[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 14660-14661]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PRESIDENT BUSH'S SPEECH

  Mr. DURBIN. Last night, President Bush stood in front of the soldiers 
of the 82nd Airborne and the members of the Special Forces and gave an 
important speech. Thankfully, he did not profess the unfounded optimism 
of Vice President Cheney, who recently declared that the Iraqi 
insurgency was in ``its last throes.'' Nor did he express the 
pessimistic view of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who said this 
last Sunday that this insurgency had an expected life of 5 to 12 years, 
adding he hoped the American troops could come home long before that.
  In fact, Mr. Bush did not use the word ``insurgency,'' although that 
is what is raging in Iraq. That insurgency is partially fueled and 
financed from outside groups. Those who come to Iraq to fight in this 
insurgency come from Saudi Arabia, Syria, and many other places. There 
is also a domestic war within Iraq against Americans and against many 
other Iraqis.
  President Bush did not use the word ``insurgency,'' but he did make 
at least six references to September 11. He said that he was drawing on 
the lessons of September 11. Well, on September 12, 2001, the day after 
the tragedy of September 11, virtually the whole world stood with the 
United States. One of the most important lessons I would draw from 
September 11 is that we can't afford to waste the support of friends 
and allies.
  President Bush says he will not set a timetable. I understand that. I 
recognize the danger of posting a date and announcing that on that 
specific day, America will leave. But the fact is, the Iraqi people 
have their own timetable which they established. By August 15 of this 
year, they are charged with drawing up a constitution. By next 
February, they are to have adopted that constitution. These are clear 
deadlines, clear benchmarks. We do not need a timetable for withdrawal, 
but America needs a strategy for success with clear benchmarks.
  The President announced nothing new last night. He repeated what he 
said before about the ultimate goal in Iraq of establishing democracy 
and bringing our troops home. He did not give any sign that he sees a 
need to change course.
  In Iraq, 1,744 American soldiers have died in combat. Almost 13,000 
have been grievously wounded. The insurgency continues. Insurgents are 
now using more sophisticated roadside bombs that can even pierce our 
armored vehicles. Our troops have done everything we have asked of 
them, but for each insurgent they kill, another seems to spring up, 
either from the cities and towns of Iraq or slipping across the porous 
border. For every IED that our soldiers detect and destroy, another one 
seems to be planted in its place, sometimes within hours.
  There is an estimate that in Iraq today, unguarded, there are some 
800,000 tons of ammunition and armament. It is a free market, a flea 
market, a bazaar of deadly weapons for insurgents and those who would 
use them against our troops. That is what our brave men and women are 
up against.
  The streets are not safe for our troops. The streets are not safe for 
Iraqis. Without security, it is unlikely the Iraqis have much faith in 
a new government.
  Unemployment levels in Iraq are as high as 50 percent. Without jobs, 
the Iraqis wonder what their future will be. More of the same is not 
good enough.
  Our soldiers are doing everything right, everything that we ask of 
them. They are learning and adapting to the situation on the ground. 
Their Commander in Chief needs to do the same. We need benchmarks that 
will measure progress in security, reconstruction, governance, and 
international savings. And we need to ask ourselves, What do we do next 
if the benchmarks are not met?
  Yesterday, a letter was sent by Senator Carl Levin and Senator Susan 
Collins to the President urging him to include in the speech an 
accountability of the Iraqi Government, saying that they must hold to 
their deadlines, they must understand that this is serious and that we 
are not going to stay there indefinitely. A New York Times editorial 
recently stated, ``If the war is going according to plan, someone needs 
to rethink the plan.'' I believe they are right.
  Finally, we also need to take better care of our soldiers when they 
come home. We are going to have an amendment in a few moments offered 
by Senator Patty Murray of Washington. Make no mistake, she has been 
our leader in the Senate when it comes to funding for the Veterans' 
Administration. Time and again in the Committee on the Budget, with the 
budget resolution and with the supplemental appropriations, she has 
made the argument that there wasn't enough money in the VA to take care 
of our returning soldiers and veterans from other wars. She has been 
ignored, rejected, and criticized for standing up and saying the 
obvious--that we have a debt to our soldiers and our veterans.
  Last week, Senator Murray was vindicated. The Veterans' 
Administration announced they made a gross miscalculation and were at 
least $1 billion short in the money they need right now to provide 
quality health care to our soldiers and veterans.
  Senator Murray has fought the good fight, and she will win that fight 
today. In fact, it is going to be interesting to see many from the 
other side of the aisle who were critical of her call for more money 
for the VA rushing to provide even greater sums so they can argue that 
they are on the side of the VA and the veterans.
  This is the way it should end. This debate should end with Senator 
Murray's leadership creating a bipartisan coalition for the Veterans' 
Administration. This should have been a bipartisan issue from the 
start. She was a lonely voice and faced a lot of criticism for a long 
time. Today, she will be vindicated. More importantly, the veterans 
will receive the quality health care which they deserve. That means the 
newly returning veterans of Fallujah and Baghdad, many suffering 
terrible wounds in battle and some facing invisible wounds of post-
traumatic stress disorder, will have a chance for the kind of treatment 
they deserve at the Veterans' Administration.
  The administration, when it comes to the Veterans' Administration as 
well

[[Page 14661]]

as waging the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, has not anticipated the real 
costs of war. We can do better. We owe these men and women who are 
fighting these battles and those who have fought in past wars not only 
our thoughts and prayers, we owe them our resources so they can wage 
this war successfully, come home safely, and return to their families 
and their lives.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington is recognized.
  Mrs. MURRAY. How much time is left on our side?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is approximately 11\1/2\ minutes 
remaining.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Would the Presiding Officer indicate when 1 minute 
remains.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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