Bush Announces the Iraq Has Not Met One of the Benchmarks They Promised to Meet

Floor Speech

BUSH ANNOUNCES THAT IRAQ HAS NOT MET ONE OF THE BENCHMARKS THEY PROMISED TO MEET

(Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, last week, the President's preliminary progress report on Iraq showed no progress at all. In fact, the Bush administration admitted that the Iraqi government failed to meet any of its targets for political or economic progress.

You would think that this report would serve as a wake-up call to the Bush administration. It hasn't. It's clear that President Bush does not want to change a thing. In fact, the Washington Post reported that the administration is not considering a strategic change, but simply a shift in message.

Mr. Speaker, the failures in Iraq have nothing to do with message. President Bush promised that the Iraqi government would meet these benchmarks when he announced his troop escalation plan earlier this year. Many of us were skeptical that the Iraqis would actually follow through. And now that it's clear that the government has failed to meet any of the benchmarks, a shift in message is simply not enough.

Democrats have a plan to bring our troops home by April of next year. It's time for the Iraqis to take accountability for their own country. And that's why we passed the Republican Redeployment Act last week, and the Senate should follow our lead this week.

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