to speak out on that that's what this house is all about with doing our jobs disappear step in many steps and the result the american people also i'm sure who want to hear the distinguished gentleman from the state of pennsylvania who's the the telecom and internet subcommittee of the energy and commerce committee the gentleman from pennsylvania the honorable mike doyle jim pennsylvania's recognized for five minutes thank you mr speaker as someone who has opposed this misguided diversion from the war on terror from the very beginning i believe it's way past time for our country to take stock of where we've been where we are and where we're going in iraq i think it's important to remember how we got there president bush told congress and the american people that saddam had weapons of mass destruction and was an imminent threat to the united states that saddam had ties to al qaida and the nine eleven attack rs that the invasion occupation and reconstruction would cost us nothing the iraqi oil revenues would cover all the cost so where are we today we know that saddam had no weapons of mass destruction and that he posed no imminent threat to the united states we know saddam had no operational relationship with al qaida eighty percent of the iraqi people want us to leave their country the invasion occupation and reconstruction of iraq will cost us at least a half a trillion dollars not to mention the cost in human lives and international goodwill more than three thousand american soldiers are dead more than twenty thousand american soldiers are wounded the garden of the iraq war is being borne exclusively by our children and grandchildren who will bear the debt and the families of our military personnel who at best experience long separations and terrible worry and it worse lose a beloved family member forever the invasion and occupation of iraq has alienated our allies has called our credibility into question around the world it is soured middle eastern attitudes about the united states and western democracy and finally the invasion of iraq got us into a long term bloody occupation of a country with no significant connection to the war on terror and of guarded critical military and intelligence resources from the fight against  recently released national intelligence estimate concluded that there is little prospect for political reconciliation in iraq at this time so what should the united states do what does victory in iraq mean at this point most of us would see victory as any kind of political settlement that ended the violence but the american people need to hear the truth and the truth is there is no happy ending for iraq as long as our presence allows the government to avoid making the political compromises necessary for peace in iraq now the president has proposed a significant increase in the numbers of u s troops serving in iraq i believe the congress should oppose this escalation i don't believe it has any real chance of producing a political solution solution in the war in iraq or even curbing the violence in baghdad i'm not alone in the school leaf general colin powell general george casey general john abizaid general joseph hoar general barry mccaffrey major general don shepperd and general james conway all question this escalation now many supporters of the president's iraq policy act with those of us who oppose this military escalation would support instead this member of congress believes that the united states should begin an immediate orderly redeployment of our troops out of iraq with the goal of completing that redeployment by the end of the year we should lead and enlist the participation of all neighboring countries in a massive diplomatic surge to help contain the civil war already underway and that diplomatic surge should include all the countries in the region including iran and syria the only way to bring stability to that region is through a regional effort our troops have performed with courage compassion and professionalism they did everything that was asked of them their work in iraq is done we gave the iraqis their freedom it's up to them to decide with they'll do with it it's time for the iraqis to take responsibility for their own security it's time for iraqis to decide if shiite sunni isn't kurds wish to share resources share power and co exist peacefully as one country america cannot force them to do this no matter how long we stay there only the iraqi people can decide this mr speaker it's time the american people have known for quite a while it's time and i believe this week that finally the united states congress will take the first step to bringing our troops home by adopting this resolution back sometimes expired a gentleman from texas thank mister this time i'd like  recognized for five minutes without object speaker i rise in opposition to this stay the course resolution because it is indeed the stay the course it says why believe that we support the troops the troops are in iraq they're fighting we support the fight we do not on the other hand support an escalation which would be another course of action nor do we present the other alternative that says bring them home we can bring them home increase or stay the course and so this stay the course resolution is one that is very curious indeed today in the last two speakers i've heard that there is no good military action left that's a credible viewpoint it's one that it's the expressed and yet i ask my friends why did not you have the courage to simply say if there are no good alternatives left for the military then bring them home that's fair and adequate i have also heard that it's a misguided conflict i've also heard that our soldiers work is done the work is done please have the courage to bring them home i want to speak today mr speaker on behalf of our soldiers the soldiers of today i'll do it while remembering the soldiers of yesterday through no fault of my own i served in the  air force during the vietnam conflict i say through no fault of my own because it was not a volunteer i got there because i drew a very low draft number as time has proved it's going to be the only the lottery that i'm going to win but that lottery gave me a free pass to a free pass out certificate and sent me to vietnam to fly in seventy one seventy two in parts of seventy three i was in vietnam during the time the jane fonda made her trip to the north giving aid and comfort to the enemy i was in vietnam during the time that there were demonstrations in the streets back home i was there during the time that our soldiers were cursed that and spit on and today as i've beat around the back dusty roads of new mexico i encountered those same soldiers that i encountered back then those soldiers who are my age who are on the walkers life it's been difficult there's a common greeting for soldiers of that era is welcome home brother or welcome home sister because they were never thanked for their duty and they were never welcomed home with parades with yellow ribbons we were snuck back again to the country and i've brought a couple of photos to help us remember the remember the people who were trying to get out of saigon not just americans but those people who had sided with us there crawling up the ladder trying to get into the helicopter the helicopters proceeded out the carriers the carriers were then the helicopters were then pushed off the side of the carriers this is the way that we left vietnam i bring this up because i'm beginning to see the same thing today my colleague yesterday spoke of this resolution and mentioned that the resolution was vague or people have very different beliefs for the believe that it represented them if you support the war you believe that it supports your position if you're opposed you'll somehow believe that this is the one step that's going to stop us and yet it really does nothing the vague language that clever language she's points out this is not a time for cleverness it's a time for decision because i will be a constant voice for our soldiers i read and i hear the comments today i read when chrissy hide behind says let's get rid of all the economic expletives this country represents bring it all and i hope the muslims when i hear from the left  waymark and the shoulder soldiers should be grateful that the american public dues there are for their support of them and their respect so we pay the soldiers a decent wage take care of their families provide them with housing medical care vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them we support them in every possible way and their attitude is that we should in addition roll over and play dead our friends on the other side of the do not just counter and tense but i know what they're trying to do they're doing the same thing that was done in vietnam the trying to feed that hungry tiger that he lives on the left that hates the american way of life that hates the american discount the service of our soldiers my friends you will not be able to appease left with this toothless resolution that you're presenting you know that your own members some of your members of call for defunding the defunding is going to allow the exit that looks like this is going to last of the mass catastrophe the mass killings that are going to occur and that's part of the problem but before you allow your friends who would never vote for me who disrespect our soldiers so much before you have power them and before you encourage them i would recommend that you think carefully about just plainly wringing our soldiers home if you're going to do if you are going to do nothing in the resolution you have an obligation to do no harm this resolution does no harm this resolution empowers our enemy and courage is our enemy and encourages those people who are going to disrespect our soldiers i recommend a vote against the resolution gentleman's time has expired spectrum and begin work and i know of no one in this house whether you be to the left or to the right who does not believe in our troops and our soldiers who do not respect them and on of them and in fact i think that by having every member having the opportunity to speak on this role to talk about their patriotism is exactly what supposed to happen on the people's house and in the people's house and with that i am proud to yield five minutes to a man who was one of the lead is i minutes i thank the gentleman this debate is light very light thousands of deaths too late and this escalation scheme is an unmitigated disaster president bush seems determined to continue making the same old mistakes just make them a little bit bigger the flying sound military judgment the flying the bipartisan iraq study group the flying the wishes of our allies in the iraq ease themselves and most particularly defying the will of the american people this president continues to pursue a go it alone strategy in iraq lack most every problem that he has created and there are many he seeks only to pass hearing just last week that quote the best minds in the pentagon see no need to fund this escalation which is not yet really begun for more than another seven months in truth our military has been so  overstretched that it cannot sustain a prolonged escalation even when unfairly recalls in adequately supplied troops for second third and fourth tour of duty little wonder that the secretary of defense mr gates admitted last week that he is already looking for another plan after this escalation fall short this week this house we stop we say stop the increase and next we must begin the decrease with a phased withdrawal from iraq we should not act precipitously but we must move very expeditiously to extract our troops from the crossfire of the warring factions in this civil war quiet bar to our troops whose courage we honor today in this very resolution we say to you those of you are out there on the frontlines today we will do everything we can to protect you but we will also be working as hard as we can to bring you home safely to your families sooner rather than later there is a better way to show support for our troops than just sending more of them to be killed and there is a better way than continuing to give this president of blank check for war funding unless we lose forward to fight for limitations on the appropriations we will leave this war making president constrained only by dick cheney's imagination the words of our adversaries in this device have often been very short but you know their true conflict is not really with us it's with reality they are in a losing war with the truth iraq is never been the central front in the war on terrorism like the alleged connection with nine eleven in iraq like the claim that saddam's nuclear mushroom was looming just over the horizon this charges but another false a false it all on the go the gullible the central front on the war on terrorism was largely a vanden via president bush and his ideological rush to invade iraq vital resources and expertise that were needed to capture osama bin laden and the terrorists who caused nine eleven were caught in afghanistan when president bush ran into iraq the real war on terrorism suffered a major setback from which today it is still never recovered that is the only cut and run that now endangers our families and ours those this device in the people's house embolden the enemies of democracy when we exercise democracy here in america to me the terrorists seem mighty emboldened with their daily death and destruction that they wreak the cross the middle east long before anyone ever conceived of this resolution frankly it is the administration that is the terrorist topper cruder as we predicted at the outset of this war is creating new generations of terrorists who view it as a war against all islam we cannot kill our enemies fast enough with the current policies creating more of them every day and now this president is stoking the flames of war with iran ironically that's the only country in the world to have directly benefited from his attacking iraq widening the war to are wrong with the macho slogan that boys go to baghdad but real man go to tehran risk an even wider even more destabili hole that could eventually envelop our families in a third world war having failed entirely to learn any lessons from vietnam this is ministration seems to have already forgotten our experience in iraq some here who profess to be conservative i have another minute just an additional thirty seconds so i'm here you profess to be conservative have been very liberal with billions of misspent taxpayers dollars and very liberal with the blood of others in the sands of iraq president bush was absolutely correct when he personally declared his war in iraq to be a catastrophic success he has certainly been successful  creating one catastrophe after another in iraq our nation is great