[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 75 (Wednesday, May 7, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H3113]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[[Page H3113]]
DEMOCRATIC SUPPLEMENTAL AMENDMENT CALLS FOR ALL TROOPS TO BE HOME BY
DECEMBER OF 2009
(Mr. YARMUTH asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute.)
Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Speaker, this week Congress has an opportunity to
change the course of the war in Iraq by supporting an amendment to the
emergency supplemental that would not only direct the President to
immediately begin bringing our troops home but would also force the
Iraqi Government to start paying their own reconstruction costs.
The amendment calls on the Bush administration to begin redeploying
our troops out of Iraq one month after it is signed into law, with the
goal of having all of our troops out by December of next year.
Another year of the status quo in Iraq is unacceptable. April was the
deadliest month for U.S. troops in seven months, and the political
reconciliation that President Bush promised when he implemented his
troop escalation plan has not become a reality.
Mr. Speaker, this is a significant step in the right direction, but
for some reason, congressional Republicans want to once again send
President Bush a blank check. Blank checks have not worked in the past
and they will not this time.
We all know that there is no military solution to war in Iraq. It's
time we let the Iraqis know that our days there are numbered.
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