[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 6 (Thursday, January 11, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H404]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE WAR IN IRAQ NEEDS TO END, NOT ESCALATE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Rothman) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, last night President Bush told the American 
people that he bore responsibility for the many mistakes made in the 
prosecution of the war in Iraq. Then he announced that he planned to 
make another mistake: He planned to escalate and expand the war in 
Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, the President said he intends to send more than 20,000 
U.S. service men and women into Iraq and indefinitely. As has been the 
case with so many military strategic and diplomatic decisions made by 
this President regarding Iraq, tragically, this too would be a terrible 
error. This open-ended commitment of more U.S. troops will result in 
the death and wounding of thousands more American soldiers, cost U.S. 
taxpayers tens of billions of dollars more, and do nothing to help the 
Iraqi people resolve their civil war. In fact, this escalation will 
turn up the heat on the already boiling anti-American fanaticism in 
Iraq and in the region.
  The President's plan also weakens our severely overstretched and 
depleted military, and it limits our ability to face the current and 
future conflicts, future threats to our country.
  In summary, President Bush's escalation and expansion of the war in 
Iraq will hurt America's national security, and I will work with all of 
my colleagues here to do all that we can to make sure that the 
President's plan does not get allowed to be funded.
  Our country has sacrificed deeply to help the Iraqi people already by 
removing their murderous dictator Saddam Hussein from power, by 
training their military, spending billions of our money to rebuild 
their infrastructure, and by supporting them so that they could develop 
a democratic government.
  If we owed the Iraqi people a moral obligation after we deposed their 
dictator and started this war, Mr. Speaker, we have long since met that 
moral obligation.
  Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, the United States must now simply, but 
importantly, remove all of our troops from Iraq without delay. We must 
rebuild our military and let the world know that we are ready to 
counter the real threats to our national security, current and future.
  Let me add one more thing, Mr. Speaker. I am delighted that my friend 
and colleague Maxine Waters from California will be engaging in a 
Special Order on Iraq and the necessity for withdrawing our troops from 
Iraq. I am unable to participate in that Special Order and look forward 
to participating and working with her under her leadership in the very 
near future.

                          ____________________