Congressional Black Caucus
"The Conscience of Congress since 1969"
www.congressionalblackcaucus.net

(Washington, D.C.)- U.S. Representative Harold Ford (D-Tenn.) will deliver the weekly Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) “Message to America” radio address this Saturday, June 25, 2005.  Representative Ford will address the importance of supporting our troops in Iraq and exploring an exit strategy to bring our men and women home to their families.

The CBC “Message to America” is distributed nationwide to the American Urban Radio Network’s (AURN) affiliate stations.
 
WHO:        U.S. Representative Harold Ford (D-Tenn.)
 
WHEN:      Saturday, June 25, 2005; 12:06 p.m. EST
 
WHERE:   American Urban Radio Network Affiliate Stations
 
Rep. Ford is expected to deliver the following remarks:

“Hello. This is Congressman Harold Ford of Tennessee.  On behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus, I want to speak to you about supporting our troops in Iraq and the importance of finding a new approach to bring them home to their families.

“I’ve recently returned from a two day trip from Iraq with several of my colleagues, including U.S. Senator Joe Biden and one of my Republican colleagues in the Congress, Kurt Weldon.

“It was wonderful being with our troops and spending time with our U.S. military leadership on the ground, as well as the Iraqi government officials, many of them recently elected in January. 

“What is clear are a few things.  One, our troop moral is high.  Despite the setbacks, despite the lack of equipment many have, their fervor and intensity and enthusiasm for finishing the task is remarkably high.  We should be thankful as Americans that we have those who are willing to serve us.

“Two, it’s clear we are not making the level of progress we need in order to leave.  I think since September 11, President Bush has enjoyed broad support and the benefit of the doubt from many Americans from the Patriot Act, to our efforts in Afghanistan, to our efforts in Iraq and even the post-war chaos in Iraq.

“We now find ourselves at a crossroads and it’s clear that new ideas and new approaches are needed to limit the number of casualties, to win stability on Iraq, to bring our men and women home to be with their families. 

“My hope is that President Bush, much like a football coach, goes in at halftime, down by two touchdowns, and realizes that a new plan and a new set of approaches are needed to ensure victory.  It’s my hope that he will provide the resources on the ground to our Army and Marines and other military who are trying their hardest to restore basic services like water, electricity and the cleaning up of sewer systems. 

“The Iraqi people have really only one tangible measure of our success and that’s the restoration of services, and the resumption of their daily lives which in many ways is lacking. 

“Two, we have to provide our troops with the training they need and must challenge our business community and our technology community to faster ways.  Better technology will help them fight on the ground and prevent casualties on the ground, especially the explosions and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that seem to catch them off guard.

“And last, the President should understand, and those of us here should understand, that our intelligence shows that Syria and Iran are playing a larger role in provoking insurgent activity. We need international help to address this problem as we try to close off their borders. 

“NATO and other countries have offered their help.  I think it’s incumbent upon the United States and our President in particular, to step up and be willing to accept their assistance and help guard the borders. 

“And finally, I’ve asked our President, as much time and effort as he has spent trying to privatize Social Security, if he would spend just a third of that time to help rebuild relations around the globe, particularly in Africa.  This will allow us to bring not only our troops home faster, but allow us to win the war on terrorism in a way that will make future generations of Americans safer and future generations of our global citizens safer as well. 

“Mr. President, I hope you listen.  Be like the coach at halftime and make the halftime adjustment so that we can win this war and win this effort and bring our troops home.  Thank you and God bless you.” 

####