enough with sufficient resources creativity to change course but each day we delay we sink further into a quagmire f k you mr ackerman mr speaker almost four years ago our brave men and women in uniform defeated the armed forces of a brutal tyrant and he has been brought to justice in the years since saddam's fall our troops have won thousands of that all taken innumerable objectives build schools and utility systems and provided all types of humanitarian relief in countless villages towns and cities ravaged by sectarian violence but now our fighting men and women are thrust into a civil war that tips religious and ethnic factions against each other lurking amid iraq civilian population they mercilessly kill their fellow iraqis these fanatical killers fountains of explosive devices and crouch and downs of ambush the positions to attack our troops who seek to replace senseless sectarian violence with a measure of stability so that the dysfunctional and deceitful maliki government can survive just fight and die in the middle of an iraqi civil war fueled by centuries old religious hatred is not why we sent our troops into harm's way our troops  and for four years they have paid the price in blood now is the time for iraqi authorities to step up if they are ever to do so it will be only after they understand that it will be their blood not the blood of young americans that will be shed to stop the horrific sectarian violence that is tearing iraq apart throwing twenty thousand additional americans into the carnage of a sunni shia civil war can only allow the iraqi government to continue to shirk its responsibility for the security of its own people as they continue to use our troops to eliminate their adversaries rather than sitting down in negotiating with them to share power and oil revenue after the election the president said he heard the concerns of the american people and he promised a new plan for victory but what he is proposing is really a continuation of the same failed policy sending twenty thousand more american troops to iraq will do nothing to further the cause of victory it will only prolong the agony our mission in iraq remains dependent on a viable iraqi government with both the ability and the will to confront the extremists that are tearing that country apart the maliki government has demonstrated needed the ability nor the will to take the action necessary to bring an end to the sectarian bloodshed the members of his government at the highest levels and maliki's strongest supporters are using their office to and aid the insurgents and are directly involved in the sectarian violence gripping and destroying our rack and killing our troops at a time when we should be doing everything we can to promote diplomacy in the middle east our attention and resources have instead been focused on a civil war in iraq which threatens to envelope the surrounding nations and further inflame the region the effect of this open ended conflict and our military preparedness cannot be overstated have zero zero active duty or reserve brigades in the united states that are combat ready one quarter of our troops deployed in iraq are nashville guard and reserves our guard units are stretched so thin only thirty percent of their essential equipment remains these units are the ones we depend on in case of don't nested emergency by further expanding extending our commitment in iraq we are compromising our safety here at home in my home state of nevada one third of our guardsme served in iraq and this surge that with this surge they will face the possibility of further tours and extended time away from their families i commend our troops for their bravery in carrying out their mission they have not let us down we have let them down and we cannot ask them to continue their sacrifice while we wait for the iraqi government to step up i remain opposed to a fixed timetable for the withdrawal of u s troops from iraq and i realize the grave consequences we face if our mission fails but that does not mean that i will give a blank check to the president for a surge when he has not given us a clear understanding of why such an increase is needed or how it will help us exceed president bush has yet to put forth a strategy that outlines where we're going now we're going to get there how long is it going to take how much is it going to cost and what sacrifice to the american people he must define the meaning of victory before it is too late mission accomplished bring on stay the course and we'll stand down when the iraqis stand up our campaign slogans not thoughtful strategies for victory the president has failed to make the case for sending twenty thousand more u troops into a civil war with an open ended mission and a bull's eye on their back i say yes and thank you to our troops and i say no to the surge i asked my colleagues to join me in doing this for the good of our families  resolution we're considering does not do a single thing to help our troops or to achieve the goals of america our allies or iraqi people congress is spending an entire week on a non binding resolution that even if it passes will not change the course of action in iraq our time could have been spent much better debating real issues such as how to most effectively win the war the terrorists are waging war on us personally i'm skeptical about it and then crease of twenty thousand troops will make the difference will stabilize baghdad and iraq but for me the question is to whom should we listen regarding operational decisions in iraq should we listen to the recommendations of the us military or to the politicians in washington and as an air force veteran i think we should accept the recommendations of our military and in that respect two weeks ago the general in command of ground forces in baghdad said and i quote by bringing more troops than it provides us the opportunity to work with them to provide more time to defeat this threat which is both  qaida threat as well as sectarian violence and end of quote you know i have visited in germany and the medical facilities with our wounded troops from iraq a member of my family  serve the year in a combat zone in baghdad and i am incredibly proud of our men and women in the military they are talented they are dedicated they are professional and they are the best in the world and we owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude now even though it is not binding there is i think a large omission in this resolution it does compliment the actions of our military men and women nowhere does it commits a continue providing funding for troops in the field and a time when some in this town are talking about cutting off funding for our troops i think we should commit to providing full funding for our armed forces as long as they are in the field now there's no guarantee that this troop buildup will be successful or to do rock is will succeed and finally taking over the security situation in a responsible way but what we do know is at this point there is not a better plan proposed which has a chance of victory and we also know that failure in iraq threatens the security of the united states the security of the middle east and in fact the whole world you know early last year i had the privilege of leading a delegation to asia where we met with the prime ministers of india thailand and singapore and those are all countries that are now and have been under terrorist attack all of them agreed with the need to cooperate for security purposes and with the importance of winning the war against terrorism in iraq because of the consequences not winning would have on the rest of the world mr speaker this resolution has two purposes per se rejects the only plan which has been suggested by military leaders with a chance of success in iraq soccer begins us congress down a path which youngs was cutting off funding for our troops and abandoning our foreign policy because of failed congressional fortitude i'm opposed to the resolution and opposed to our micromanaging of the war on terror and i yield back gentleman from new york i will recognize that this figure i'm pleased to yield five minutes to a member of hours from now this house will bring this debate to a conclusion and it will vote and the vote based on everything we expect will be an overwhelming one that will include people from the left of this house the right of this house that will include people from both political parties it will include people who supported this war and who believed in it five years ago and it will include those who have questioned it from its inception and there is a reason for this consensus mr speaker there is broad agreement on several things in this house there is a broad agreement that we have been caught in the crosshairs of a civil war between two sets of radical islamic fundamentalists the of which shares our values there is a broad agreement in this house that the human and material cost of this effort has gone too high and there is a broad agreement in this house that the moral obligation is not to put twenty one thousand more soldiers into harm's way but to do the opposite of began the process of pulling our men and women out of this cauldron that is now rat and there is broad agreement on one other point mr speaker it is this that the president of the united states is wrong to say that it doesn't matter to him what this congress thinks of what this country thinks i'm reminded mr speaker i'm one of the younger members of this house i was in college with more wasteland some of my colleagues at a very esteemed professor back in the 's and richard neustadt who wrote about the american presence there for a number of years and one night he invited all the freshmen the class to come over and  have a dialogue with him about the future of the presidency and a number of a said to mr new sat what do you feel about the presidency of the united states and it's interesting what he said as relevant today he said i don't fear that someone corrupt will become president one day i don't figure that someone incompetent will become president there are too many guardrails built them a system the process is too exacting for that to happen but this is what i fear he said that one day someone w come in that office who is absolutely convinced he's right about something on which he is absolutely wrong and he said this that if the country is frightened enough if we're the nuff the danger that enough people may think that what is rich it is what is wrong ladies and gentleman several of my speakers several of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have said that this resolution carries no weight no legal or moral for us i will tell you the weight that this carries my friends twenty four hours from now sixty five percent of the members of this chamber will send a signal to the american people that we have heard their voices that is a powerful thing when i think of all the people in this country who sent a clear signal last november seventh that they were not hurt and i am with this point defund or who don't somehow have the strength the fiber support our troops our remind you my friends your disagreement is not with the democratic caucus it is not even with the fifty or so in your ranks will vote for this resolution it is a disagreement with the sixty five percent of this country is a disagreement with people in my very conservative state of alabama sixty percent of now think this war is wrong and who say to me mr davis why on earth that we take him side of the battle between radical islamic fundamentalists why is a blood feud between shia and sunni where the spilling of american blood they're the ones you're saying wrong they're the ones you say you're saying my colleagues who have the good judgment to be right about the futility of this war from the outset by thanking the colleagues who were wrong five years ago right today and by asking one last thing the president president no set of facts no set of troops can tell him if he is wrong tomorrow this chamber will tell him so and i yield back the balance of my time united states air force seven of those as a prisoner of war mr speaker i rise today in opposition to this non binding resolution and i share with my colleagues our servicemen and women and their families the wish that this war was over won it is not and the resolution before us today does nothing to resolve this conflict does nothing to reduce the loss of american life does nothing to stabilize iraq and does nothing to advance  security i'd like to use my time today to relate some of the comments that i've received from my constituents in the fourth district of michigan from big rapids the congress men and women who are opposed to these plans should come up with better solutions don't penalize our military men and women by making politics a part of their safety and well being from my hometown of midland please stop playing politics with our lives in the lives of young people who are defending our country from elma i'm sick of the partisan politics we went into iraq united but we've let politics divide us it is time to realize some things are bigger than the political parties friends we might often disagree but the facts are regardless of how it began and irrespective of the benefit of hindsight we are at war and iraq is the central battleground islamic extremists are waging a jihad against us and they are struggling to make iraq a base camp our focus must be on winning and disturbingly i see no mention of winning succeeding or victory in this resolution that in itself is telling of just how the other side perceives this conflict not in terms of defeating an enemy of america but in terms of defeating a political fall our troops deserve better the american people demand more from their leaders again in the words of one of my constituents from bannister i hope congress is tough enough to do what works not just what is politically correct we need to move carefully and deliberately showing a united front or we are again going to be the victims of some outrageous terrorist attack sadly the new majority does not seem to understand what so many americans readily grass if you support the troops you must support the mission or you send the wrong message to the enemy as it was so aptly put by a constituent from ashley from far well congress needs to get behind the president and help not hurt the morale of the soldiers that are fighting they believe in their mission and i believe in them which is why i cannot and will not support this resolution as i conclude my remarks i want to leave you with two comments the first is from traverse city we should all pull together and get the job done and the second from an arab men from corona thank you for the much needed support of me and my fellow airmen i hope that once we dispose of this non