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NEWS FROM CONGRESSMAN RICHARD E. NEAL
DEMOCRAT FROM MASSACHUSETTS
CHAIRMAN, SELECT REVENUE MEASURES SUBCOMMITTEE
CHAIRMAN OF THE FRIENDS OF IRELAND
2208 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20515
www.house.gov/neal <http://www.house.gov/neal>
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – September 13, 2007
CONTACT: William Tranghese (202) 225-5601
NEAL RESPONSE TO PRESIDENT BUSH’S ADDRESS TO THE NATION ON IRAQ
September 13, 2007
(WASHINGTON) Congressman Richard E. Neal released the following statement today in anticipation of President Bush’s address to the nation tonight on the war in Iraq. Neal was one of 133 members of the U.S. House of Representatives who voted against authorizing the use of force in Iraq in October 2002.
“As a critic of the Iraq war from the beginning, I was very disappointed with President Bush’s speech tonight. It is clear that he has decided to stay the course in Iraq until the end of his presidency and let his successor find a solution. In the meantime, 130,000 troops will remain in harms way indefinitely, Osama Bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri are still free six years after 9/11, and the civil war in Iraq grows more violent making political reconciliation more difficult.
In their testimony before Congress this week, both General David Petraeus and Ambassador David Crocker acknowledged that the Iraqi government has failed to meet many of the benchmarks for success established by President Bush
and that political progress has been virtually nonexistent. Even more disturbing were the remarks of Secretary 0f State Condoleeza Rice and retired Army General John Abizaid who said yesterday that the United States will be involved for years to come. All of this coming years after President Bush declared “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq and Vice President Cheney said the insurgency is in its “last throes.”
After spending nearly $1 trillion on the war, the overwhelming majority of the American people now believe it is time for a new direction in Iraq. They believe it is time to start bringing our brave troops home. They don’t feel the war has made us safer at home or more respected around the world. They realize the “surge” strategy failed and that President Bush’s new policy that he outlined tonight is simply more of the same.
I am committed to working with my colleagues in the United States Congress in a bipartisan effort to help bring this war to a swift and responsible end. I will continue to be a strong and outspoken voice against the President’s flawed policy in Iraq. It is my belief that the United States should start to redeploy our troops around the globe to meet other threats, and that it is time for the Iraqi people begin to take responsibility for their own future.”
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