TANNER'S IRAQ BILL CLEARS KEY
COMMITTEE WITH BIPARTISAN 55-2 VOTE

Bill requires new plan for Iraq in 60 days

WASHINGTON – Congressman John Tanner’s bill requiring a new plan for operations in Iraq earned strong bipartisan support Friday in the House Armed Services Committee, which passed the bill 55-2.

“This is the first step toward working together as a Congress – not as Democrats or Republicans – toward a new plan that will turn control of Iraq’s future over to the Iraqis,” Tanner said after the committee vote.

“Our men and women in uniform have completed every task assigned to them, and they and their families have served our country admirably,” Tanner said. “General David Petraeus has said that a ‘political aspect’ is necessary for us to achieve our goals in Iraq. Iraqi political leaders, however, have been unwilling or unable to work together to stabilize their own country, and they have failed to meet most of the benchmarks they agreed to with the President.” 

After action from the committee, H.R. 3087:

•  recognizes that the U.S. Armed Forces and U.S. civilians have worked valiantly, and that it is time for Iraq to manage its future;

• notes that when Congress authorized military force in 2002, it was concerned about an Iraqi government that has since been removed from power;

• states that the new, freely-elected Iraqi government poses no threat to the United States;

• plans for our continued military mission in Iraq;

• expresses the view that such a plan should include a refocus of our military to combating al-Qaeda and other terrorists.

Dr. Larry Korb, a former assistant secretary of defense under President Reagan, also endorsed the bill in testimony before the committee Friday, saying a new direction is needed in Iraq. Korb is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a senior adviser to the Center for Defense Information.

H.R. 3087 was originally authored by Tanner and is co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Mike Castle (R-DE), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Jim Costa (D-CA), Bill Delahunt (D-MA), Phil English (R-PA), Kendrick B. Meek (D-FL), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) and Ellen Tauscher (D-CA). It has not yet been scheduled to come before the full House for debate.

Tanner, a veteran of the U.S. Navy and the Tennessee Army National Guard, represents Tennessee’s 8^th Congressional district in West and Middle Tennessee, home to 20 National Guard armories, Naval Support Activity Mid-South in Millington, the Milan Army Arsenal and a portion of Fort Campbell Army Base, home to the 101^st Airborne Division.

He serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and as chairman of the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the legislative branch of the NATO alliance.

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Contact: Randy Ford, 202.225.4714