[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 96 (Thursday, July 20, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H5496]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    REPUBLICANS CHANGE TUNE ON IRAQ

  (Mr. EMANUEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, just 6 weeks ago, Zarqawi was killed in 
Iraq. Five weeks ago, the House held a debate on Iraq in which 
Republicans belittled Democrats for questioning the President's 
strategy.
  Said my colleague from North Carolina: ``There are those who want to 
deny that we are making progress in Iraq.''
  But no matter how hard my Republican colleagues try, they cannot 
escape the facts on the ground. After the most violent month in Iraq 
and a U.N. report estimating that more than 100 Iraqis are being killed 
per day, the Republicans are singing a different tune.
  This morning's Washington Post reads: ``GOP Lawmakers Edge Away from 
Optimism on Iraq.'' And that same North Carolina lawmaker is quoted as 
saying: ``We can't look like we won't face reality.''
  Well, here's reality: when the President went to war with too few 
troops, not enough body armor, and not enough armed Humvees, and 
without a plan for occupation, the Republican Congress failed their 
oversight responsibilities.
  Lieutenant General Greg Newbold said, ``To be sure, the Bush 
administration and senior military officials are not alone in their 
culpability.'' Members of Congress defaulted in fulfilling their 
constitutional responsibility of oversight.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for a change. It is time for a new direction.

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