[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 52 (Monday, March 26, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E640]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 U.S. TROOP READINESS, VETERANS' HEALTH, AND IRAQ ACCOUNTABILITY ACT, 
                                  2007

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. MICHAEL E. CAPUANO

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 23, 2007

  Mr. CAPUANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share my thoughts on H.R. 
1591: the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq 
Accountability Act of 2007. After a great deal of reflection, I have 
decided to support this legislation. With today's vote, we are taking 
an important step toward ending the war in Iraq and bringing our troops 
home.
  This legislation does not go far enough for me. I pushed for a vote 
on a course of action that would have gotten us out of Iraq much sooner 
and stipulated that all funding go toward drawing down troops. The 
House Rules Committee did not allow a vote on this position, and even 
if they had, I know that there are not enough votes to support it.
  Today's vote was a very difficult one for me and I have been 
carefully weighing the impact of this legislation for weeks. In the 
final analysis, I decided that H.R. 1591 carried enough practical and 
symbolic weight that if it needed my vote to pass the House, then I 
should support it.
  For me, the most important component of this legislation is that it 
stipulates the withdrawal of troops must begin no later than March 1, 
2008 and be completed within 180 days. It also establishes specific 
benchmarks that the Iraqi government must meet, benchmarks that mirror 
the criteria President Bush himself set forth in his 2007 State of the 
Union address. If real progress on these benchmarks is not made by July 
1, 2007, then U.S. troop redeployment will begin immediately and must 
be completed within 180 days.
  President Bush has been threatening to veto this bill for weeks and I 
fully expect he will do so if it reaches his desk in its current form. 
Regardless, the House is sending an important message to the President 
today by passing this legislation. In the weeks and months ahead, I 
will continue to do everything I can to end this war. There may not 
have been enough votes today to bring a faster end to this war, but 
there were enough to establish a date certain for withdrawal. With 
today's vote in the House we are closer than we have ever been to 
ending this war.

                          ____________________