Date: 2007-03-15
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

I am so glad that you went through those benchmarks and stressed that these were the Presidents benchmarks that we used. The President. on January 10. outlined the benchmarks for success. that he felt" were imperative that we need. Those were that we must give the United States the authority to pursue all extremists.. we must rein in the militias and have Iraqis step up to. the plate to enforce security. They have to decide how their oil revenues are going to be distributed. That is a very important benchmark that has to be accomplished. and they have to pass reconciliation initiatives to keep their country together. Their country is essentially about to fall apart. They are in the midst of civil war and are absolutely at the breaking point. Besides those benchmarks that we had in that supplemental that we passed out of the Appropriations Committee today. and besides the incredibly necessary emergency funding that the troops need and that our veterans need. we also put provisions in that legislation to make sure that our troops can catch their breath. I referred to that soldier who I met in Walter Reed. whose little boy just wanted him to come home. and who had missed half his little boys life. We have soldiers. many. many soldiers. who have completed. three tours of duty. are about to go on their fourth. who are deployed for 365 days and then that deployment is .extended. The language we put in that bill ensures and says to the Army that they need to make sure that those deployments are not beyond 365 days. Fl 1630 The President can waive that provision by submitting a report to Congress detailing why that units deployment is in the interest of national security. But that is the kind of accountability that we are inserting to protect our troops. to make sure that the President certifies that that deployment. that extension is absolutely essential to protect national security. despite the assessment that the unit is not fully mission capable. Our readiness is shot. We are spread so incredibly thin. and we are talking about the impact on human beings lives. How about the length of deployment? The language in our bill requires the Defense Department to abide by its current policy and avoid extending the deployment of units in Iraq in excess of the 365 days. We have to make sure that those units are fully mission capable. and the time between deployments is essential as well. The Defense Department would be required to abide by. again. its current policy and avoid sending units back into Iraqbefore troops get the required time out of the combat zone and training time. 365 days for the Army. and 210 days for the Marines. And the President can also waive that provision in the interest of national security. He just has to certify to Congress that that is the case. And that is the kind of accountability that the American people insisted upon on November 7. They asked us for a new direction. in the 6 in 2006 items of our agenda that we have already passed. and they insisted that we move this war in a new direction so that there would be an end in sight. so that the President would. no. longer have a blank check. and so that we could make sure we could protect our men and women in .uniform who are protecting us. And I would be happy to yield to the gentleman. And I am going to have to take my leave of the gentleman because I have. constituents that are in town that I need to speak with. I look forward to you carrying on