Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

DEPARTMENTS OF TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (Senate - September 11, 2007)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

AMENDMENT NO. 2808

Mr. DURBIN. I ask unanimous consent to return to the amendment offered by the Senator from Texas.

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I wish to speak to that amendment, if I could. First, let me stipulate I have said publicly, and believe in my heart, GEN David Petraeus is an honorable man who has served this country with distinction. It has been my good fortune to meet with him in Iraq on several occasions, 2 1/2 years ago, when his job was an important job in training the Iraqi Army, to prepare it to take over for American soldiers. Most recently, in August, I met with General Petraeus in Baghdad for 3 hours, and with Ambassador Crocker, over dinner. We had a lengthy conversation about the surge, the situation in Iraq.

I never for 1 minute questioned General Petraeus's patriotism, his competence, and his record of serving America. That is something I am happy to stipulate for the record and I believe is beyond question and reproach.

I will also tell you I voted for General Petraeus to be head of our military effort in Iraq and did so without reservation. I believe he is extraordinarily competent as a military leader. There are no questions to be raised about that.

Yesterday, before a joint session of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, General Petraeus appeared with Ambassador Crocker. The morning news reports suggest virtually every single Member of Congress from both sides of the aisle preceded their remarks about General Petraeus's testimony by giving credit and tribute to this man for his service to our Nation.

That is why this amendment that has been offered by the Senator from Texas strikes me as a little unusual, first in that it is being offered on the Transportation appropriations bill. Someone said, kind of jokingly: Is it because General Petraeus was transported over American highways to make it to the hearing? It is a good question that is being raised here about the general, but it certainly is not a question relative to a Transportation appropriations bill, which includes many serious and important issues as well.

We just heard a comment from the Senator from Minnesota. I can tell you her concern about her State and the terrible tragedy that occurred there is heartfelt. I am glad on behalf of Senator Coleman and herself she has brought it to our attention. I hope we will take it up, as we should, during the course of debating this bill.

Secondly, though, there is a time and place for this debate. It is an important debate because having conceded all of these important personal qualities of General Petraeus, the fact is I disagree with the conclusions he presented to that joint committee yesterday. That, of course, does not reflect on him personally; it just reflects on the fact he and I have a difference of opinion. Differences of opinion are pretty basic to our style of Government, not only in Congress but among the American people. So for someone to take exception to the remarks of General Petraeus is not unusual. In fact, it is expected. That is a debate that characterizes a democracy, a government where we are not afraid to stand up and disagree with even people at the highest levels of Government, even people who have excellent reputations who can, from time to time, be wrong.

I would remind the Senator from Texas it was a gentleman from his own State who became Attorney General and recently resigned, after serious questions were raised about his judgment. I did not vote to confirm Alberto Gonzales. I had serious doubts about whether he could serve as Attorney General, and expressed those doubts during his confirmation hearing, during the consideration of his nomination before the vote on the Senate floor, and afterwards, and that is a fact. That is what we are here for. That is part of the debate which is part of our American conversation. It goes on on the floor of the Senate and the floor of the House.

The same was true for Secretary Rumsfeld. I introduced him to the committee when the President first nominated him to be Secretary of Defense, and did so with pride because I had known of his service as a Congressman from Illinois. Over the course of several years, I came to disagree with many of his policies and believe he made some serious mistakes, for which we are still paying. That kind of disagreement is also part of this debate on Capitol Hill.

Now, what the Senator from Texas suggests--and also the Senator from Kentucky, the minority leader--is that now the Democratic side of the aisle has to be held accountable for all the critics of General Petraeus. In fact, they have gone so far--the Senator from Kentucky said what we are about here is not a resolution relative to MoveOn.org., what we are about is ``restoring the reputation of the Democratic Party.'' He went on to say the actions of this organization are ``a severe threat to the reputation of the Democratic Party.''

