[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 24, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H922]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Hodes) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HODES. Mr. Speaker. Last night I watched the State of the Union 
Address in this hall for the first time as a Member of Congress. While 
I found the pageantry inspiring, I wish I could say the same about the 
speech itself.
  We heard another attempt to allay with hollow rhetoric the concerns 
of an alarmed Nation about the war in Iraq. And rather than seizing an 
opportunity to level with the American people and set the new course 
they rightly demand, the administration, once again, chose to cling to 
its delusions and insist that its failing policies be enacted.
  In 2003, the administration requested and received from Congress 
authority to invade Iraq on the basis of the claim that Iraq possessed 
weapons of mass destruction and presented an imminent threat to our 
national security. Senior administration officials claimed that the 
Iraqi Government was connected with the al Qaeda terrorists who 
perpetrated the attacks of September 11, 2001. And we now know that 
neither the premise for the invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq 
nor the claim of a connection to 9/11 was true.
  After the fall of Baghdad, the administration sent in officials with 
little or no knowledge and understanding of Iraq, its people, its 
culture or its politics. Costly mistakes, including the dismantling of 
the army and the failure to secure weapons stockpiles, paved the way 
for the current situation in Iraq: More than $450 billion spent with 
billions unaccounted for; an undependable Iraqi Government, unwilling 
or incapable of controlling warring sects in their militias; more than 
3,000 American deaths, and more than 25,000 soldiers maimed or 
grievously wounded; hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians killed, 
wounded or driven from their homes by sectarian violence; and a 
profound loss of respect for our country in the region and around the 
world.
  All in all, it constitutes an unparalleled foreign policy disaster 
for the United States.
  The administration still has no plans for a responsible exit strategy 
to protect our security. And unbelievably, the administration wants to 
send an additional 21,000 troops to Iraq.
  The proposal is a cavalier rejection of the sound views of the 
American people, the consensus of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, and 
the counsel of wise military commanders.
  In a city of some 7 million people, and without a unified government 
or the infrastructure to provide jobs to an ever more agitated 
population, an injection of 20,000 troops will not succeed. It can only 
stoke the flames of chaos and bloodshed in Iraq.
  Our national strategic interests, Mr. Speaker, require a change of 
course, not an escalation. The imperative to support our troops 
requires a change of course, not an escalation.
  Last year the Republican-controlled House declared in the defense 
authorization bill that 2006 would be a year of transition to Iraqi 
control of Iraq, and that redeployment would begin at that point. Yet 
here we are in 2007 with the administration calling for an escalation 
supported by many in this body.
  In my judgment, Mr. Speaker, the time has come and gone for this 
Congress to say ``enough is enough.'' The time has come and gone for 
statements of concern. The time has come and gone for ``trust but 
verify.'' The situation in Iraq is dire.
  It is now time for this Congress to do what the American people said 
so clearly in November that they wanted us to do: Change the course in 
Iraq. We have a saying in my home State in New Hampshire, ``When you're 
in a hole, stop digging.''
  Mr. Speaker, I support our valiant troops, and I oppose the 
administration's proposed escalation. I resolve to work with my 
colleagues over the coming weeks for a concrete new direction in Iraq. 
In the absence of an acceptable plan from the President, the American 
people are calling upon Congress to lead the way. Popular demand for 
new direction in Iraq is, in large part, the reason I am here in 
Washington and the reason Democrats now hold the majority.

                              {time}  1545

  We can no longer accept empty promises from the administration or 
hope the administration will honestly confront the realty of its 
failures. The American people are looking to this Congress for 
leadership. They are impatient. And we must and we will respond.

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