Date: 2007-02-14
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. the American people want a new direction in Iraq and I expect Congress to act accordingly. They really do think that this is a democracy and that this is representative . government. It has been almost 4 years since this administration declared the end of major combat in Iraq. He declared mission accomplished. Since this declaration. we have seen more than 3.000 of our military killed iii combat. and more than 22.000 injured. We cannot forget that these are not just numbers. These are our sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters. They are now more than 3.000 men and women who will never return home to be with their families. Many are so young. at 18. 19 and 20 years old. their lives have ended before they ever really began. I started my professional career as a psychiatric nurse at the Dallas Veterans Administration Hospital. and I observed firsthand the physical and psychological trauma that the returning young people faced from the Vietnam war. It is a longterm battle for -them and their families as they learn to live with these disabilities. We are in a war with no end in sight. and now we are talking about troop escalation. How many more young lives are we going to lose? How many more soldiers will face longterm disabilities. lifelong disabilities? The experts have weighed in on this issue. and they have said we are making a mistake to escalate. The President sent a group of experts to design a new course for Iraq. The Presidents experts did not recommend additional troops. In fact. they recommended the very opposite. Madam Speaker. it is time to listen to the experts and the commanders on the ground. Our troops are faced with an impossible task of policing a civil war. Each day we hear of sectarian attacks and bombings. Our troops are caught in the middle with no real strategy to end this violence. A great American military cannot be a substitute for a weak Iraqi government. We need to focus on diplomatic solutions and training Iraqs security forces so they can take care of themselves and patrol their own country. With this escalation. we are just compounding the problem. We should concentrate on training the Iraqi security forces. They must know that this is not going to be an openended situation. Madam Speaker. my constituents in north Texas continue to grieve the loss of their sons and daughters. They are concerned for our troop safety and they are demanding answers. The war is costing us too many lives and too much money. $1. billion a week. At -an overall cost of $500 billion. we will be paying the cost of this war for decades to come. In my congressional district in Dallas. Texas. our share of the cost will be $1 billion. In Dallas this would have provided 400.000 children with health care or paid for 23.000 additional police officers. For our Nations 300 million Americans. their share will be $1.300 a piece. Accountability of Iraq war spending has been appalling. Does there exist any accountability? Last week we began the congressional hearings regarding contracting fraud. Apparently there is $12 billion unaccounted for. Contractors were being paid with large bags of cash. This is truly an embarrassment and the height of irresponsibility as thousands of American children go to bed hungry tonight. Many are children of our troops. and now we are talking about spending more money and adding more troops. We need to end this. redeployment needs to start now. Madam Speaker. we have before us a bipartisan resolution opposing the escalation of troops in Iraq. However. this debate is only the first step. The ultimate goal is to bring our troops home safely and swiftly. It is time for the President to listen to the American people and his advisers and refrain from changing the leadership when they disagree with him. The best way to support our troops serving in Iraq is to say "no" to the Presidents escalation of this war. An outstanding general said recently that stubbornness cannot be mistaken as leadership and cliches cannot be called policy. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this resolution.