[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 177 (Thursday, November 15, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S14431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  IRAQ

  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I will try to be brief and to the 
point, if I cannot be eloquent. I want to talk about the Iraq 
situation.
  A number of Senators have spoken about that this morning. They are 
looking at the progress that is taking place with the surge. I had 
great question about the surge at the outset. I questioned whether this 
was the right route to go. Yet I have to say my concerns were proven 
wrong.
  Look at the numbers: U.S. deaths are down more than 50 percent since 
June. Iraqi deaths are down more than 50 percent since August. 
Sectarian violence is down dramatically. Areas of Baghdad are opening. 
October saw the fewest roadside bomb instances since September of 2005. 
Mortar rocket attacks are at their lowest level since February 2006. 
Nobody would say it is over, we have won, but they would say these are 
very positive events that have taken place.
  The area we have to emphasize now is the political solution to 
capture the moment of getting more stability on the ground in Iraq. For 
some time Senator Biden and I have pushed a federalism approach that 
this body endorsed by 70 votes. Now is the time for us to push much 
more aggressively on this political solution. We are seeing this 
already taking hold in the Kurdish region which has had a head start. 
Under Saddam Hussein, the Kurds were protected by our air power in the 
north. They have stabilized a government and have been operating 
basically that region. We now have Anbar stabilizing, the Anbar 
awakening. But they are not particularly interested in the federalism 
solution because they don't have oil. So what we have to have take 
place at the national level in Iraq is an oil law that distributes oil 
on a per capita basis around the country, not in regions, so federalism 
roots can take hold--not one Iraq but several regions and not 
necessarily on a sectarian basis.
  Several Iraqis I have met with are saying they believe in federalism. 
They think it is the route to go. But they say: Don't say we are a 
Sunni region here or a Shia region there. These are going to be 
multisect regions so we can get together on a regional basis and not on 
a division basis around the country. This is a very promising route to 
go, but we need a political surge to take place in Iraq. We need to put 
emphasis on a political surge to capitalize on the stabilizing 
situation that is taking place on the ground.
  We need a diplomatic surge. We need to push the Iraqis to get oil 
laws and debaathification taking place on a national level. We should 
prioritize local and provincial elections and encourage Iraq to devolve 
power from Baghdad. We should provide additional humanitarian 
assistance for those Iraqis who fled sectarian violence and relocated 
to other areas, or they are coming back. Some people are not coming 
back to areas because there is no housing left; it got blown up in all 
the violence that took place. Instead of pretending that nothing has 
changed, our debate needs to reflect the reality on the ground, that 
the security situation is much better, that we have a real moment here. 
The reality is that security has improved. The reality is that 
centralizing power in Baghdad is not the route to go. Creating federal 
regions provides a chance for that success to be captured and moved 
forward.
  I question what came out of the Joint Economic Committee on the 
funding of the war. I am ranking Republican on that committee. That was 
not a committee report. I believe there are significant problems with 
how that funding level was arrived at. I don't think that was accurate. 
I don't think it was a positive way to move forward. Instead, now is 
the time to say: OK, let's capitalize on the surge. Let's go on a 
bipartisan basis with Senator Biden and myself on federalism. Let's 
push that to capture this, and then we as America can declare victory--
not a Republican victory, not a Bush victory, but we as Americans can 
say it is now stabilized and we can start to pull our troops back. That 
is the talk that is penetrating now, and it is the talk we need to have 
a lot more of.
  Iraqi President Talibani endorses federalism as a political solution. 
The Kurds have announced they will convene a federalism conference. 
Some Iraqi Shia groups are openly discussing the creation of a region 
that would be a federalism model. The Sunnis do not particularly want 
to because they do not have oil, so we have to get that oil devolved.

  I think there is a real route forward for us to all be able to say, 
soon, we are making progress, it is sustainable, and we are handing it 
off to the Iraqis.
  Mr. President, I thank you for your indulgence.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I understand I have time in morning 
business. Let me claim that time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 15 minutes.

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