binding resolution our focus turns to supporting our servicemen and women making america more secure and achieving the victory our military personnel are putting their lives on the line for i yield back the balance of my time so a man has your back retire gentlemen from your reco rise today support of this resolution and express my profound disapproval of president bush's decision to increase our troop levels in iraq late last year the president had an opportunity to create a new strategy the voice of the american people was heard this past election the voice of the iraq study group the president a bipartisan plan to draw down our troops new leadership at the pentagon also could have been a voice of change of strategy of president bush don't listen to any of these voices he decided to escalate our troop levels in iraq no timeframe no measurable benchmark mr speaker if president bush chooses an erroneous path then it is our constitutional responsibility to show the way i have the deepest respect and gratitude for our women and men in uniform i honor their commitment their courage and their sacrifice our troops have done everything we have asked them to do they overwhelm the old iraqi government and captured saddam hussein they provided security while iraq formed i provisional government approved a constitution and elected a permanent government nine individuals from the first congressional district of indiana have already given their life and made the supreme sacrifice for our nation these brave men and women will always be remembered sergeant jeannette winters specialist gregory sanders sergeant dwayne rios specialist roy walkley private first class john amos the second private louis pereira's private first class nathan stoll corporal brian wilson private first class stevens specialist nicholas dolls specialist adam harding and staff sergeant jonathan ross i am so proud of the dedication and service of the people of my state in the united states military we owe them a commitment equal to their courage we owe them the courage to act on our conviction  years in the loss of over three thousand brave americans and countless others who have been permanently injured i regret to recall that we were told we needed to invade iraq because saddam hussein possessed materials for weapons of mass destruction none could be found i regret that the president felt compelled to justify the invasion by claiming a connection between al qaeda and saddam hussein but the nine eleven commission found this was simply not true our situation in iraq has redirected our nation from its true mission the war in iraq has diverted our attention from the global war on terror we need to reconstitute our armed forces we also need a strategic redeployment of our forces that will give us the ability to focus our efforts directly on the global terror networks that target innocent people around the world i voted against the authorization of iraq invasion in two thousand and three there was no plan or asics strategy then and there are clearly no good options now if the iraq study group provided a bipartisan perspective on some changes in strategy  call for a drawdown of troops and for more intensive diplomatic efforts to resolve the sectarian violence there we need to listen to their recommendations because your speaker is not too late to change our strategy and the first step along the new way is to prevent the president's escalation of this war it is time to obligated the iraqi government to assume the full burden and consequences of governing their country we need to listen to the majority of the american people we need to listen to reason to boy says such as the iraqi study group the time to pursue a new course is now i support our troops and that is from the state of minnesota annex marine five minutes john kline the gentleman is recognized for five minutes i thank the gentleman for yielding i'll overlook the ex marine sli never next marine always a marine but it is a tremendous run us honor for me today due to even be on the same floor as this great american here we heard earlier today the hardship of  some of our servicemen and women missing the holiday with their families and i know in my twenty five years in the marines i missed a number of those but there is nobody who has missed more holidays with his family than this great american next to me you know we've heard a lot of speeches during this so called debate not sure how much real debate there is the sort of a lot of speeches some of been very eloquent i think of mr mchugh the other night giving one of the best speeches i've ever heard on the floor of this house some of them have been partisan some of been shrill some persuasive some not heard a number of opinions expressed and reminds me of the other day a week or so ago we had a hearing in the armed services committee and we had three experts ph d s all of them experts in the field or national relations and military operations one of the former secretary of defense under president clinton and it turns out that at the end of the hearing each of the three of them had a different idea about what we ought to do none of them supported what the president had been doing one of them sort of supported what the president was doing but each of them had a different idea they had an opinion argument an informed opinion but an opinion nevertheless and on this floor we've heard more opinions we've heard people say i don't agree with this i think this is a vat idea or i think this is a good idea we've heard some people say i have a better idea rahm a member of a caucus who has a better idea or i've proposed this or i think that and it kind of reminds me why it's a very bad idea to conduct a war by by committee but i fully acknowledge that people are allowed to have opinions and certainly every member of this body can have an opinion i remember the author of the principal author of this resolution before us the distinguished chairman the armed service committee stood up on the other side of the island here on the first day of this debate and he said everybody is entitled to their own opinions but not to their own facts and so i would just like to take a little bit of my remaining time here to talk about some of the claims and some of the facts that have been brought forward in this debate one of the proponents said quote said the new plan quote ignores the recommendations of the military commanders on the ground how many times we heard that  these two days well that's the truth and general petraeus the new commander of the multinational force in iraq confirmed by the senate with no dissenting vote said quote if we are to carry out the multinational force iraq mission accordance with the new strategy the additional forces that have been directed to move to iraq will be essential he said that last month general  commander core commander says quote this is about iraqis taking charge of their own security in order for them to do that we have to buy them time to continue to train and for the government to become more legitimate to the eyes of the iraqi people they're doing that by moving forward by bringing more troops in and it provides us the opportunity to work with them to provide more time and defeat this threat which is both al qaeda threat as well as sectarian violence human general casey last month said he thought we needed more troops another claim has been by one of our colleagues quote prime minister al maliki has indicated in virtually every way he can that he too opposes the surge and yet on january thirteenth prime minister maliki said quote the strategic plan announced by us president george w bush represents the common vision and mutual understanding between the iraqi government and the u s administration i have more examples here but one that we've heard over and over and over again in various forms was stated by one of our colleagues yesterday saying quote our president again is ignoring members of the bipartisan iraq study group who oppose this escalation this is the book i commend it to every american i'd like to quote now from my dear dear longtime friend and hunting partner the former secretary of state james a baker the third who said on january thirtieth this year quote this is the language in all of the language of the report was respect for the surge quote we could however support a short term redeployment or surge of american combat forces to stabilize baghdad or to speed up the training and equipping mission if the u s commander in iraq determines that such steps would be effective the only two conditions are short term and command in iraq determines  which i have some counter arguments with i would just say to all of my colleagues that i would concur with chairman skelton that we are entitled to our opinion we can certainly express that but we are not in fact entitled to our own facts so let's stick to the facts  supporting the troops because her husband was a soldier serving in iraq it was a much from a truck he was a month from returning home to his wife and his teacher and his two daughters but he was ordered to stay in iraq for another six months because our troops are spread so thin he hasn't been home since october of two thousand and five these are the words that she wrote to me mr gordon we need to help other countries but there are already three thousand families in america whose lives will never be the same i won't need and would love to see my husband again mr speaker this lady supports the troops i support the troops in iraq and i believe everyone this chamber supports our troops they perform their missions with bravery and honor and i commend them for the job they're doing but i'm unconvinced that deploying more troops and spending more money is the right strategy and i'm not the only one general colin powell said in december i'm not persuaded that another surge of troops into baghdad for the purposes of suppressing this civil war will work general george casey the former commander of u s forces in iraq said last month it's always been my view that a heavy and sustained american military presence was not going to solve the problem in iraq andy samberg it was reported the joint chiefs of staff unanimously disagreed with the concept of truth escalation general colin powell general george casey and the joint chiefs of staff these are men who support the troops yet these american generals iraqi study group and the iraqi prime minister have all opposed this troop surge we have four other sources sent we first went to iraq none produced a lasting change on the ground and october more combat troops were sent in the back the end of baghdad to fight the growing violence there unfortunately the sectarian violence has only grown worse many have endured great sacrifices in the four years this war has been waged more than three thousand americans have office their lives twenty three thousand more have been wounded we spent more than three hundred fifty billion dollars with many billions more to go we've been in iraq longer than we were involved in war two and there is no end in sight for one thousand three hundred years sunni's have been fighting shias now is the time for the iraqis to take more responsibility for securing the peace and their own nation no one has offered any evidence that two for that twenty thousand more american troops would change the direction of a four year old war or a one thousand three hundred years of history i yield back the balance of my time gentleman yield back and he will be recognized for three minutes thank you mr speaker these are really a males from active veterans active duty members and national guard reservist john my son is a marine  sergeant embedded with the iraqi army around ramadi called a few weeks ago i asked him if you knew about the president's plan for more troops he hadn't heard about it but his only comment to me was we can use them please support the president and the troops may be our last best chance to win this thing when you have semper fi in another we have to let our generals generals and weighs this war as only they are trained to do and have hope that the announced troop build up will be the final key that's needed by the iraqis to build a secure united country and another we have to hope that it's not too late for the u s to make a difference in iraq and another we need to send a message to our troops that america wants them to succeed in iraq giving the buildup a chance to exceed still another my fellow guardsmen are ready we will do whatever is asked of us please ensure that the resources funds and equipment continue to flow supporting the troops means giving us the to do our job and another we also need to stay in iraq and put forth the necessary will and resources that will allow our strategy to succeed and another moreover our troops need more open rules of engagement to do their job effectively another email elections have consequences and for our recent election the consequences have been a major setback in the war on terror and a greater threat to terrorist attack at home still and another the overwhelming response among officers is that we must stay and finish what we have started many of these officers have built strong relationships with local iraqi and afghan citizens who want to raise their family in peace another we do in fact have many more iraqi army and national police units moving into baghdad and many are effectively partnering with us units another they did pass their budget for two thousand and seven last week sooner than the u congress incidentally and had made some progress with other legislation which indicates they can work some political compromises and i'll end with this i would hope that your colleagues would be able to continue to support what are doing because it honestly does have a reasonable chance of success these are real communications with real soldiers active duty in iraq national guardsman reserve and veterans oppose the escalation of u s forces in iraq and i strongly oppose this war we had no basis or justification or right to invade iraq it was a mistake there are no easy answers or solutions before us no matter what option we pursue there is no nice neat happy ending sometimes you can't fix mistakes hopefully we can make this awful situation less awful this war should never have happened that's not just my opinion it's the opinion of many of the top military leaders in our country the war has diminished our standing in the world it has been used as a recruiting tool by the very terrorists we say we want to defeat it has cost us hundreds of billions of dollars and most significantly we have sacrificed the precious lives of so many of our brave servicemen and women and thousands more have returned home severely wounded and i have listened as many of my colleagues have come to the floor and said we must