[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 113 (Monday, July 16, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H7823]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NO MORE ``STAY THE COURSE''

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, the President continues to ask 
this Congress and the American people to ``stay the course'' in Iraq. 
Well, Mr. President, today the American people and the Congress have 
said ``no more.''
  Today I add my voice once again to the growing number of retired 
military generals, the Iraq Study Group, and untold thousands of rank 
and file on the front lines who were calling for a new direction in 
Iraq. The success of our military depends on a sound strategy. Yet 
instead of fighting the terrorists in the mountains of Afghanistan, our 
armed forces are overextended after 4 years of refereeing a civil war 
in the sands of Iraq.
  The President's escalation of this war, his so-called surge, is not 
working. That much is clear. Since the escalation of this war 6 months 
ago, more than 25,000 troops have been sent to Iraq, 600 more U.S. 
soldiers have died, and more than 3,000 troops have been wounded. 
Countless thousands of Iraqis are dead, and today the violence in Iraq 
is at an all-time high. Those are facts that no one can deny.
  Our troops have performed heroically in Iraq, but the Iraqi 
Government has failed to meet any, any of the benchmarks endorsed by 
the President in January. Political reconciliation within Iraq is 
nonexistent. A change of course is long overdue.
  The time has come for the United States to responsibly redeploy our 
troops from Iraq and to refocus our efforts on protecting Americans 
from terrorism. The time has come for Iraqis to take primary 
responsibility for their country and for their security.
  Let me be clear on one additional point. Democrats support the 
troops.
  As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I personally have 
consistently voted to fund our troops and to provide our soldiers in 
the line of fire with the resources that they need. I do this because 
our brave servicemen and women are not risking their lives each and 
every day for one political party over another. They are risking their 
lives for America.
  Our Nation owes our troops a strategy that is worthy of their 
sacrifice. But ``stay the course'' is not that strategy. It is a slogan 
that continues to fail them.
  No, Mr. Speaker, if we really want to support our troops, it is time 
to get them out of Iraq and redeploy them to other areas where they can 
fight the terrorists who have attacked and who continue to threaten our 
Nation. That's where the war on terror should be waged.

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