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Floor Statement

	Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay U.S. House of Representatives Floor Statement February 14, 2007
	STATEMENT BY CONGRESSMAN WM. LACY CLAY ON THE FLOOR OF THE U.S HOUSE IN OPPOSITION TO PRESIDENT BUSH’S PLAN TO ESCALATE THE WAR IN IRAQ
	MR. SPEAKER,  HONORABLE COLLEAGUES, I RISE TO DECLARE MY ABSOLUTE  AND UNWAVERING OPPOSITION TO  THE PRESIDENT’S PLAN TO  ESCALATE THIS TRAGIC AND UNNECESSARY  WAR.   FOUR  YEARS AGO, I STOOD ON THE FLOOR  OF THIS  HOUSE TO OPPOSE THE ORIGINAL  FORCE AUTHORIZATION  RESOLUTION. AT THE TIME,   SOME OF MY COLLEAGUES  CAUTIONED ME THAT I WAS   TAKING A RISK BY OPPOSING   THE PRESIDENT AND FAILING TO SUPPORT THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM. BUT I TOOK THAT POSITION BECAUSE I BELIEVED THEN, AND STILL BELIEVE TODAY, THAT GREAT NATIONS DO NOT START WARS AS A MATTER OF POLICY,  THEY EXERCISE DIPLOMACY AND NEGOTIATION TO AVERT THREATS AND ACHIEVE SECURITY. THE EVIDENCE THAT THE ADMINISTRATION  PRESENTED  DID NOT CLEARLY  ESTABLISH  ANY IMMINENT  THREAT TO OUR NATIONAL  SECURITY. I WAS CONVINCED THAT INVADING IRAQ, WITHOUT INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT AND  WITHOUT UNEQUIVOCAL  EVIDENCE THAT IRAQ WAS  INVOLVED IN 9/11, WOULD DANGEROUSLY DRAIN OUR MILITARY STRENGTH, DISTRACT US  FROM FIGHTING THE VERY REAL  TERRORIST THREAT AND ULTIMATELY WEAKEN OUR CREDIBILITY AROUND THE WORLD, NOW WE CAN SEE THAT THE WAR IN IRAQ HAS  EMBOLDENED OUR ENEMIES AND  PROVOKED THE SCORN OF  OUR  ALLIES === MR. SPEAKER, STANDING HERE, FOUR YEARS LATER, I CAN ONLY WISH THAT MY ASSUMPTIONS WERE WRONG, THAT INVADING IRAQ WAS SOMEHOW VITAL TO THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION. WE WERE TOLD THAT THERE WERE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION…AND NOW WE KNOW THERE WERE NO WMDS. WE WERE TOLD THAT IRAQI OIL REVENUE WOULD PAY FOR THIS WAR…AND NOW WE KNOW THAT WAS ONLY A PIPE DREAM THAT HAS COST AMERICANS ALMOST $400 BILLION DOLLARS. WE  WERE TOLD THAT OUR TROOPS WOULD  BE GREETED AS LIBERATORS,  AND NOW WE KNOW THAT WAS  ONLY  WISHFUL THINKING,  BASED ON NEO-CON FANTASIES   AND   NOT THE  FACTS TODAY AMERICAN  TROOPS ARE EMBROILED  IN A BLOODY QUAGMIRE  THAT  HAS ALREADY RESULTED  IN  OVER   26,000 AMERICAN  CASUALTIES. AND NOW,  JUST THIS PAST WEEK, THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORTED THAT SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS ENGAGED IN A DELIBERATE MISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN ABOUT AL-QAEDA AND SADDAM HUSSEIN.  NOW WE HAVE LEARNED THAT OFFICIALS IN OUR GOVERNMENT DELIBERATELY DISTRIBUTED ALTERED INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENTS.  SUCH A MISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN IS UNCONSCIONABLE AND A GREATER THREAT TO OUR NATIONAL SECURITY THAN ANY ACT OF TERRORISM. WE ARE ALL FAMILIAR WITH THE HISTORIAN’S OBSERVATION THAT GREAT NATIONS ARE NOT CONQUERED BY OUTSIDE FORCES UNTIL THE NATION HAS DESTROYED ITSELF FROM WITHIN.   (Will Durant observed, "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has first destroyed itself from within.”) I IMPLORE MY COLLEAGUES TO HEED THE LESSONS OF HISTORY.  DO NOT ALLOW THE POLITICS OF DECEPTION TO DISTORT REALITY. THIS ADMINISTRATION IS DENYING THE FACTS.  IT HAS REPEATEDLY MISLED THE CONGRESS AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND UNDERMINED OUR NATION’S INTEGRITY IN THE WORLD COMMUNITY. NOW THE PRESIDENT IS ASKING CONGRESS TO REGISTER MORE SUPPORT FOR A POLICY FAILURE. ESCALATING THE MILITARY VIOLENCE IN IRAQ BY INJECTING 21,000 MORE U.S. TROOPS INTO A CIVIL WAR, REFLECTS NOTHING MORE THAN THIS ADMINISTRATION’S OBSTINATE REFUSAL TO FACE PRESENT REALITIES. A VAST MAJORITY OF AMERICANS WANT A RESPONSIBLE END TO THIS WAR, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  THEY WANT OUR TROOPS REDEPLOYED. THEY WANT US TO ALLEVIATE THE SUFFERING OF INNOCENT IRAQIS. AND THEY WANT US TO FINALLY TELL THE IRAQI PEOPLE THAT THEY MUST BE ENGAGED IN THEIR COUNTRY’S DESTINY.  THE FUTURE OF IRAQ MUST ULTIMATELY BE DETERMINED BY THEM…NOT BY US. I WANT TO CONCLUDE BY QUOTING FROM ONE OF THIS BODY’S MOST KNOWLEDGEABLE AND TRUSTED VOICES ON MILITARY AFFAIRS AND FOREIGN POLICY, MY GOOD FRIEND AND FELLOW MISSOURIAN, THE DISTINGUISHED CHAIRMAN OF THE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE:  IKE SKELTON IN A RECENT STATEMENT HE SAID, “ONLY THE IRAQIS CAN CHANGE THE SITUATION THERE AND BRING LASTING SECURITY TO THEIR NATION.  I REMAIN CONVINCED THAT A GRADUAL AND RESPONSIBLE REDEPLOYMENT OF U.S. FORCES IS THE BEST WAY TO HELP THE IRAQIS TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR SECURITY AND TO RESTORE THE FULL STRENGTH OF OUR MILITARY.” MR. SPEAKER, OUR TROOPS ARE MAGNIFICENT. OUR BRAVE SONS AND DAUGHTERS HAVE DONE EVERYTHING WE HAVE ASKED THEM TO DO IN IRAQ, AND MUCH MORE. I HONOR THEIR COURAGE. I COMMEND THEIR SERVICE. I SALUTE THEIR SACRIFICE, AND THAT OF THEIR FAMILIES WHO AWAIT THEIR SAFE RETURN.   I URGE THE PASSAGE OF THE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION. AND I PRAY THAT THIS IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS BRINGING THEM HOME…SOON. THANK YOU AND I YIELD BACK THE BALANCE OF MY TIME # #