[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 111 (Thursday, July 12, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H7767-H7768]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TIME TO END THE MISTAKEN WAR IN IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Hall) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, a recent CRS report shows that the 
United States is now spending $10 billion a month fighting the war in 
Iraq. That is over $2.5 billion a week. And what does the American 
taxpayer get for this $10 billion a month? An army, nearly broken by 
repeated deployments; a National Guard that is unwilling and unable to 
respond to natural disasters or terrorist attacks at home because many 
of our men and women are in Iraq and most of their equipment is; an 
escalation in Iraq that has resulted in more death and little reduction 
in violence; an Iraqi government that is unable to govern; Iraqi 
Security Forces that refuse to fully stand up.
  The war in Iraq costs every man, woman and child in New York's 
Nineteenth District $3,077. For over $3,000 a person, the people of my 
district have gotten a war that was a strategic mistake and has made 
them less safe.
  Today, the House of Representatives considered another bill for a 
responsible withdrawal from the war in Iraq. The Responsible 
Redeployment From Iraq Act requires U.S. troops to redeploy from Iraq 
by April 1, 2008. After 4 years of repeated failure and little 
accountability, the new Congress is working to repair the damage done 
to our military and change the direction of this country.
  When the President came to Congress to ask for additional funding for 
the war in Iraq, I established a guiding principle for determining my 
vote. Any legislation I voted for would have to contain a responsible 
specific timeline to redeploy U.S. troops out of Iraq. Furthermore, the 
bill would have to contain benchmarks that would hold the Iraqi 
government accountable.
  Following this principle, I voted four times in 5 months to provide 
nearly $100 billion for extra military spending in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, including extra money to improve our fight against al 
Qaeda in Afghanistan. These bills also required the Iraqi parliament to 
meet specific benchmarks to reduce violence and limit sectarian 
violence. Further, they required the President to follow troop 
readiness standards established by our own Pentagon. Unfortunately, the 
President ignored the will of the American people and vetoed the first 
bill that Congress sent him.
  The President blindly insists that America continue down the same 
path in Iraq. The President's path has left our troops in the middle of 
Iraq's civil war, weakened U.S. national security, and is devastating 
our military's ability to fight.
  The President refuses to listen to his own State Department's report 
showing that the Taliban is reemerging as a dominant force in 
Afghanistan, dramatized by the most recent disheartening sight of young 
girls being machine-gunned as they left their school, a tactic that is 
used to try to intimidate parents into not sending their girls to 
school.
  Our men and women in uniform in both Iraq and Afghanistan have 
performed bravely and worked to achieve every mission their leadership 
has given them. Our troops have performed heroically in Iraq. But the 
administration concedes that violence remains high; that the Iraqi 
government has failed to meet the benchmarks endorsed by the President 
in January; that political reconciliation is nonexistent.
  Finally, after years of silence, even President Bush's allies have 
realized that the current path in Iraq cannot be sustained. Senator 
Domenici says, ``There is no reason to wait. I am trying to tell the 
President that he must change his ways because there is nothing 
positive happening.'' And Senator Lamar Alexander said, ``The President 
needs a new strategy.''
  It is time our troops had leadership worthy of their service, 
leadership that will give them achievable missions that improve the 
security of the American people.
  That is why I supported the Responsible Redeployment From Iraq Act 
that requires that the President publicly justify the number of troops 
he needs to carry out post-redeployment missions such as protecting 
embassy staff, force protection, and fighting international terrorist 
organizations in Iraq. It is time the American people saw a change in 
our course.

[[Page H7768]]

  In the time it has taken me to give this speech, we have spent 
another roughly $1 million in Iraq. $1 million for every 5 minutes we 
spend in Iraq, for a war that has made us less safe and has weakened 
our military.
  It is time to change our course in Iraq and refocus on the threats in 
Afghanistan, where the 9/11 attacks were planned and the al Qaeda and 
the Taliban continue to plot. It is time we end our mistaken war in 
Iraq.

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