[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 7 (Friday, January 12, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E93]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            IRAQ ESCALATION

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 12, 2007

  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, President Bush--after using 
false information to sell a war to the American people and Congress, 
after invading Iraq without a plan to win the peace, after time and 
time again maintaining a failed ``stay the course'' policy--is now 
trying to sell an escalation of the war in Iraq as ``a new way 
forward.'' I am not buying it.
  As the sister of a Vietnam veteran, I still remember vividly our 
escalation of that failed war and the thousands of additional lives 
that it cost. I remember vividly the worry I had for my brother and the 
feeling that our troops would be better served if they were returned 
home rather than fighting in another country's civil war. Those are the 
same feelings I have today about our troops who are serving bravely in 
today's failed war, the Iraq War.
  I have long stated my desire for the President to begin a withdrawal 
of our troops from Iraq. I am a member of the Out of Iraq Caucus, and I 
have strongly supported my colleague John Murtha's plan to redeploy our 
troops from Iraq. The American people made it crystal clear at the 
ballot box in November that staying the course in Iraq is not an 
option. Yet, President Bush has once again turned his back on calls to 
end the war, he has turned his back on the will of the electorate, and 
he is going in the opposite direction with a plan for escalation.
  I applaud the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate and its 
plan for a phased redeployment of American troops beginning in months 
and for more intense diplomatic outreach. This plan is more sensible 
and would prove ultimately more successful that digging ourselves 
deeper in the quicksand that Iraq has become.
  Furthermore, I will support any proposal that comes before Congress 
that would block funding for the implementation of escalation. I will 
support the effort by Senator Kennedy and my colleague Ed Markey to 
require the authorization of Congress before the President escalates 
this war.
  As the daughter of a soldier and the sister of a soldier, I will 
always support our troops. It has become clear to just about everyone 
but the President that the best way now to support the troops is not to 
send more into the Iraqi Civil War--the best way to support them is to 
bring them home.

                          ____________________