[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 112 (Friday, July 13, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1521-E1522]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 RESPONSIBLE REDEPLOYMENT FROM IRAQ ACT

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                               speech of

                         HON. JERRY F. COSTELLO

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 12, 2007

  Mr. COSTELLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2956, and 
I appreciate the fact that we are again addressing this important issue 
today. I want to start by recognizing the ongoing sacrifices and 
tremendous bravery of the men and women of our armed forces. Their 
dedication inspires us all and we owe them a debt of gratitude.
  Very simply put, it is time to bring our troops home. The effort they 
are making has not been met by the Iraqi government, and there is no 
reason to believe that the situation is going to improve there in the 
foreseeable future. The various reports we have received just this week 
underscore this point. As I have said for some time, we are beyond the 
point of being able to impact events in a meaningful way militarily. 
The political decisions that the Iraqis need to make will not be made 
as long as our soldiers are there, and I seriously doubt they will be 
made when we are gone. All we are doing is letting an untenable 
situation drag on, with our soldiers caught in the crossfire. We are 
spending over $329 million every day in Iraq. That is a staggering sum 
of money. We can redirect that money to better fighting the war on 
terror and also addressing important domestic initiatives.

[[Page E1522]]

  Mr. Speaker, I did not vote to authorize this war, I did not vote for 
the troop surge and I have voted for a time line to bring our troops 
home. The vast majority of the American people see that the President's 
dream for Iraq is not going to happen. They want him to wake up and 
face reality. This bill provides a plan on how to do that. I support 
the approach in this bill, and I urge my colleagues to join me in 
voting for it.

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