Expressing The Sense Of The Congress On Iraq--Motion To Proceed
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE CONGRESS ON IRAQ--MOTION TO PROCEED -- (Senate - February 17, 2007)
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Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, we have seen 4 years of obfuscation on Iraq from the White House and from previous leadership in this Senate. Those days are over this afternoon. Every Senator is going to have to step to the plate and say where he or she stands. The other side has tried to design resolutions where they can duck, they can avoid, and they don't tell their constituencies how they feel. Those days are over.
That is why this cloture vote is a crucial vote, not just for the moment or the week but for the history of America because today's vote is not on other aspects of what is going on in Iraq or Iran but simply this: Are you for or against the escalation? Plain and simple.
There should be a simple vote, not as an end to this debate but as a beginning of this debate. The minority is tying itself into pretzels so there will not be a vote. They are torn between their President's policy and the wishes of their constituents. But vote they must. If they avoid the vote this afternoon, their constituents will know exactly what they are doing.
On the policy, the President's escalation is misguided, to put it kindly. There is no change in strategy. We are policing a civil war in Iraq--something no one talked about 2 years ago, something no one bargained for. Our brave young men and women, whom we so support, are standing in the crossfire between Shiites and Sunnis. This is not a fight against terrorism; this is a civil war, and there have been, unfortunately, thousands of them throughout history. American troops should not be in the middle of that war.
The President doesn't change the policy; he simply adds more troops to continue this misguided policy. That is why the majority of this Senate, and the overwhelming majority of the American people, are so opposed to this escalation, and we will vote on it this afternoon. But make no mistake about it, this is just the first step. It is just the first step. This is a process. Some of my friends and colleagues wish--and maybe we do, too--that there could be a silver bullet, one resolution that could either end the escalation or even end the war. But there is not. The way our Constitution is structured, this Government, you need two-thirds to overcome a certain Presidential veto, when we do our next resolution with teeth.
So our job here, which this resolution begins, is to ratchet up the pressure on the President, on those who are still on his side in terms of this policy until they change. We will be relentless. There will be resolution after resolution, amendment after amendment, all forcing this body to do what it has not done in the previous 3 years--debate and discuss Iraq. And we believe that as that debate continues and as this process unfolds, just like in the days of Vietnam, the pressure will mount and the President will find he has no strategy. He will have to change his strategy, and the vast majority of our troops will be taken out of harm's way and come home.
So, Madam President, today is the beginning of a historic period, where for the first time in a while Congress debates foreign policy in Iraq and Congress tries to do something about foreign policy in Iraq.
To the brave men and women who are defending us today, whom we so support, thank you for your service, thank you for protecting us. We will continue to live by what the Constitution has asked us to do, which is to debate the issues and come up with what is best for our soldiers, for America, and for the world.
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