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Ending the Iraq War
House of Representatives - February 6, 2007

The President has isolated himself from all the evidence, military advice, members of his own party, and the American people. He is not staying the course in Iraq. The President is making matters even worse by escalating the war in Iraq.

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When he ordered at least 21,500 more U.S. soldiers into the middle of a bloody and violent civil war, this President stepped back into American history. He's making the same tragic and failed mistakes of Vietnam all over again.

The President's speeches won't stop a bullet and won't protect our soldiers from the tsunami of violence inundating Iraq. Our soldiers don't have enough equipment, or support. Soldiers know it, but the White House ignores it.

Some of the best newspapers and magazines in the nation are reporting the facts, and not just repeating the President's spin.

From the McClatchy newspaper group, here is a recent headline: Soldiers in Iraq view troop surge as a lost cause. From the San Francisco Chronicle: Corners cut in rush to add troops; shorter training time, lack of equipment hurt readiness, experts say.

And, from the latest issue of Business Week magazine: Military Equipment: Missing in Action. I ask unanimous consent to enter these stories into the record.

Across America, newspapers are filled with stories and editorials about the tragic consequences of this war and dread over the President's escalation.

From the Seattle Post Intelligencer, their editorial published yesterday is titled: Iraq War: Advice and dissent. While the President is acting like he can go it alone, the PI correctly places responsibility on the co-equal legislative branch of government: Congress.

The PI wrote, and I quote: "No resolution, however, can absolve Congress of its responsibility to cut off spending on a hopeless occupation."

It is time for Congress to act responsibly by exercising its constitutional responsibility and deny funding for the President's escalation of the Iraq War.

The history of the Vietnam War shows us how to deal with the Iraq War, and I am prepared to apply the lesson of history in this Congress.

In 1970, The McGovern-Hatfield Amendment was introduced to stop the President from continuing to escalate the Vietnam War. It capped funding for troops for a short period of time, after which money could be used to bring the troops home. It didn't pass, but it began a five year process to end the war.

I intend to offer a similar amendment to the first appropriation bill related to Iraq that is introduced in the House of Representatives. There should be no new funding for any escalation of this war. Not a dime, because it will only lead to more U.S. casualties. Resolution in Iraq will never come on the bloody streets of Baghdad.

It is time for us to act on behalf of the American people and on behalf of U.S. soldiers. They deserve our strong, unwavering support.

We can provide that by passing my amendment to channel our funds to the immediate re-deployment of U.S. forces out of Iraq, out of an occupation, and out of harm's way.

We have waited far too long to act, and our soldiers have paid for our delay with their limbs and their lives. I believe that it is time for this Congress to reassure the American people that this President cannot go it alone. It is time for Congress to put an end to the President's reckless disregard for the truth about Iraq.

Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them. The President is doing just that in Iraq. In September 1, 1970, Senator George McGovern spoke eloquently on the floor of the U.S. Senate when he introduced the McGovern-Hatfield Amendment.

He said then and I quote today: "It does not take any courage at all for a congressman, or a senator, or a president to wrap himself in the flag and say we are staying in Vietnam, because it is not our blood that is being shed. But we are responsible for those young men and their lives and their hopes."

"And if we do not end this damnable war those young men will some day curse us for our pitiful willingness to let the Executive carry the burden that the Constitution places on us."

I believe we must apply the lessons of history, and I urge my colleagues to approve that amendment when it comes up so that we can begin to end a damnable war that never needed to be fought in the first place.