[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 68 (Thursday, April 26, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S5124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS CONFERENCE REPORT

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, relative to the conference report that is 
before the Senate, this emergency supplemental appropriations bill 
includes $95 billion for the Department of Defense, primarily to fund 
military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. That is approximately $4 
billion more than the President requested for the Department of 
Defense, including $2.2 billion above the President's request for 
health care for our service men and women and their families.
  When the military forces are in harm's way, it is our solemn duty to 
provide the equipment they need and the health care they deserve, and 
we are meeting that duty with this bill. We also owe it to our troops 
to give them the best chance to succeed. In the case of Iraq, a 
majority of the Members of the Congress and a majority of Americans 
believe a change in course in Iraq will provide the best chance of 
success. That is at the heart of the debate here in Washington.
  There is at least a broad, if not universal, consensus that the war 
in Iraq will not be won militarily and that a political settlement by 
the Iraqi leaders is required to end the sectarian violence and defeat 
the insurgency. General Petraeus made that point in a press conference 
in Baghdad on March 8 when he said:

       Any student of history recognizes that there is no military 
     solution to a problem like Iraq.

  Iraq's own Prime Minister Maliki noted 5 months ago that:

       The crisis is political, and the ones who can stop the 
     cycle of aggravation and bloodletting of innocents are the 
     [Iraqi] politicians.

  The debate, then, is how best to bring about the political settlement 
that must take place. There are some who say security, particularly in 
Baghdad, is the key, and if Baghdad can be made secure, the Iraqi 
politicians will have breathing room to reach the agreements and pass 
the legislation that will lead to reconciliation.
  Others, including this Senator, believe the Iraqis must be pressured 
to take responsibility for their own future, and the best way to do 
that is to convince them our military presence is not open-ended.
  The emergency supplemental before us is designed to do just that. It 
forces the Iraqi leaders to take responsibility for their own country 
by ending the open-ended commitment to provide a U.S. security blanket. 
Instead, it would require the beginning of a partial reduction of U.S. 
troops, leaving time for the Iraqis to make the political compromises 
they promised to make months ago.
  The bill calls for a change in mission for our forces in Iraq, from 
policing a civil war to a limited support mission, so that the Iraqis 
can finally realize our military presence in Iraq is not open-ended; 
that the future of their country is in their hands, not ours.
  The present course in Iraq is failing. The Iraqis are no closer to 
political reconciliation today than they were when the surge began. 
Instead of Prime Minister Maliki's government becoming stronger, it 
appears it is weaker. Disagreements in the Government have prevented 
proposals for debaathification and oil revenue sharing legislation from 
even being forwarded to the Council of Representatives for 
consideration.
  The committee considering amendments to the Iraqi constitution 
appears to be as far from completing its work as it has always been. 
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Assembly is apparently planning to go on a 2-month 
recess at the end of June. Now, let me repeat that since it is so 
unbelievable. The Iraqi Council of Representatives is apparently 
planning to go on a 2-month recess at the end of June.
  Incredibly enough, a man named Hasan Suneid, who is a lawmaker and 
the adviser to Prime Minister Maliki, was quoted in the paper the other 
day as saying, ``Time is irrelevant.''
  Well, time is plenty relevant to us, to our troops, and to their 
families. Baghdad is burning while the politicians in Iraq avoid 
responsibility for their own country's future. Even the detonation of a 
suicide bomb within the Green Zone killing Iraqi parliamentarians has 
failed to change the political situation. It appears the Iraqi factions 
are content to seek vengeance rather than reconciliation.
  Senior administration officials, including Secretary Gates, Secretary 
Rice, and Ambassador Khalilzad have, in fact, wisely used this debate 
in Congress in an attempt to pressure the Iraqis to achieve political 
reconciliation.
  Secretary Gates said the week before last in Jordan:

       The debate in Congress has been helpful in demonstrating to 
     the Iraqis that American patience is limited. The strong 
     feelings expressed in the Congress about the timetable 
     probably has had a positive impact . . . in terms of 
     communicating to the Iraqis that it is not an open-ended 
     commitment.

  Secretary Gates told a press conference just last Thursday:

       I think one of the ancillary benefits of the debate on the 
     Hill is that the Iraqis have to know that this isn't an open-
     ended commitment. The President has said that our patience is 
     not unlimited. I don't think we've been very stubborn in 
     communicating these messages to the Iraqis.

  That is what Secretary Gates said: ``I don't think we've been very 
stubborn in communicating these messages to the Iraqis'' that our 
patience is not unlimited. Well, we need to change course in Iraq. We 
need to stubbornly communicate our message to the Iraqis. Voting for 
this bill will help to send that message.
  I yield the floor.

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