follow our leader and be quiet some of even suggested that those of us who support this resolution and want this war to end are doing a disservice to our troops mr speaker for four long years congress has done absolutely nothing in the face of mistake after mistake after mistake in iraq none of us in this chamber have to wake up tomorrow and baghdad of fallujah to create none of us have to wake up each morning and go on patrol in anbar province none of us in this chamber are in harm's way we are all responsible all of us just like the president for assigning tens of thousands of our bravest servicemen and women to be referees in a sectarian civil war if we truly want to protect our troops if we truly a concern with this with their safety and well being that bring them home and reunite them with their families news we call on calmness and equipment put it this way there is no better way to support those fighting in iraq than t guarantee that no more of them die in the service of political miscalculation there's to speak of the american people are way ahead of the politicians in washington citizens of all political persuasions are sick and tired of the political spin and political posturing our focus should not be about saving face instead it should be about saving lives the people of this country have been have been misled they have been deceived and they have been lied to increasingly people do not trust their government to tell the truth on the war mr speaker i don't trust my government to tell me the truth about this war there is no military victory to be had the only hope is a political solution the iraqi government and the iraqi people have the power and the ability to move in a different direction a direction that seeks to calm sectarian violence and heal sectarian divides respect the rights of all citizens and uphold a rule of law that applies to everyone equally but they have but they have to choose that path themselves regrettably i have little confidence of the current iraqi government will make such a choice while i hope i'm wrong this is speaker it is essential to change the dynamic inside iraq and to do that i essential that we dramatically change our policy that means we must end the u s occupation and begin an all out diplomatic effort to promote reconciliation and an end to the violence that means we should begin the immediate safe and orderly withdrawal of our troops from iraq that means we should provide protection and political asylum to those in iraq will have assisted us and who may be in danger because of it that also means that the united states much demonstrate the maturity and the common sense to talk to political leaders and t countries we don't like including syria and iran none of this will be pleasant and none of this will be easy and there are no guarantees that it will work but i'm sure of one thing what we are doing now is failing what we are doing now is not healing the divisions in iraq and is not serving the best national security interest the united states our own intelligence agencies have reported to us that this war is creating more terrorists no one in this house enjoys this discussion so wish that somehow this issue would go away but mr speaker it won't so no matter how uncomfortable this debate is for some of my colleagues it is long overdue the message that congress will hopefully send tomorrow by passing this resolution is one that the american people want to send and one that the president needs to hear president lyndon johnson once remarked it is easy to get into a war are hard as hell to get out of one the choices before us in the next weeks and months will not be easy indeed it will be difficult even painful to extricate ourselves from this war but it is the right thing to do i urge my colleagues to support this resolution which strongly supports our troops and opposes this escalation and i you back my time gentleman yield back trying to win this battle i'd like to allow our new representative from colorado doug lamborn five minutes to recognize the gentleman is recognized for five minutes i thank to a desire to support and protect the troops it turns around and disapproves of the plan that is best calculated by the commanders on the ground to bring order to baghdad this surge is the best way in the opinion of the commanders to clamp down on the insurgency to protect our troops and ultimately to lead to victory i don't see how you can claim to protect and support the troops while taking away the best option for victory that brings up another serious flaw in this resolution it has no positive alternative the resolution seems to say that we should go on as before which i thought my colleagues across the aisle said was unacceptable yet another serious flaw is that members of congress who are many thousands of miles away from the battlefield are substituting their judgment for that of the commanders on the field this is foolish an arrogance this gives rise to a constitutional conflict as well the constitution gives the president the power of commander in chief president bush who was really reelected by a vote of the entire american people just two years ago has the duty and authority to conduct the war in iraq congress has the power to declare war and to fund or to not fund war but does not have the power to conduct a war this constitutional division of powers is vital because among other things a clear chain of command is better calculated to lead to victory with the least possible loss of life war by committee on the other hand does not this serve the interests of our country or our troops because this resolution is so deeply flawed it will send bad messages if it is passed it will send a message to our enemies we are weak and unable to complete a difficult task it will send a message to our allies that we are undependable it will send a message to the families and loved ones of our fallen soldiers and marines to our brave men and women who have been disabled and to the troops in the field that their sacrifices in vain because their mission is not worth our commitment these messages will be destructive and i urge my colleagues not to go down this road if america does abandon iraq which many of my colleagues across the aisle want to be the ultimate outcome distraction will spread across the entire middle east and will be more likely to come to our own shores i know that the struggle against terrorism is difficult but we cannot give up yes we must learn as we go and yes we must adapt to changing circumstances but we must not think that retreat will bring relief we and the entire world will pay a terrible price if we go down that road this resolution is the first step down that road i urge the defeat of this resolution mr speaker on conservation predator energy and research gentleman from pennsylvania tim holden gentleman is recognized for five and i thank you gentleman for yielding mr speaker i rise today in support of house concurrent resolution sixty three i also write in strong support of the brave men and women who have served there are serving in iraq and around the world i represent thousands of men and women on active duty and in the national guard and in the reserves i have visited our wounded and injured troops at both walt and landstuhl regional center in germany my commitment to our brave men and women is on avery however i disagree with the pulling more than twenty thousand more u s combat troops to iraq the president has consistently said that the supply is a force would be term and by military leaders on the ground yet the two previous leading commanders on the ground do not support the addition of more troops general george casey the former commander of the multinational force in iraq and current chief of staff of the army advocated transferring security duties to iraqi soldiers general pace he said and i quote the longer we and the u s forces continue to bear the main burden of iraq's security it lengthens the time that the government of iraq has to take the hard decisions about reconciliation and dealing with the militias he goes on to say and the other thing is that they continue to blame us for all of iraq's problems which at base are their problems it's always been my view that a heavy and sustained american military presence was not going to solve the problems in iraq in the long run and quote additionally general john the former commander of u s central command in the middle east has said that he did not believe that adding more american troops right now is a solution to the problem and also advocated transferring responsibility to the iraqi general  said quote i met with every divisional commander general casey the corps commander general dempsey we all talked together and i said in your professional opinion if we were to bring in more american troops now does it add considerably to our ability to achieve success in iraq and they all said no and the reason is because we want the iraqis to do more it is easy for the iraqis to rely upon us to do this work i believe that more american forces prevent the iraqis from doing more from taking more responsibility for their own future and quote during the course of the war i visited iraq twice in two thousand and three and two thousand and five while i was there the main goal other than achieving victory was developing iraq's infrastructure yet after four years and hundreds of billions of dollars we have not had much success in improving infrastructure and still face serious problems or production is one half of the pre war level while conditions of basic services such as water power and sewage are below that in baghdad electricity levels are at an all time low and while we have spent billions of dollars on these problems nine billion dollars is lost and unaccounted for that is why also rice today in support of the blue dog resolution which provides cost accountability for occupation iraqi freedom operation iraqi freedom this resolution will directly address the infrastructure and security failures in iraq more specifically the resolution requires the department of defense inspector general and the special inspector general for iraqi reconstruction to report to congress every ninety days with one a detailed accounting of how military and reconstruction funds in iraq have been spent to a detailed accounting of the types in terms of contracts awarded on behalf of the united states agree a description of after efforts to up gain support and assistance from other countries for the rehabilitation of iraq and finally for an assessment of what funding is needed to complete military operations and reconstruction efforts in iraq including a plan for the security of iraq mr speaker our troops have done their job and performed with great courage and honor the solution in iraq can no longer be resolved militarily we must win both politically and diplomatically we must ask iraq's neighbors six neighbors to use include instead it's consistent with our own objectives and we must convince them that stability in the region is in their best interest in closing i want to offer my utmost gratitude and appreciation for our troops our thoughts are with these brave men and women and also with their families as we pray for them to return safely safely back to balance my time on promoting freedom and democracy around the world while maintaining the security of our country of our cities of our homes and our families the resolution before us today appropriately begins with the affirmation of our vigorous unwavering commitment to the brave men and women now serving our country in uniform we pledge to give them every tool they need to fulfill their assigned missions while providing the maximum protection possible additionally we pledge their families every means of support when their loved ones are overseas and when they return home my district in eastern washington is the proud home affairs child air force base that houses the ninety second air refueling wing these men and women have been an important part of fighting the global war on terror our community like every community around the country supports our men and women in uniform together we have celebrated victories and together we have mourned losses  we unanimously stand by our troops because almost five years ago this congress asked them to step forward to protect our country and when the fight against terrorism on october tenth two thousand and two before many of us were here including myself two hundred ninety six members of this body including eighty one democrats passed a bipartisan bill authorizing the use of military force in iraq the next day seventy seven members of the senate approved a motion authorizing the sane use of force what congress realized then was the importance to the security of our own country of a free and stable iraq and a peaceful and secure middle east five years ago congress was at a crossroads and made a very difficult decision today young girls in iraq can now attend school democratic elections have been held a fledgling government is in place and saddam hussein our murder of over three hundred thousand iraqis is no longer a threat to his own people or to our national security and iraq we have acknowledged victories and successes in the past year we all recognize the condition in iraq has grown more grave i know a lot has changed since i visited nearly a year ago al qaeda operatives sunni desk wads and shia militias propped up by the rich reckless dictatorship  iran have fueled violence and threaten the hopes and dreams of the iraqi people so congress is once again at a crossroads the realities the reality of the circumstances in iraq require a winning strategy the answer mason provided by our reformed intelligence community sends a clear warning in the national intelligence estimate on iraq quote unless efforts to reverse these conditions show measurable progress the situation will continue to deteriorate the solution cannot be and leaving things as they are the end i continues coalition capabilities remain a stench stabilizing element in iraq there are three courses of action leave things as they are we know this is not sufficient draw down armed forces in iraq this will only lead to deadly deadly indiscriminate violence costing the lives of hundreds of thousands of  innocent people or respond by giving our commanders in iraq the resources and the mission options needed for success all of us here support our men and women in uniform we must continue to empower them to defeat the enemies of freedom in iraq congress is now in the midst of making a decision that will contribute to the future security of our great country or begin the process of chipping away at the core of this resolve supporting our troops but not supporting the war is not an option victory is the only real choice the consequences of failure are unacceptable