[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4482]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       AMERICA'S POLICIES IN IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I just returned from Iraq on a 
congressional delegation trip with Senator McCain. And I wanted to 
report to my constituents.
  The first thing that I have concluded in looking at the situation 
there and in visiting there is that we need a special envoy sent by the 
President of the United States to move forward with a national unity 
government.
  Things on the ground are not going well. Things are deadlocked. There 
has been no government since 3 months after the election. We have a 
lame duck government, and we have a crucial international situation 
going on.
  The current government is riddled by corruption and inertia. So, Mr. 
President, we need to send a special envoy.
  Secondly, I visited the troops in Iraq, some New Mexicans and many 
others from across the country. And when I think of what they have done 
since the invasion over 3 years ago, it makes me very proud. Saddam 
Hussein and his sons are out of commission. We have held three 
elections, and the Iraqis have adopted a constitution.
  We have trained over 224,000 troops to the highest levels of 
training, more than 100,000 police and security personnel. We have 
spent billions of dollars in reconstruction.
  The Iraqis have made progress, and I do not know what more we can ask 
of our troops. But overall this visit solidified my belief that it is 
time for the Iraqi people to step forward and take control of the 
situation in their country.
  Our troops are caught in the middle of religious and ethnic disputes. 
Sectarian violence is rampant in many areas. Iraqis must step up to the 
plate and resolve these disputes themselves.
  As President Kennedy said of South Vietnam in the summer of 1961, 
``In the end, it is their country, and they are going to have to fight 
for it.''
  Therefore, we need a change of course in our foreign policy. Staying 
the course is no longer acceptable. We need to take two actions: One is 
announce a phased redeployment of our troops outside of Iraq. This 
redeployment should be complete by the end of this year, by 2006. 
Number two, we need to put the Iraqis on notice that they must assume 
responsibility. Of course, as we phase this redeployment, we need to 
assist them and train them and do everything we can during that period 
to make sure they have the best chance of success.
  But this is their fight at this point.

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