Rep. Ellen Tauscher Released the Following Statement In Regard to The House of Representatives Iraq War Debate

Washington, DC -   Mr. Speaker, I am deeply disappointed that instead of spending our time debating a plan to stabilize Iraq and bring our troops home, the Majority has offered a resolution that does nothing but celebrate the same failed policies that promise to keep our troops in Iraq for the foreseeable future.

Mr. Speaker, three years after the beginning of the war in Iraq we should be righting the course, fixing flawed policies, and holding the administration accountable for an Iraq policy that has been riddled with failure since the President declared “mission accomplished” in May 2003.

I will vote against this empty resolution that makes a mockery of Congressional oversight and is an insult to the families of the men and women in uniform who depend on their government to find solutions to bring their loved ones home.

As the situation in Iraq has become increasingly more dangerous American military men and women have repeatedly put themselves in harms way.

Congress is united in our support for them and their families as they make this tremendous sacrifice.

Last summer, Congress in a bipartisan fashion voted for a defense bill that stated that 2006 would be a year of significant transition.

We are halfway through 2006 and we are nowhere close to being able to leave much less begin a transition.

In fact the President just announced this week at his press conference that “if we stand down too soon, it won't enable us to achieve our objectives.”

We have lost 2500 troops since military operations began and it is high time to change course.

The administration’s mismanagement of the conflict since the President declared mission accomplished in May of 2003 is well documented.

What was a successful invasion turned into a poorly resourced nation-building effort that has broken our military; cost us a massive amount of blood and treasure; and left us holding one finger in the dike hoping that the Iraqi government can do what it takes to end a civil war.

Currently, we are caught in the middle of a civil conflict; we are attempting to build a new democracy; we are fighting foreign terrorists; and we are trying to provide security with limited help from the Iraqis or allied militaries.

Instead of making staged visits to Iraq, the President should sit down and do the hard work of coming up with an agreement with the Iraqi government that will define our mission, clarify the role of the Iraqis, and determine how the Iraqi plan for reconciliation will work.

In my view, Mr. Speaker, our efforts in Iraq should be focused on the single mission of fighting foreign Jihadists while the Iraqi’s deal with their own domestic security threats.

To reach this goal, we need a clear schedule for how, when and where the Iraqi security force - which currently numbers more than 250,000 police and military - will be deployed to replace our troops.

It is also important that we understand how the Iraqi Prime Minister intends to handle a proposal for amnesty of insurgents and how true reconciliation can be achieved.

I call on President Bush to convene an international, Dayton-like, conference on Iraq as soon as possible to develop a consensus on roles, responsibilities and assistance from the international community.

The main product of the conference would be the creation of an Iraq Contact Group, which would serve as an important mechanism to sustain international attention on Iraq, follow up on financial commitments and actual disbursement of funds pledged by the international community, and assist Iraq with any and all challenges that it encounters.

Ultimately, we can no longer be a crutch for the Iraqis - they need to be told clearly that we are leaving once certain security benchmarks have been achieved.

In addition to confronting the tremendous challenges we face in Iraq we must begin to address the damage the war has done to our military.

Our military personnel is overstretched and our equipment is overused and in need of replacement.

It will take years to return our military to its peak 2002-condition.  We must start that effort now.

Finally, the financial cost of the war is a growing burden that we can’t continue to ignore.

The President can no longer fund this war with a limitless credit card.

We will always provide the troops on the ground with the tools they need to do the job but we must start to make responsible budget choices.

As I said, Mr. Speaker, I will vote against this resolution because I don’t think it represents an honest attempt to address the challenges we face in Iraq.

Instead of debating misleading resolutions I call on the House to engage in meaningful oversight of the President and his conduct of the war.

Thank you Mr. Speaker.