abandoning iraq would embolden the militants it would create a humanitarian crisis impacting millions instability in the middle east will create more join the overwhelming majority of the american people the congress and many top u s military commanders to voice my opposition to president bush's ill conceived plan to send more american troops into the middle of an ongoing civil war in iraq the president's plan which is ban attempted before on for some and failed is simultaneously too little and too much twenty one thousand troops too little to make a difference in the city million who are unwilling to see beyond their secretary and differences and too much burden to place on the american military already stretched to the breaking point mr speaker in october twenty  i voted in favor of the legislation to allow president bush to defend the national security of our country against the stated threats posed by saddam hussein in large part i based my decision on the information i learned in several classified briefings with high level administration officials about the capacities of iraqis to deliver weapons of mass destruction to the united states these officials pointed to the imminent threat  posed by saddam hussein and his potential use of unmanned aerial vehicles to deliver weapons of mass destruction to our shores of course we now know that these weapons as well as the bush administration 's claims regarding saddam's ties to al qaeda were fictional the consequences of our action however are quite real to date the iraqi war has come at a terrible cost to the united states more than three thousand one hundred service members have been killed and greater than twenty three thousand four hundred have been wounded my home state of pennsylvania has lost one hundred forty nine soldiers and over one thousand have been wounded more over the united states has spent almost three hundred eighty billion dollars to date with hundreds of billions of dollars more requested by the bush administration the war in iraq has also diverted much needed resources away from fighting the war on afghanistan on tuesday the washington post reported that nato is top commander general john chardin allowed does not have as he quoted that he was does not have enough forces for the anticipated spring offensive by the taliban the general warned that failure to send reinforcements was weakening the mission and jeopardizing the lives of soldiers fighting in afghanistan more than one hundred  thirty five thousand troops are currently serving in iraq many have completed their second and even their third tour of duty multiple tours of duty for the national guard and reserve members have created a hardship for many american families in my district and throughout the united states currently these brave american forces are caught in the middle of a religious dispute that began in the seventh century between rival muslim factions these underline secretary hostilities have come to the fore in iraq and have grown into a full blown civil war bringing stability to iraq cannot be achieved through an escalation of our military involvement in that country rather shiites and sunni's must decide for themselves to forge a political solution to this crisis in which the interests of all iraqis are represented nevertheless president bush is ignoring the advice of his top generals the bipartisan iraq study group the majority of congress and most of all the american people by announcing his intention to send an additional twenty one thousand five hundred american troops into harm's way to continue pursuing a flawed policy mr speaker i opposed assessed collation of our troop presence in iraq the time for more troops was four years ago when general shinseki presently warned of the need for hundreds of thousands of military personnel to stabilize post war iraq but the president the vice president and the former secretary of defense believed they could fight this war on the cheap was too few troops to little armor and too little help they were wrong and now it is too late mr speaker from my perspective the resolution before us today has been long overdue the american people have called on this minutes thank you national security should be the highest priority of the u s congress i talk to my constituents in western north carolina a lot about the situation in iraq we understand the challenges i think the american people understand the challenges of this war but we also know the consequences of quitting are too dire and too dangerous we know that leaving an unstable iraq and dangers israel other western democracies as well as our own national interests and our constituents here in the united states the president put forth a plan that he and his generals believe will lead to a safe and secure  stabilize iraq i repeat that you put forward a plan a plan of action and a plan for success democrats in response put forward a non binding resolution now this is washington speak for legislation that doesn't have the force of law now the disturbing thing is not that it's a non binding resolution but the message that th legislative tool since it sends not only to our american people not only to the troops in the field but our allies around the world and it also involves our enemies this resolution says at this time the democrats are not prepared to offer a new direction a plan or a solution for the challenges we face in iraq after this bit of wisdom to the democrats you must be the change you want to see if the democrats are serious about developing a new plan then the right thing to do is submit that's the true test of leadership is to submit solutions solutions and in order to effect change you have to put forward ideas for that change ask the american people to imagine what to be like if their representatives use this time to hammer out ideas and positive solutions that's the american ingenuity that we should focus on as a congress that's the american way the democrats say this debate is to send a message to the president and i'll tell you i think he's heard you loud and clear but let me give you a message from the battlefield from a friend of mine in iraq he says the argument over what got us to this point is a diversion the problem set is the president the terrorism would be terrorists that have that have flowed into iraq will not stand at the border and wave us goodbye and good luck they understand our politics our systems and our weaknesses they believe that it's a war of in durance and that we have shown historically and repeatedly that we don't have the national  political grandstanding has endorsed their belief and ensured the terrorists continued bloody engagement and till november two thousand and eight the bottom line we need reinforcements to set the conditions expired and we need political gentleman's time as with insurance to continue this fight may have additional twenty seconds giving thirty seconds please there's still thirty seconds the bottom line reinforcements will set the stage for success and we need political support for then durrance to continue this fight that's for my friends in the battlefield and i say to my colleagues the american people deserve better than this we need a plan of action for results and success and iraq and i say madam speaker you made your points now where's your plan i go back gentleman yield back is time gentleman from new york recognized that speaker i yield five minutes to the chairman of the energy and commerce subcommittee on energy an air quality to distinguished gentleman from virginia rick boucher the gentleman is recognized for five minutes i think the gentleman from new york for dealing this time and mr speaker i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks no objection thank you mr speaker i rise in support of the resolution and i hope that its adoption by the house will send yet another powerful message that a change in the direction of our iraq policy is required that additional twenty one thousand troops into baghdad only serves to put more american forces in harm's way the troop increase will not bring long term stability it will not halt the sectarian strife which has plunged iraq into a civil war it will do nothing to speed the day when u s forces can hand over the mission to the iraqis and come home but there is a better way our virginia colleague frank walz originated the formation of the commission that was chaired by former secretary of state james baker and while the hamilton who for years with distinction chaired the foreign relations committee in the house i commend congressman walsh for his foresight and for the public service that he provided to our nation when he originated the formation of the baker hamilton commission that commission was quite partisan it was composed of our most experienced foreign policy experts spanning administrations of both republican and democratic presidents sees its recommendations were unanimously presented by the members of the commission they embody the collective wisdom of these highly experienced americans for the best course that our nation can take for a new and more promising direction in iraq at the core of their proposals was a bold recommendation that the united states begin a dialogue with iraq's neighboring countries about a way to achieve regional stability and most particularly stability in iraq iran syria jordan saudi arabia all have influence with the various warring factions in iraq iran and syria in particular have a strong interest and a more normal relationship with the united states all of these countries have a long term interest in a stable iraq the baker hamilton commission's direction for u s led negotiation among these nations is the only real option we have left in order to achieve under united states guidance of peaceful iraq president bush has rejected this recommendation he acted in my view very unwisely more united states troops are not the answer blind faith and the iraqi prime minister with his ties to the shiite militia leader al saud are is not the answer a military solution standing alone is not the answer the only path to success lies in diplomacy and accepting the wise counsel of the baker hamilton commission finally the administration decided to try real diplomacy in north korea and it's working it's also the only hope we have for stability in iraq thank you and i yield back the gentleman yells back filming from texas is recognized thank consent to revise and extend my remarks without objection first i want to thank the genuine american hero from texas mr johnson for leading us this afternoon i support of the use of military force to remove saddam hussein's regime because it was in america's interest afterwards it should have been up to the iraqi people and not americans to determine their fate and how they govern themselves president bush's state of the survival of our liberty depends on its expansion throughout the world and america must actively construct those institutions which to me seems like a wilsonian view of america's role in the world in two thousand candidate bush rejected nation building if you held by the founding fathers who believe the exceptional calling of the american people was not to shape the world you know our image but to be a that lightens the world i prefer a candidate bush's position having said that i cannot support represent skelton's resolution nothing better illustrates america's democratic institutions and this body having a full and open debate about this topic i hope the commander in chief will recognize the desires and concerns of the american people as expressed today through their elected representatives what america has only one and not five hundred five thirty five commanders in chief we cannot micromanage the conduct of a war represent skelton's resolution sense horribly mixed signals to our troops who must so we focus on carrying out their side and dangerous mission once a decision has been made and mission assigned this body should support the troops and the one and only commander in chief as record that of johnson's resolution how did been heard would have done critics of tactics who resort to a congressional resolution tell our servicemen and women and their families intentionally or not that their mission is futile when we undermine hope we undermine resolve and we reduce the likelihood of success as senator lieberman has stated a resolution would in quotes give the enemy some encouragement some queer expression that the american people are divided into  quotes or as army sergeant daniel dobson expressed quote there is no honor in retreat and there is no honor in what the democrats have proposed and of course instead the responsible thing for this democratic led congress would have been to propose a new way forward new tactics new strategies not just in iraq but in the entire war on terror speaker rayburn the democratic speaker won't stay mostly remarked any jackass can kick down a barn but it takes a carpenter to build one there are no chairman of the science and technology subcommittee on research and science education the gentleman from washington represented brian baird to my record i asked him in a consent to revise and extend my remarks without section mr speaker every member of this congress every member is absolutely committed to the security of our families our communities and this nation and every member is absolutely committed to supporting our troops and our veterans the real question today is not whether we are committed to security or whether or not we support the troops the real question is how we believe that security is best achieved on that there is the date of a disagreement which is or should be what this debate is about to have that debate i not only a right but a responsibility of the elected representatives in a republic such as ours indeed it is to defend that very right that our young men and women are serving not only in iraq but around the world none of us here today need to be reminded about the threat of terrorism from floor speeches or from presidents a homily let us not forget that the terrorists of nine eleven did not originate in iraq they came from afghanistan and with only one exception every member of this body democrat and republican alike voted to prosecute the war against the terrorist in afghanistan bring al qaeda to just to justice and topple the taliban we were united then along with virtually the entire world and the fight was right iraq however is different the caucus on iraq has distracted and detracted from the mission in afghanistan and the real battle against terrorists the president and the rest of the administration took this nation into an unnecessary and ill conceived war based on false threats and with a deeply flawed plan before this war i and many of our other colleagues asked the administration some fundamental