Extension Of Remarks

Floor Speech

-- (Extensions of Remarks - July 19, 2007)

* Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2956, the Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act. This legislation requires a responsible redeployment of U.S. troops beginning within 120 days of enactment and ending by April 1, 2008. Additionally, this bill requires the President to publicly justify the post-redeployment missions for the U.S. military in Iraq and the minimum number of troops necessary to carry out those missions.

* Madam Speaker, we have sacrificed the lives of more than 3,609 soldiers and 26,695 wounded Americans, many with injuries from which they will never recover. We have a moral obligation to start the process of bringing our troops home, on our watch. A troop reduction will set our country in the right direction.

* After more than 4 years of fighting, $442 billion spent, and thousands of American and Iraqi lives lost in this war, the war in Iraq has evolved into a conundrum of massive proportions. American money, in the amount of almost $330 million per day, is being spent on the war. Distinguished colleagues, this adds up to more than $10 billion per month.

* I believe history will regard the decision to go to war in Iraq as a tragic mistake, especially when we realize the cost of this war. The House of Representatives has authorized $39.8 billion for the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2008. The United States government will approximately spend that same amount in Iraq within a span of only 120 days.

* The Administration's decision to increase the number of troops in Iraq has added to the already tremendous strain on our military personnel and their families. Both President Bush and General David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, have repeatedly said that there is no military solution to Iraq and that the sectarian strife and the insurgency can be resolved only by the Iraqi government. Simultaneously, the personal lives of our troops have been devastated by unexpected early deployments or unexpected delays in their homecomings. Consequently, we have a moral obligation to get our troops out of Iraq with the same determination that got them into Iraq in the first place.

* While our Administration's attention has been on Iraq, 6 years after the Bush administration declared war on al Qaeda, the terrorist network is gaining strength and has established a safe haven in remote tribal areas of western Pakistan for training and planning attacks. The most recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) concludes that al Qaeda is growing stronger. The report states that al Qaeda may now be a stronger terrorist organization now than it was just a year ago, and may be back to its pre-9/11 strength and reach. Meanwhile, as Osama bin Laden operates freely along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the Administration wants to keep our troops in an open-ended Iraqi civil war. The same administration report concludes that the terrorist group has significantly rebuilt itself despite concerted U.S. attempts to smash the network. Interestingly, while the Administration has escalated our involvement in Iraq, al Qaeda has gained more training, more money, and enhanced their communications.

* In addition, according to the Bush Administration's own assessment, the Iraqi government achieved only eight of 18 political and security benchmarks, a mixed rating on two and an unsatisfactory rating on eight benchmarks in a White House report prepared for Congress. The Administration has borne witness to the fact that we cannot continue to support the Iraqi government while the Iraqi government fails to achieve even moderate success. Therefore, it is time for them to determine their own destiny. We can continue to extend the hand of friendship, but we have to handover the country to them. Iraqis must take control of their streets, their towns, and their country so we can bring our troops home.

* Mr. Speaker, it is now time to require the President and the Secretary of Defense to commence the reduction of the number of United States Armed Forces in Iraq to a limited presence and begin to bring our troops home. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2956, the Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act.

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