[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 99 (Tuesday, July 25, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H5687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
    BUSH ADMINISTRATION STATUS QUO IS NO LONGER SUSTAINABLE IN IRAQ

  (Ms. WATSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, when President Bush meets with Iraqi Prime 
Minister Maliki at the White House today, he needs to tell the Iraqi 
leader that the time has come for his government to shoulder more 
responsibility.
  Congressional Democrats have said this year that we need to have a 
significant year of transition from U.S. to Iraqi forces. That is not 
happening. In fact, the violence there is getting worse. Over the last 
month alone, the number of Iraqis who have been killed has doubled from 
1,500 in May to more than 3,000 in June. Imagine that. One hundred 
Iraqis are now being killed every day. The sectarian violence between 
the Sunnis and the Shiites is clearly getting worse, and the Iraqi 
Government simply cannot stop it.
  For 3 years now, House Democrats have been demanding a serious debate 
on Iraq. Instead, last month House Republicans favored a partisan 
debate in the hopes that they would score political points.
  Today Iraq is close to fighting a civil war, and we must see that 
this does not happen.

                          ____________________