Perhaps the Senator from Kentucky overstated a little bit. When the organization ran a full-page ad, I did not notice at the bottom anything that said ``endorsed and approved by the Democratic National Committee.'' Organizations make their statements, stand by their words, and are held accountable for those. Occasionally, there is a poor choice of words. I think in this particular ad there was a poor choice of words to suggest there was any betrayal involved in the testimony of General Petraeus. But I might remind my colleague and friend from Texas, even the best of us can occasionally get tangled up in a poor choice of words. It has happened to both of us on the floor of the Senate. That is a fact. Occasionally you have to stand up and say: I did not quite mean it the way it sounded.

Well, let me say at this point, if we are going to be held accountable for every organization that opposes the war and the language they use, if the Democratic Party has to come to the floor and be asked up or down to vote on every comment and phrase made, it is a standard that might consume a lot of time in the Senate.

I do not recall a legion of Republican Senators filing in here to complain about Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. In the middle of that Presidential campaign, John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam war hero, had his reputation attacked and criticized by a Texas organization, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, that suggested he was not deserving of the combat decorations which he received. I thought their attack was an outrage. Most Americans felt the same. We understand many men and women have risked their lives and given their blood in service to this country and received recognition from our Government, which they deserved. To have the scurrilous attacks from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, I thought, was an outrage. I do not recall resolutions on this side of the aisle saying: Well, now, the Republican Party has to repudiate those.

But if this is going to be our stock in trade now--instead of dealing with issues such as rebuilding the bridge in Minneapolis, instead of facing the reality of bridges across America that are dangerous, instead of dealing with highway funds that are critically important--we are going to set all that aside and ask, first, the Democrats and then the Republicans to respond to every ad that is published in the newspaper, then we better set up a special committee to deal with that. It would be the ``Committee on Headlines,'' I guess. We could have a bipartisan group and each day have a list of headlines we all object to, and then vote on them on a regular basis.

Is that why we are here? Is that why we were elected? Do we set aside the Transportation bill for America to deal with an ad purchased by a private organization? I do not think so.

Let me say I think it was a poor choice of words in that ad. I do not subscribe to that point of view about betrayal at all. I will defend the right of that organization and others to speak up against the war or for the war, whatever their position might be. That happens to be part of the American opportunity, to stand up and speak your mind, whatever it may be. To take the time of the Senate, on a regular basis, to come through here and to hold us accountable for purchased advertising by organizations will become a full-time job.

Now, before I close, let me say this: I do not believe this amendment is germane. If the Senator wants to offer it on some other bill, in some other context, that is his choice, if he wants to do it that way. But I wish to get back to the business of the Transportation bill.

But before I leave the floor, let me make it clear I disagree with the conclusions of General Petraeus. I have been there. I have met with him. I have seen it. It is true the surge is buying us at least temporary security benefits in some parts of Iraq, but the general has said, and many others have said, we will never win this war militarily. It has to be won by the Iraqi Government making important political decisions to bring their country together and to stabilize Iraq. No matter how many soldiers we send in, that political responsibility will still be there, and even the most optimistic fans of the Bush administration could not say at this moment in time there is a government of national unity in Iraq. There is not.

For all of the lives that have been offered up by Americans--3,774 of our best and bravest who have died as of this day in this war in Iraq; 27,186 who have been wounded--the fact is the political situation in Iraq is a disaster. Even with the additional surge troops, it is a disaster. For General Petraeus to suggest he will try to bring home the surge forces--30,000--by some time next year, from this Senator's point of view, is not good enough. That will not move the Iraqis forward to accept responsibility for their own country, to accept responsibility for their own defense.

So though I respect General Petraeus, and will continue to respect him, I respectfully disagree with the conclusions he reached before that joint committee in the House yesterday. That is my right. It is the right of every American. If people, in disagreeing, make a poor choice of words, an unfortunate choice of words, I am not going to be standing here and defending them. But I will stand and defend the right of every American to question and challenge this Government and its policies. That is not a reflection on the general's good work or on the fine contribution by the men and women in uniform.

I hope this amendment offered by the Senator from Texas is found not to be germane to this Transportation bill, and I hope we can return to the important business of that bill soon.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Source