questions how many troops will this take how many lives will be sacrificed how long will we be there what will it cost financially how will we pay for it and how will this reads impact our security profile elsewhere in the world the fact is this administration has never answered any of those questions fully or honestly never either they know the answers and refused to say them which is  duplicitous or they do not know the answers which is incompetent sadly it appears a little of both is operating i voted against this war from the outset and believe to this day it was the right vote but once we were committed engage i along with most of my colleagues voted to continue to support our troops to try to achieve success in the mission and do our best to help the iraqis rebuild their country we fervently hope and continue to hold the mission would succeed but now several years later more than three thousand lives later u s lives alone and nearly a trillion dollars later as we consider the president's latest proposal we must ask again mr president how many lives how long will be be there how much will this cost and how will you pay for it and what does it do to the rest of our security position we still have no answers to those questions and lacking such answers which are fundamental to the security of this country and the safety of our troops i must vote yes on this resolution and no on expansion i call it it is irresponsible so allow a commander in chief who has not been honest or accurate from the outset to continue sacrificing the lives  bodies in the families of our troops in a mission that lacks a clear in point or a successful strategy it is dangerous to permit a commander in chief to jeopardize our nation's security by letting our military equipment to concentrate so much of our intelligence resources in one nation it is unsustainable for our economy to keep pouring billions of dollars every week into this ill conceived plan and the piled debt upon our children with no strategy for paying it back is a breach of trust to not fund the needs of our veterans when they return home and it is immoral to leave our soldiers dying and bleeding in the midst of an centuries old religious conflict that is not of our making and it's not of our power or responsibility to resolve and written comments i've described what i believe is a better course some of our friends have said there are no plans i've offered a plan and i urge you to look at but before i conclude i must also respond to those who suggest if we don't give unquestioning support for this administration regardless of what they ask for regardless of history and regardless of the evidence on the ground that we are empowering the terrorists or undermining our troops i believe the evidence  suggests from this war that while there may be differences of opinion about policy this congress and the american people have and will continue to have sanity to fire and yell jump an additional thirty seconds vishal this station will continue to a support our troops it is a sign of strength of our very form of government which is after all what we are hoping for mote in iraq and elsewhere in the world that we should have this debate our allies and adversaries understand that if we turn the course of a failed policy and a president has not been honest with us that is not cut and running that is wisdom it is courage and it is honesty that is what this resolution is about that is what we all of the soldiers who have already given their lives and that is well below the families and that is what we owe the future of this nation has healed whose time gentleman from texas was recognized ministers figure out like deal now to the chairman of our republican the committee my dear friend and a genuine american hero for yielding time to me today mr speaker speaker after speaker on the other side of the aisle i have come to the floor to speak against the past decision to go into iraq  criticize past lapses of intelligence they criticize past actions they criticize past setbacks they want to live in the past regardless of whose war this was in the past today it is an american war and the democratic majority must decide do they support the mission or do they not support that in the mission now certainly we are all disappointed that we have not achieved the success that we would desired by now and i myself do not know if the new strategy will prove successful i think it can be successful i hope it will be successful and i know that's a strategy that has been recommended by the iraqi study group and our new battlefield commander so until such a time if somebody comes to me with a more compelling strategy or until somebody convinces me that somehow my nation and my family will be more secure by our premature withdrawal from iraq subsequent implosion i feel i must support this new strategy i will support this new strategy defeat is not an option what are the options mr speaker clearly many many if not most of my democrat colleagues want to cut off funding for troops and would draw from iraq this is well known and i respect their views when they are heartfelt but since democrats control a majority in both houses of congress why are we voting on a binding withdrawal resolution and that's why this is a sad day i mean mr speaker somewhere over in baghdad right now is a marine sergeant who's tired dirt on his face but you know what he volunteered he loves america he loves freedom he's got a picture of his children is wallet his parents are praying for him he's thinking about his wife who's who  this body what never can go to that marine and say you know what i don't believe in your mission i don't believe you can succeed i don't believe you can win and i'm going to oppose reinforcements and guess what i have the power to bring you home but i'm just not willing to do it because if i do it now everyone will know it and i have to take responsibility and i'm just not willing to do that mr speaker if you believe in something and stand up for it where's the courage where's the conviction in a non binding resolution chemistry speaker we all know that fighting this war is costly  many members of this body i've met with the mothers of fallen soldiers their burden and sacrifice is profound but i never never never want to meet with the mothers whose children may perish in the next nine eleven if we accept defeat in iraq iraq must be seen in the larger context of the war with radical islam and whether we like it or not the battle lines are drawn in iraq don't take my word for it listen to what the jihadi says to say listen to osama bin ladin quote the epicenter of these wars is baghdad success in baghdad will be success for the united states failed your in iraq is the failure of the united states their defeat in iraq will mean defeat in all their wars we must soberly reflect on the challenge that we face listen to  in command quote al qaeda has the right to kill four million americans two million of them children listen to us on a sabi revolutionary guard intelligent advisor to the iranian president quote we have a strategy drawn up for the destruction of anglo saxon civilization listen to iraqi alitalia husseini quote even if this means using biological chemical and bacterial weapons we will conquer the world this is the enemy we face mr speaker and we face him foremost in iraq and if we leave before subduing him he will follow us to america make no doubt about it the consequences in iraq are immense don't take my word for read the report of the iraq study group read the national intelligence estimate read the works of senior mideast scholars at the american enterprise institute heritage foundation institute if we do not pursue success bat rack will one day turn into what afghanistan once was an additional thirty seconds german thirty seconds just thirty second our rock will become what afghanistan once was it will be a breeding ground a safe haven for the recruitment training financing in sanctuary of radical islam is built upon attacking our nation and our families we cannot wish it away we cannot hope it away we cannot dream in a way that will be no greater event to empower radical islam than our defeat in iraq mr speaker doesn't have to be this way we're americans we can meet this we can work together vote again this resolution support our troops protect our nation and our children from the rest and i'm a fan fired gentleman from new york it's very good to see so many people on the other side of the aisle have discovered the the iraq study group now my pleasure to yield five minutes to a senior member of the ways and means and agriculture committees the gentleman from north dakota representative or pomeroy the gentleman's recognized for five minutes thank you mr speaker yesterday morning i had an experience i'll never forget in the snow the slush and the ice i joined the family of major alan johnson as his body was laid to rest at arlington cemetery he lost his life in d explosion in iraq just two weeks before on behalf of the people of north dakota expressed to the extent i could our profound condolences for the family's loss the major's grieving widow stared into my eyes and said do what you can for our troops over there this is not just a plea in the prayer of the families of our soldiers it's the demand of the american people and i greet each and every one of us here intense commission commitment to our soldiers comes right from the bottom of our heart this debate is revealing a sharp difference between us on how to proceed in iraq but there are no differences when it comes to the all we share about the valor our soldiers have displayed in service to our country i've seen it personally in the four trips i've been to iraq i've seen soldiers in full battle gear in a  hundred thirty three degree heat doing their absolute best to perform their mission i see north dakota national guard soldiers charged with training up iraqi soldiers through an m possible absolute i've seen other soldiers just back from the life threatening best us of finding investigating these explosive devices saving american lives while keeping essential roads open and like most of  and prayed with shattered families whose sons and daughters of lost their lives in selfless service to our country and all we care about so i cannot get torie johnson's fervent request out of my to take care of our soldiers over there honestly there is nothing i care more about as a member of this house so how do we respond we take care of our soldiers over there by making certain they have the equipment they need as they undertake this last difficult and dangerous mission we take care of our soldiers over there by making certain their deployments are only for acceptable periods and not acceptable intervals with enough time at home in between the heel to rest and to train but beyond these things we take care of our soldiers over there when we as a congress make certain the mission they have been sent to perform has a reasonable chance of success in a war where so many tragic mistakes have been made this congress must not sit quietly by while additional plans are cooked up in w certainty is to accelerate the loss of american lives compound the already severe strain on our military capability and accelerate the burn rack of taxpayer dollars spent in iraq for these these reasons this resolution is a very important opening statement for this congress to make in iraq in ninety seven words it states our support for our soldiers while opposing the president's plan to escalate the number of troops we send into the middle of this sunni violence taking place in baghdad i want to my trips to iraq a soldier said to me we can stand up an iraqi army but we cannot create a country for this army to defend this simple truth goes right to the heart of the issue and exposes the flaw of the president's plan without the commitment between the warring parties interact just stop the killing and create a political agreement upon which a national government can exist twenty thousand more u s soldiers are not likely to bring about a lasting peace our soldiers are disciplined and determined they have to perfectly perform everything that has been asked of them however united states alone cannot create a democracy in iraq only the iraqi people can achieve that a broad group of experts including the bipartisan iraq study group former secretary of state colin powell the former senior military commander in the region general john abizaid have all rejected the strategy of escalated u s troop numbers as a means of bringing the factions of iraq together the bottom line is that this troop escalation will increase the terrible cost of this endeavor more lives lost war young men and women may end forever more tens of billions spent all without improving our prospects for an acceptable outcome will oppose this escalation of troops it's part of what i believe we must do to support our soldiers over there and american interests they have put their lives on the line to defend you  this resolution saying that we should provide our troops with all the resources they need whether the armor is quotes and humvees that is whole the resources they need except two and i don't argue they are the most to critically important ones manpower and the support of our national leaders so this democratic revolutions can be summed up in three simple words to stay the course the irony here is inescapable just months ago the very same supporters of this resolution derided the pentagon and the white house press corps proposing to stay the course but today they bring exactly that's same strategy for life and their resolution this resolution doesn't propose a new course of action it doesn't have the courage of its authors rhetoric vixens to change the course of the war it simply states that this congress will not support the new approach proposed by our new commander and the iraq study group general petraeus the chief architect of this new plan which could form unanimously by the senate and yet many in that body and in this body are adamantly opposed to this very strategy he now s to implement so it begs the question if the general is of the right man for the job then why is his plan now not appropriate they claim to support the troops but seek to undercut their new leader strategy how can we support the troops when we insist that their orders are faulty we cannot praise the general out of one side of our mouth while mocking him out of the other we've heard it said that this resolution calls for a new direction in iraq but i d those who say this to say what that new direction is it's certainly not apparent in this resolution this resolution is only an empty opposition to the commander in chief plan to ploy the armed forces as the generals on the field see fit this two sentence resolution sense of