Lima News - "Jordan: Progress in Iraq"

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Lima News - "Jordan: Progress in Iraq"

As the number of deaths of American servicemen and women in Iraq hit 4,000 this week, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan said a troop surge in place there for a year is working.

"We've lost some great people unfortunately, but we're making progress," Jordan, R-Urbana, told the Ada Kiwanis Club Tuesday, touching on the war and the nation's economy.

"Regardless of what you think about the Iraq War," Jordan said, "We're there and it's critical we win."

Jordan and his wife toured Walter Reed Army Medical Center last year just as the surge was beginning, talking with wounded veterans from Ohio. They told him they believed the war was being won and they saw progress.
Jordan also spoke in New Bremen and toured Lima Memorial Health System on Tuesday.

Talking in Ada, Jordan touted his work to reduce federal spending, though he said it has fallen on deaf ears in Congress. Both parties and President Bush are guilty of spending too much, he said.

The United States has a $14 trillion economy, the largest in the world. At just more than $3 trillion, the federal government is the world's third largest, Jordan said.

Bush was responsible for the nation's first $2 trillion budget in 2002 and this year for the nation's first $3 trillion budget, Jordan said.

"We have a $9 trillion national debt and it will be $10 trillion by the end of this administration," Jordan said.

Jordan offered amendments to hold the line on spending to current levels, but was told it couldn't be done. The move would have saved $22 billion.
Then, in September when Congress had not passed its budget bills, it authorized an extension to do just that for three months.

"I stood on the House floor and said, ‘The sun is still shining,'" Jordan said. "‘The world has not ended.'"

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