[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 14529]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH ON IRAQ

  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Madam Speaker, President Bush has a golden opportunity 
to level with the American people tonight about Iraq. The question is: 
Will he?
  The President stands at a crossroads. His credibility and the 
integrity of the entire administration is on the line. The American 
people have had enough of administration rhetoric. For a sitting Vice 
President to dismiss reality and proclaim the insurgency in its ``last 
throes'' grossly understates the threat to U.S. soldiers in Iraq and 
seriously undermines any shred of credibility that the administration 
has left with the American people. They know that U.S. involvement in 
Iraq is going badly. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel summed it up last 
week when he said, ``The White House is completely disconnected with 
reality . . . The reality is that we are losing in Iraq.''
  The American people want the President to deliver a straight story 
and a realistic plan, something he has been unwilling to do up to now. 
We will see if we hear it tonight.

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