congress is not a new plan for victory in fact it is not even a new plan for bringing the troops home now but to leave them in the field with under manpower it is little more than a gift enemies who have been patiently awaiting the american naysayers to erode the american confidence in our mission our enemies do not lack morale and we fuel their exuberance with this drive for success every time they hear us speculate on withdraw all our enemies are fighting us against us and our servicemen and our allies with the belief that each headline brings them closer to victory our brave men and women in uniform are up to the task but they need our support not empty proposals that doubt their ability to secure the peace you know millions of peaceful iraqis are struggling to rebuild their nation after the cruel lane of saddam they want to opportunity to build a better future for their children and they ask for help to secure that peace we will now stand aside will we now stand aside with alcohol qaeda and iran support factions that wouldn't slave them once again you know it was franklin delano roosevelt who knew the repercussions of failing to support those nations that are struggling for liberty when he said and i quote and during peace and during peace cannot be bought at the cost of other people's freedoms declared that we are committed to pull support of all those resolute people everywhere who are resisting aggression and thereby keeping war away from our hemisphere we cannot have peace in iraq by handing over those who would work that build a nation based on freedom and justice and peace turned over to those violent brethren who seek only destruction of those principles make no mistake about it if we stay the course as this resolution w it will not be long before this return war returns to work worse i would like to end with these words from two individuals in the past they have traveled to now in the past they've desired to take the future cannot be any more different but they're equally strong in the passion that they bring to their beliefs and their words should be instructive to both of us the first thirty seconds thirty seconds to john thirty seconds joe first of the words of a dual are al but the leader of the al in iraq he says quote we have drunk the blood in the past and we find no blood sweeter than that of christians know that offense is in the forms of defense and be careful not to lay down your weapons before the war is over we may quibble over the words on the floor of the house of representatives but note the words of our enemies in stark contrast i like to share the words of one of my constituents ron griffin who forty five months ago lost a son kyle sons this war thank you from new york now yield five minutes to the chair of the natural resources subcommittee on water and power the distinguished gentle lady from california representative generally recognized for five minutes thank you mr speaker and i thank the gentleman for yielding i joined my colleagues in total opposition to the president's plan a plan this collates a number of our young men and women american troops being sent to iraq  what are we talking about what are the words and is resolution it says restyled by the house of representatives that one congress and the american people will continue to support and protect the members of the united states armed forces who are serving or who have served bravely and honorably in iraq and secondly congress disapproves of the decision of president george w bush announced on january tenth two thousand and seven to deploy more than twenty thousand additional united states combat troops to iraq that is the essence of what we speak to i did not vote for the war resolution and i do not believe that sending more young americans to iraq and putting their lives at risk would change the situation since the beginning of the iraq conflict our valiant men and women in uniform have not received the adequate training nor the proper life protection equipment required to ensure their safety and i visited one of the armory where there was two years after the iraq war started they were still making the doors for the humvees to protect them from those bombs that were killing and maiming our men and women the president's support to put more troops in harm's way in the middle of a civil war whether you like it or not it may be local but it is a civil war where neither side backs of our continued occupation further endangers our troops my constituents are not in favor of the escalation on of fifty to one we have had phone calls e mails messages they want our of young men and women back they do not want to escalate it anymore families that suffered enough already there is no justification for causing more pain and adding to the suffering of the mothers and of the fathers and of the husbands in the wives in the sons and daughters and other loved ones we speak of the soldiers who have lost their lives in iraq in this war we speak not of the thousands of the injured and the suffering they and their families are being put through the consequences of the war in iraq extends far beyond the awful tally of the three thousand one hundred killed and the twenty three thousand one hundred wounded the nation's economic consequences of the escalation are profound point one every portion of our budget has been cut and continues to be cut except for defense spending the worst budget cuts are taking funding away from our veterans the very men and women who put their lives on the line in iraq and other wars and we regularly receive letters and phone calls e mails from constituents who ask me to fund vital successful necessary programs for the communities where we cannot support our communities with the funds they truly need as they are instead being diverted to a war we did not seek vital social services critical to the well being of the people of my district and certainly of all other districts are again the other consequence of the war of the social consequences these hold your soldiers fortunate enough to return home alive and in good physical condition health suffer long term ladies and gentlemen long term mental health problems mr speaker innes as a direct consequence of their deployments not one not two but possibly three and more deployments in iraq yet our services to them and their families not only are sadly lacking an underfunded they're being cut we'd have not enough money to be able to deal with the devastation in the minds of the not only these men and women but their families to be able to deal with the consequences when they return home and try to retain a  normal life families are being torn apart more so by this war than any other war there's suicide there's divorce there's homelessness and now their children are forced to grow up without their father or their mother parents are losing children no mother should have to bury a son or a daughter i urge the president to work with iraq's neighbors and the international community to ensure other countries commitments to iraqi security situation the training of iraqi troops and police and of course financial support escalation is certainly not the answer and i cannot and will not support such a policy and i certainly want to say thank you to our brave men and parts before us the first part says that we support our troops the second part says that we are not going to send them reinforcements this seems to be kind of a curious proposition almost a nonsensical proposition how do you say you support and then say but we don't want to send them any reinforcing troops is certainly we say that we want to give them body armor we want to give them up armored humvees we want to send them tanks but the most important thing that you need sometimes is troops is some other troops to support you so we're saying oh we want support but we don't want to support you picture davy crockett at the alamo he's got his back to the wall sandie and has got thousands of troops so he gets this black reality checks with congress congress says hey david we really support you but we're not going to send you any troops that don't make a whole lot of sense to me now this is why i said this resolution has two parts it's as we support you but we're not really going to send any troops over the third part is what concerns me the most is congressman we have the responsibility to listen to pay attention if somebody has a better idea that's just fine send your better idea forward we're ready to be taught or to learn if there's a better way to approach iraq in the situation they're good but this proposal has no positive suggestion whatsoever it just says we support and we don't support now all that does is to encourage our enemies and without any positive recommendation this can only be viewed as something which strengthens our opponents hands i say good we've got the americans all confuse are saying support and don't support at the same time with no positive recommendations whatsoever now heard people say this is a civil war it's not really a civil war yet if we recall a troops out immediately it'll turn into a civil war no doubt about that but but what we do have is we do know this that the terrorists have been involved in setting one group of people against another they blow up a holy place of the shias and the shia start fighting the sunni's and so yes they have sparked a whole lot of unrest particularly in baghdad it's not a civil war yet but do we think that the terrorists aren't going to do the same thing in other countries where you have a the one leadership but with the majority of people in the other tribe and so i don't think it's much of an escape to say oh well this is a civil war what it is is it's a war against terrorists and regardless of how you want to speculate what might happen if we leave all of a sudden at least i would respect the democrats war if you just simply say we need to cut and run or we need to stay where we are but don't just leave a blank piece of paper and say we support and don't support that make any sense all it does is help the enemy now it seems to me that we need to as americans one more time as we have in the past take a good serious gut check i have a chance to speak to american audiences everywhere and lots of little kids and i almost always ask the same question i asked the question if you were to take america that you love and condemn down as to what do you really believe about this country what's the heart and core of america the answer that i almost always get is the word freedom but freedom needs a little bit more definition the tail and then the square chinese students wanted freedom and they grease the tank treads with their bodies but they didn't get freedom just because you want freedom doesn't mean you can have it so what is the heart of what we believe as americans well tell you the first time we went to war we stated that and we had quite an argument discussion about it and it was put in the declaration of independence we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights that among these is life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness and the job of government is to protect those basic fundamental god given rights and that's what they believed and they had to decide are we going to fight the british or not those are the things that i taught to fight children this is a picture of the marine club with my nine year old son standing here saluting the flag as it's going up and we taught him that there are some things in this world that are worth dying for and that one of those things is the fact that god gives us basic inalienable rights that little marine club kid is grown up is in fallujah zero five that's the cache of terrorist weapons that they found in fallujah he has grown up he understands the risk to his life he almost died in fallujah he believes as i do that there are some things in this world that are worth defending this is not a war about a civil war this is head to head with terrorists and is it surprising that we find around the whole time is expired you can you have thirty seconds gentlemen thirty sentiment has thirty seconds is it surprising that we find ourselves fighting terrorists terrorists believe we blow up innocent people to make a political statement we believe that the right to life comes from god it's an inalienable right the terrorists terrorize people to compel you to take your liberty away and we believe liberty is a gift that comes from god we are going head to head with people who have always been the enemies of america and i'm concerned that if we do not stand up and show that we not only think that it's a nice idea in our declaration but it's a conviction that will defend with our lives that we will be fighting the terrorism as time has expired gentleman from new york is director five minutes the chairman of the small business subcommittee on regulation health care and trade the distinguished gentleman from texas charlie gonzales the chairman is recognized for five minutes thank you very much mr speaker i would like to spanish a ground will crawl my colleagues and that is we gardeners of how you vote on this resolution no one will question your patriotism if we can just start with that benchmark i think we'll have a higher degree of debate and in good faith mr speaker this resolution is about duty and responsibility the duty and responsibility that congress owes to our men and women in uniform our first duty is to make wise and educated choices in identifying a threat the necessity of action and the legitimacy of the go before committing our continuing to commit more of our troops to the war when considering this resolution which reflects that an escalation of the war is unwarranted and it's not in the best interest of our nation and our troops each of us must ask one fundamental question is escalating and continuing the war in iraq worth fighting and dying for in the final analysis is what we decide we seek an answer to this question but we must be ever mindful that the courage and bravery our troops is never questioned our soldiers valor and commitment are not diminished by the errors in judgment made by their civilian leaders the question is whether the mission in iraq is worth their sacrifice as we move forward with this decision we must recognize the lessons of history are we are doomed to repeat its grave mistakes for example the public has been led into a trap which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honor they have been tricked into it by steady withholding of information the baghdad communique circulated insincere and incomplete things have been far worse than we have been told our administration more bloody and any fission than the public knows we are not far from a disaster now the parallels are on cannie and you're wondering who may have said that the quote was