[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 166 (Tuesday, October 30, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S13536]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            IRAQ BENCHMARKS

  Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, I rise today to try to bring 
the focus of the debate about Iraq back to Iraq, specifically the Iraqi 
Government's continuing failures to meet benchmarks for progress on 
political, military, and security matters.
  For the past several weeks, the news out of Iraq has been consumed by 
coverage of the Blackwater security transgressions. To be sure, the 
allegations against Blackwater are serious and need to be addressed. 
Oversight needs to be tightened, actions should be taken to ensure that 
security needs are being met, and force is used only when necessary.
  By no means do I believe we should do anything but hold Blackwater 
and its Government overseers responsible for their actions. But what is 
happening is the Iraqi Government has successfully shifted the focus of 
the debate from their failures in meeting benchmarks for progress to 
the Blackwater security matter.
  We need to refocus. Everyone here remembers, and the American people 
remember, this past spring, during the debate on the supplemental, the 
U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq 
Accountability Appropriations Act, that during the deliberations on 
that debate, Congress codified into law 18 benchmarks that were 
identified by the Iraqi Government and the Bush administration.
  As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I pushed to 
include benchmarks in this bill. Since returning from Iraq, having 
spent Thanksgiving there with the troops in 2004, my second visit to 
our troops in Iraq, I began to call for the Iraqi Government and U.S. 
military leaders to establish a method of measuring progress on the 
stated goals of standing up the military and security forces and 
establish a functioning government.
  During my third visit to our troops in Iraq, in April of this year, I 
delivered a strong message to Iraqi leaders that they needed to show 
progress on an oil agreement, quelling sectarian violence, and building 
a functioning government very quickly or the United States would 
continue to lose patience with the war.
  This supplemental presented an opportunity to send that message and 
codify it into law. It was the hope of the Senate to provide measurable 
benchmarks that could provide an outline on progress in Iraq. As part 
of the benchmarks requirement, Congress asked the White House to 
provide an assessment in July and September. Congress also directed the 
GAO to provide its own assessment on the Iraqi benchmarks. In July, 
Congress received an assessment from the White House on the status of 
the 18 benchmarks. At that time the White House indicated that 
satisfactory progress on eight of the benchmarks had been made. On the 
remaining 10 benchmarks, the White House indicated that the Iraqi 
Government had failed to make satisfactory progress. In September, the 
GAO review indicated that 3 benchmarks had been met, 4 had been 
partially met, and 11 had not been met at all.
  In September, the White House provided its final assessment of the 18 
benchmarks. Of the benchmarks, satisfactory progress had been made on 
10, 2 more than in July, and 8 benchmarks still received an 
unsatisfactory rating, 2 less than July.
  Everyone remembers that this is an important issue because of the 
importance of making positive gains by the Iraqi Government. I visited 
Iraq for a fourth time in September, just after General Petraeus 
testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee but before the 
benchmark reports were issued. Little had changed. Iraq's political 
leaders were still entrenched. There was still very little hope for 
progress on the benchmarks. I delivered the message that time was 
running out on the blank check policy the administration seems to have 
implemented in Iraq. At this critical juncture of U.S. policy toward 
Iraq, the Iraqi policy toward the United States seems disjointed, 
disconnected, and disassociated. The level of progress on the 
benchmarks is debatable, but what is undeniable is the fact that 
progress is needed on some of the most urgent issues to bring peace and 
stability in Iraq.
  The Iraqi Government has failed to enact a debaathification law, a 
law on equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources and revenues--
that is essentially the oil and the revenues they have collected--and 
to provide three trained and ready brigades to support Baghdad 
operations and the disarmament of the militias. The level of progress 
is undebatable. The Iraqi Government has failed to deliver on these 
three important benchmarks. These are fundamental failures by a 
government that continues to expect the United States to invest in Iraq 
with our soldiers and our dollars, and these failures are unacceptable. 
We cannot continue on this path and cycle of Iraqi dependence on the 
United States.
  As we prepare to deal with another supplemental, bringing the total 
off-budget additional war spending this year to just under $200 
billion, making total off-budget spending on the war in Iraq nearly 
$500 billion--off-budget spending in Iraq of nearly half a trillion 
dollars--we need to refocus on what is happening in Iraq. We need to 
reexamine these benchmarks and others. Those who called for another 6 
months to allow more progress got what they wanted. The question is, 
when will we get what we want? When will Iraq step up and take over? 
When will we be able to bring most of our troops home? When will the 
cycle of dependence end?
  The answers to these questions lie in the benchmarks we established. 
Progress on the benchmarks can give us a timeframe for the future. Lack 
of progress on the benchmarks could only extend our commitment 
indefinitely, if we allow it to continue.
  Finally, we do need to focus on the Iraqi Government's progress on 
the benchmarks and the lack thereof. If they had made more rapid 
progress, we would not need private security outfits protecting 
American assets and personnel. If they continue to fail to make 
progress and meet the benchmarks, we will need to fundamentally 
reassess what our future role might be in Iraq. We can't sustain this 
pace forever. Our soldiers deserve better. Our taxpayers deserve 
better. The Iraqi people deserve better from their own Government than 
the failed leadership they have been shown to date.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. COBURN. Has the Senate concluded morning business?
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Not quite yet. The minority has a 
minute and a half; the majority has a minute and a half.
  Who seeks recognition?
  Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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