Making Emergency Supplemental Appropriations--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

MAKING EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS--MOTION TO PROCEED -- (Senate - November 16, 2007)

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, today we have an opportunity before us. With the bill we will consider, we can do what the American people have asked us to do. We can begin to bring the war in Iraq to a close.

More than 3,800 of our servicemembers have died. In fact, as we know, 2007 has been the deadliest year so far in Iraq. And while we spend billions of dollars in Iraq, the list of safety, health, and infrastructure needs at home is stacking up.

Today it is time to begin redeploying our troops, rebuilding our military, and getting back to fighting the war on terror.

I was one of the 23 Senators who voted against the war in Iraq, and since then I have voted time and time again to get us out of this war. That is why I support the bridge funding that is being offered by Senator Reid this morning that we will consider.

This bill provides $50 billion to make sure our troops have what they need to do their job and it requires the President to begin redeploying troops out of Iraq within 30 days after he signs this into law. Our goal with this legislation is to be out of Iraq by the end of next year. And importantly, unlike the bill being offered by the other side, it is not a blank check. It requires American personnel, including the CIA, to follow Army Field Manual rules on torture, it requires the military to give our troops at least a year to rest in between tours of duty, and to ensure that they are battle ready before going into war. So this morning I urge our colleagues to seize this opportunity and put American lives, American security, and America's future first and begin to change direction in Iraq.

Earlier this year, President Bush promised us his troop surge was going to improve security and allow Iraqis to stabilize their own country, but that is not working. The Washington Post reported Thursday that senior military commanders in Iraq are now saying that the inflexibility of the Shiite government is the key threat facing the U.S. effort there.

We have given the Iraqi Government every chance to step up and take control. We have done our part. The Iraqi Government has not done its part. And in the meantime--while more than 150,000 of our troops are policing a civil war in Iraq--we have become more vulnerable overseas. Terrorist attacks have risen almost fivefold since 9/11.

The President has hidden in his bunker and stubbornly refused to pursue the strategy needed to bring stability in Iraq. It is time for him to face facts. It is time for the Iraqis to take control of their own country and for us to redeploy our troops where they are most needed.

Our bill will allow us to rebuild our military, which is stretched too thin. Generals have testified to Congress that the war in Iraq has weakened our military readiness, destroyed our equipment, hurt our ability to respond to disasters here at home, and left our troops stressed and without fully rounded training. We need to make sure our troops are trained for whatever conflict they face, and changing the direction in Iraq allows us to do that.

We need to fight and win the war on terror and rebuild our military. We also need to be there to support our servicemembers, our veterans, and their families. Our veterans have had to struggle to get basic care because this administration has put them on the back burner. We learned this week that, tragically, thousands of our veterans didn't get the help they needed and they took their own lives. CBS reported that in 2005 alone, 6,256 veterans committed suicide--a rate twice that of other Americans. That is shocking.

The bill we are working on today, and that we hope we can get enough votes for, will ensure we are meeting our veterans' needs every step of the way, from the day they are recruited, while they are trained, while they are deployed, and as they transition back home.

Finally, while President Bush has waged war overseas, he has insisted on paying for it in ways that have left us tragically underfunded here at home. Democrats have taken the right steps to reinvest in the many parts of our budget that have been neglected. We have got to move forward. I hope we can move this legislation that has been offered on our side, because the war in Iraq is not making us more secure, it is making us less secure. It is hurting how our Nation is perceived around the world, it is hurting our military, it is hurting our veterans, and it is hurting our security at home.

Today we have an opportunity to make progress, and I urge my colleagues to support the bridge funding and send a message to the President that it is time to change course in Iraq.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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