Congressman
Elton Gallegly
Serving the 24th District of California

http://www.house.gov/gallegly/media/media2007/media2007.htm

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 16, 2007

 Contact: Tom Pfeifer
(202) 225-5811

Floor Statement:
Congressman Elton Gallegly on House Iraq Resolution

My concern about the Iraq Resolution offered by my friends on the other side of the aisle is what its impact will be on our troops and the mission, and its consequences on the mission. How can you say you support our troops when you don’t support sending in the people necessary to back them up?

Let’s be clear who the enemy is. I believe we are at war with Islamic jihadists. Jihadists have vowed to destroy America, the West, and all sympathizers with democracy. We are at war for our very existence against jihadists who have vowed to enslave us with a fundamentalist philosophy that rejects all human rights.

The consequences of failure in Iraq are not just failure in Iraq. Iraq’s stability has direct repercussions on Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and other countries in the Middle East. If our efforts to bring peace and stability to Iraq fail, it would provide Islamic jihadists with a sanctuary similar to the one we removed in Afghanistan.

Only the sanctuary in Iraq would be many times worse as the terrorists would have access to literally billions of dollars in oil resources to carry out their plan of attack. Such a sanctuary would threaten Europe and the United States. If we are to support our military men and women, we must support their mission against the Islamic jihadists. The alternative is defeat in Iraq and a greater threat of attack at home.

And a defeat in Iraq would not just be a defeat for the United States. It would also set back any chance for peace and stability in the Middle East. It would empower terrorists and unleash greater sectarian violence, which would draw in all of Iraq’s neighbors in a Sunni versus Shiite conflict for control of Iraq.

I am also concerned that the resolution does not offer any alternative whatsoever that could lead to a successful outcome for the United States in Iraq. All the resolution does is criticize the President’s plan to augment our existing force in Iraq by 21,500 troops. The Democratic resolution offers no other plan. It does not address what should be the right strategy or the right tactics.

In effect, it endorses the status quo in Iraq—a position that I cannot support.

I look forward to the majority offering a comprehensive proposal that would set forth a specific course of action. Then we could have a real debate on the pros and cons of the Democratic plan versus the President’s plan to secure Iraq and defeat the terrorists in that country. Unfortunately, the resolution before us fails to do this and therefore, should be rejected.