[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 12910]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         MIXED SIGNALS ON IRAQ

  (Mr. EMANUEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, we are getting mixed signals from the 
administration on the future of the Iraq war.
  Last weekend, General Myers laid out a plan for withdrawal. Then, 
yesterday, General Peter Schoomaker, the Army Chief of Staff, said, 
``It's my belief that we're going to be in Iraq for a long time. It's 
open-ended.''
  An open-ended commitment with an open wallet? Really? After 3\1/2\ 
years, 2,500 lives, nearly a half a trillion dollars, 18,000 wounded, 
the American people deserve better than an open-ended commitment with 
an open wallet.
  How about a strategy for success? The President has said, when the 
Iraqis stand up, we will stand down. How does that happen? The Iraqi 
people have a constitution. They have had an election. Now, they have 
325,000 of the members of the Iraqi security force trained. What is the 
standard for success, let alone the strategy for success?
  The American people desperately need a strategy, not slogans. We do 
not know because the administration does not know. They have no plan, 
and the American people are left with an endless occupation. What they 
are talking about is 5 more years and $500 billion more.
  It is time for a new direction for Iraq. It is time for a new 
direction for America.

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