eighty six years ago and it was a communication from t e lawrence better known as lawrence of arabia in august of one thousand and twenty from baghdad continuing the situation in iraq is grave and deteriorating in addition there is significant underreporting of violence in iraq the standard for recording attacks acts as a filter to keep events out of reports and databases more lawrence of arabia more nine hundred twenty no two thousand six study group report let me continue nine hundred ninety two general colin powell quote the gulf war was a limited objective war if it had not been we would be ruling baghdad  in terms of money large lost and regional relationships now or a year earlier there was an observation quote once you've got baghdad it's not clear what you do with it it's not clear what kind of government you would put in towards the fundamentalists how much credibility is that government going to have is it is set up by the united states military when it's there how long does the united states military have to stay to protect the people that sign on for that government and what happens to it once you leave in quote that was one thousand nine hundred one spoken by then secretary of defense and current vice president of the united states dick cheney we remain a good and great nation when we have done all the good in iraq that we are going to do an escalation only delays the day that the iraqis assume the responsibility of settling and setting aside their sectarian differences and embrace the promise of democracy that we have delivered to them we can not do this for them whether we send in twenty thousand or two hundred thousand more troops and we cannot ignore the lessons of history the views of military experts and the will of the american people it is time for our troops to start coming home and it's time for the iraqis gentleman from arizona gentlemen will state his motion to insert a statement into the record in support of the resolution without objection so ordered the gentleman from texas madam speaker this time i'd like to feel three minutes to my colleague tim walberg from michigan gentleman from michigan is recognized for three minutes and a speaker throughout our nation rich history we reach moments where we arrive at what president ronald reagan described as a time for choosing today is such a day this week the house is asking ourselves a simple question will we choose to go forward with the results in the terminations needed to win the war on terror by supporting our brave troops or will we retreat and wait for the fight to return to american soil it was winston churchill who said never believe any war will be smooth and easy or that anyone who invites on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter with this in mind i acknowledge that the war in iraq is not going as well as we all hoped or wanted mistakes have been made thousands of precious lives have been lost and there are likely more tough times to come my wife and i pray for the men and women in uniform and grieve for every loss of life and injuries inflicted on these heroes who proudly serve our nation as much as anyone else speaking today i want this war to be over but this resolution essentially tells these soldiers to give up because the cause they have nobley served is no longer worth the courage and vigor necessary and protecting the american people and keeping terrorists off american soil are no longer national priorities as americans we are reluctant warriors but throughout history when our troops have been in harm's way american support of them and made certain our troops have the necessary resources to accomplish their mission in a cynical way this resolution says america has already lost and the leaders of our country no longer believe our troops can achieve victory it tells other nations that we are unreliable as an ally and they can no longer count on us in times of distress my son proudly served in the army and during this time of service i got to know many of his peers in uniform i am not prepared to say that these men and women not to the young man called on in battle that i will go to right after this speech walter reed hospital that i support you but i don't support the mission you serve and the blood you set on the battlefield was in vain i'm not prepared to call for a precipitous red withdrawal from iraq that will lead the nation right for terrorism and  bring the war on terror back to american soil my neighbors in south central michigan and across the country deserve to be protected from enemies of freedom and they ought to have a congress that doesn't shirk its responsibilities to soldiers and sailors  into harm's way to ensure this war is fought off american soil so we come to this time of choosing today are we willing to abandon our troops as they employ meant a new strategy based on quantifiable goals and measurable results i hope not i challenge my colleagues honor america's bright and well and fire fifteen year old a gentleman thirty seconds i challenge my colleagues to honor america's brave men and women serving in the name of freedom and oppose this resolution of retreat i yield my time gentleman from new york i'm not him speaker i now yield five minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts a member of the financial services oversight and government reform committee and chair of the house task force on anti terrorism funding mr lynch the gentleman is recognized for how many minutes five minutes i thank the gentleman for yielding madam speaker i rise in support of house resolution sixty three which opposes the president's plan to escalate the war in iraq i do so because i am in total agreement with generals casey and abizaid who have said that what is needed in iraq is a political solution and not a military one and that additional troops are not recommended i had a chance to travel to iraq five times now and based on my own observations in places like fallujah and to carette and al qaim out on the syrian border i firmly believe that it is the iraqi people who must ultimately decide whether they are committed to building a better life for their children for democracy i whether they are more committed to an all or nothing sectarian conflict between sunni and shia madam speaker i believe that packing more troops into the narrow streets of baghdad will be a disaster as i daily briefings indicate the dominant conflict now on the ground in iraq is no longer coalition forces against al and supporters of the bath this regime as the daily body counts of tortured and executed iraqis indicate the prevailing conflict on the ground in iraq now is a brutal civil war between the sunni and shia militias with our troops in the middle and fact in a recent hearing here in washington it was entitled iraq what will it take to achieve national reconciliation basically as the sharon pointed out the key mission that we've given to watch you will just have somehow mohammed that's what we've asked oxford's to do in essence to convince the iraqis now to stop killing each other into an embrace democracy instead the president has now asked our brave sons and daughters to take up a police action  essentially a civil affairs action going door to door in baghdad the mission in iraq has changed i have to wonder how many votes with the president and the vice president have gotten and nationally if they had been honest and said we want to send our sons and daughters to iraq and want to reconcile the differences between the sunni and the shia or been fighting for almost four hundred years not many i think of that's where we now find ourselves in our troops while the mission interactive change the president is staying the course what's more he's decided to push even harder in the wrong direction now is the time of the american people have fairly ashed what will congress  many of my colleagues believe that this resolution doesn't go far enough and in honesty i tend to agree with that assessment but i do believe that this resolution presents a solid and meaningful step in the right direction there will be a further debate in coming weeks on the funding on how to best protect our troops while transitioning to iraqi control in iraq and we'll have more opportunity to do that lastly i'd like to address the argument that the continuing war in iraq is necessary for the global war fighting the global war on terrorism as i've said before i've been to iraq five times now one of the questions that i have repeatedly asked ah people on the ground is how much of this fight in iraq is reach is part of the global war on terror how much of that is involving foreign fighters and al qaida you know initially they have recommended that it's about ten percent of the fighting in iraq so ninety percent of our cost ninety percent of our sacrifice is in a matter that has nothing to do with the global war on chara the fact they now say they have the mahdi army the defense department i mean main shia militia has replaced al as the most dangerous force and increasing violence there if we are truly committed to a global war on terror i might point out we have a situation in southeast afghanistan and was there a stand and where the who actually did support al qaeda and who actually did involve themselves in the attacks on september eleventh building support while we spent fourteen hundred i'm sorry three hundred fifty billion dollars in iraq pakistan has meanwhile a lot of safe haven to be established for the for the taliban if we're in did you manage a protecting america and the global war on terror i would suggest is our smarter and better ways to do that yes the american people chair must remind all members that it is not in order to engage in personalities towards the president or the vice president the gentleman from texas thank you madam speaker at this time i'd like to yield four minutes  to shelley moore capitol west virginia the gentlewoman from west virginia is recognized for four minutes thank you madam speaker i like to thank the gentleman from texas for yielding the time i rise today realizing the seriousness of this resolution and the importance of the debate on the war in iraq as we can in this debate i hope that all of us remember we have serious disagreements about what this resolution says or intends to do but that we cannot and should not be scorch one another's opinions and the right to that opinion and belief i would also like to say how proud i am to be an american to realize the bounty of our nation to appreciate the strength of our forefathers and to stand in awe of our democracy as the daughter of a world war two purple heart veteran i have a great understanding of the sacrifices that have been made in the past to allow us to live freely i understand and fully appreciate the men and women have so greatly put themselves on the front lines to protect our country i thought a great deal about what i want to say today and how i want to say it when the president announced his plan for a troop surge last month i stressed i expressed my disagreement and as we debate this resolution today i still harbor those grave concerns all i have voiced a disagreement over tactics on how to achieve success in iraq the fact remains that i have not backed away from my belief that success in iraq is vital and that leaving iraq prematurely would be disastrous for our nation's security and the stability of the middle east and let me stress that i will never never back away from my commitment to the men and women who serve in our military and i will not support anything that i believe in dangers their safety while they serve in harm's way to protect our country so i rise today in opposition to this resolution my opposition lies not in what this resolution says but what it intends to do and that is to lay the foundation to begin cutting funding for our troops as they fight the radical jihadists who want to destroy our nation my fear is not based on wild assumptions or partisan politics rather it stems from what leaders are already saying they are planning to do the passage of this resolution has been called a baseline and the speaker of the house has called it a first step and then she added it's approval of this resolution will set the stage for additional iraq resolute legislation which is set to come before the house leaders have been tight lipped about the pending legislation but we have learned that what they want to do is to set the stage for legislation that will fence off and limit funding by tying the hands of our commanders on the ground by presenting benchmarks that will be written so they certainly that certainly those funds cannot be spent to be sure such actions would restrict funds and tie the hands of our commanders in iraq i cannot and will not support any effort to systematically disassemble our greater effort to defend our liberties and our way of life and to provide our enemies with a breath of hope that we have lost our will let me be very clear to my constituents and the men and women in uniform i will never vote to cut funding for our troops nor will i allow my vote on a symbolic resolution one that has the force of politics and not the force of law to be used as a baseline or i first step towards cutting funding for our troops i will assertively maintain my support for the troops in my words and my vote and i will continue to analyze how i can best help achieve success in iraq so that we  begin to bring our men and women home and that spirit i plan to vote against this resolution i yield back the balance of my time gentleman yield back gentleman from new york i now yield a five minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts a classmate of mine distinguished member of the ways and means committee mr neil the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for five minutes thank you madam speaker thank mr engel as well last saturday in my home town of springfield massachusetts i spent the day welcoming back one hundred fifty brave american soldiers from the one hundred eighty first engineer battalion of the national guard who had just completed a year long deployment in iraq their mission was to provide security for their fellow service members and to protect military facilities this group included members who possessed a bronze star that action badge and a purple heart every member of this house and senate has participated in ceremony similar to this across the country we might have our differences about the war but we find common ground in our steadfast support for the soldiers in iraq on their way to iraq and around the world and that's one of the reasons i intend to vote in favor of this bipartisan resolution today there's a reason that the framers of our constitutional system chose in article one to establish that congress is the first branch of the government to oversee the executive