Date: 2008-04-09
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. what I think has been really interesting is observing the struggle that military l~aders underneath General Petraeus have been going through in trying to be good soldiers and toe the party line about not being ready to withdraw and for us to leave those 140.000 troops indefinitely in Iraq. which is the decision that was clearly made before General Petraeus came to testify this week. But when theyre asked specific questions about the impact on our troops. the truth comes through in their statements. General Richard Cody. the Army Vice Chief of Staff: "Our readiness is being consumed as fast as we build it . . . lengthy and repeated deployments with insufficient recovery time have placed incredible stress on our soldiers and our families." And were not talking about retired commanders or retired military leaders. who some people might suggest are retired for a reason. Were talkingabout the people who are currently fully engaged in our efforts over there. Lieutenant General Benjamin Mixon. Commanding General of the U.S. Army Pacific: "We are going to have to change our strategy in Iraq to reduce the numbers of troops and thereby reduce the rotations and increase the dwell time that we get back here at home." That was January 27. Lieutenant General Michael Rochelle. Army Deputy Chief of Staff. GI: " . . . I should mention that its clear that the increase in suicide. as well as other measures that we track very. very closely. are a reflection of the amount of stress thats on the force." And. finally. Brigadier General Michael Linnington. Deputy Commanding General of the United States Army Infantry Center: "Money is not the issue ... They want an opportunity to catch their breath before deploying again and to have some control over their futures. Theyre tired and their families are tired." We have got to reach a point where we focus on the things that we know we need to focus on. like Afghanistan. for example. We have shifted. When we went to war in Iraq originally with the stated notion of pursuing the weapons of mass destruction that supposedly Saddam Hussein had that he clearly never had. we shifted our attention and our focus away from Afghanistan. where we clearly were succeeding. where we clearly had the world community behind us and fully engaged. where we had the American peoples full commitment. And when we did that. when we shifted our attention away from Afghanistan and focused on Iraq. we lost tremendous ground in Afghanistan. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Admiral Michael Mullen. said: "So should we be in a position where more troops are removed from Iraq. the possibility of sending additional troops to AfghAnistan.. where we need them. clearly. certainly its a possibility. But its really going to be based on the availability of troops. We dont have troops. particularly in Brigade Combat Team size. sitting on the shelf. ready to go." The military is obviously stretched incredibly thin. And when I talk to constituents and groups of. folks. Ill tell you that I represent a large section of the Jewish community in my State. and I am constantly being- asked by members of the Jewish community leadership. What about Iran and what if we face an increasing threat from Iran? What are we going to do then. DEBBIE? And my honest answer is. Well. we are spread so thin militarily now that it would be incredibly difficult for us to continue our efforts in Iraq. for us to maintain and not lose ground in Afghanistan. and also pursue the possibility of staving off a significant threat from Iran. And. again. thats not something that Im saying. Thats something that is backed up by military leaders. I mean its been 2.399 days. Madam Speaker. since the September 11 attacks. 2.399 days. and Osama bin Laden still remains free. We have gone backwards in Afghanistan since we left and shifted our focus. In July of 2007. a declassified version of a National Intelligence Estimate on the terrorist threat to the U.S. homeland concluded. that al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the border area with Pakistan has regained its strength over the last few years and has now reached the strength it had before 9/11. We have put ourselves in jeopardy. The administration and this President talks about the war on terror. the supposed war on terror. and how committed we are to it and how we have to fight terror in eVery corner of the world. Well. it is incredibly disturbing that a National Intelligence Estimate. not a progressive think tank and not the critics of the administration but our own National Intelligence Estimate on the terrorist threat to the U.S. homeland. woncluded that al Qaeda in Afghanistan has reached its strength that it had before 9/11. The Director of National Intelligence. Mike McConnell. testified in February that Afghanistans President Hamid Karzai and his government control just onethird of the country now. Madam Speaker. The remaining majority is under control of either the Taliban or local tribes. We have got to make sure that we refocus our energy and our effort on the priorities of the American people. I know our Democratic leadership. under the leadership of our Speaker. NANCY PELOSI. is focused and determined to move an agenda that is going to improve this Nations economy. The economic stimulus package that she was able to negotiate with Leader BOEHNER to try to inject some stimulus into this economy. checks that are going to be coming to Americans very. very soon. those are the kinds of efforts and energy that we need to be putting in to deal with the crisis situation that Americans are facing. Not continue to insist. as the administration does. that they are right and we are wrong. Not continue to say that we need to keep the same troop strength that we have where we made absolutely no progress between now and before the surge. Basically its almost as if we have run in place. Its just incredibly frustrating. So. Madam Speaker. Im going to end where I began. And that is to say. the toll that this war has taken on the individual troops who are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. on their families. on Americans. where our administrations priorities are not focused on what they should be. which should be improving our economy and making sure that we can reduce the deficit and get our fiscal house in order and make sure that Americans have access to health care and arent having their homes foreclosed on and the skyrocketing cost of housing. and the list just goes on and on. But at the same time. were taking care of the needs of the people in Iraq. They have a budget surplus. Their housing needs are being taken care of. Their childrens schooling is being taken care of. Yet we still have the same 140.000 troops that the administration has committed to leaving in Iraq. as opposed to trying to bring these troops home and end this hopeless war that. has not made progress. And at the end of the day. as Mr. RYAN stated. we need to ensure that the Iraqi troops can stand on their own and that they dont belieye for generations to come that we are going to carry them throughout history. At some point we have to let them go and stand on their own. and we have reached that time. With that. Madam Speaker. we appreciate the opportunity in the 30Something Working Group that the Speaker has given us to talk about the issues that are important to the American people and to our generation and from our generations perspectives. We hope that the people who have heard this presentation tonight will go to the Speakers Web site and click on the 30Something Working Group address. The charts that we have shown tonight are on that Web site. and they can feel free to email us and contact us with any questions they have.