[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6606-6607]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                  IRAQ

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, last evening, as most of us had departed 
with the understanding that the floor was about to close, our colleague 
from Illinois, Senator Durbin, the distinguished whip of the Democratic 
Party, came over and proceeded to give what I felt was a very strong 
critique of all of those things in Iraq which in his judgment and, to 
some extent, the judgment of others sharing it went wrong. There was 
little or no reference to what went right and the progress that has 
been made in Iraq.
  He concluded again with his own personal views with regard to 
Secretary Rumsfeld and what should be done with respect to his services 
in the future.
  It is interesting. Yesterday, Senator Biden also spoke out with 
regard to his concept of this very difficult dilemma, facing not only 
the Iraqis but all those nations working to help the Iraqis form their 
government, as to how certain modifications should be taken with regard 
to the new government, namely three secretaries having their own say in 
this matter with an overall arching government on top. Senator Biden's 
commentary, in my judgment, was constructive, and was maybe a little 
too late to back up from where we are at this moment. But it was 
nevertheless a positive contribution to the debate and constructive, in 
sharp contrast to the comments of Senator Durbin.
  A lot of things have gone right in Iraq, not the least of which is 
the freedom of elections, the formation of a new government, the 
difficult process that their political structure went through in 
selecting a new prime minister, and making the commitments by that 
newly selected prime minister to finish within this month of May the 
appointments necessary to have a government in place and one that 
hopefully will work to establish and take upon itself the 
responsibility of full sovereignty of that nation. This was a ray of 
optimism, in my judgment, a ray of hope.
  If there were any time in the entire history of this Iraqi 
confrontation situation and the Iraqi war when the new leaders of Iraq 
need support, it is now. I daresay the constructive criticism of many--
I led a codel with Senator Levin a few weeks ago, and other codels have 
gone through. The Secretaries of State and Defense have been through. 
Ambassador Khalilzad has done a remarkable job in encouraging the Iraqi 
leadership to move forward with this new government. That has been 
done.
  Now is not the time to stop all the constructive debate but to stop 
those remarks and debate which can be pulling back from the gains we 
have made, showing less than full support to the Iraqi people for their 
courage and their new government.
  I have studied each of the generals individually. On the whole, I 
personally believe it was a constructive contribution to the debate. 
Others may differ. Somehow, I believe throughout our history our senior 
uniformed officers--and, indeed, others, including enlisted men--have 
come forward at times to provide their own perspectives which are 
contrary to the policymakers in charge of that period of history.
  I commend all who are participating in the constructive debate. It 
should go forward at this time. This Nation is at war. At the very 
minute we are privileged to be in the Senate exercising freedom of 
speech and debate, young men and women in our Armed Forces are in 
harm's way, subjecting themselves to life at risk and, indeed, giving 
their lives and limbs. We must be ever mindful of the suffering of 
their families.
  Now is the time to show our strongest resolve in Iraq. The President 
has made a decision as to the leadership he desires, including 
Secretary Rumsfeld. He has that right as Commander in Chief under the 
Constitution. He has exercised that unequivocally and stated his views. 
It is now a matter for all to respect that judgment of the President 
and move forward.
  I personally have worked with many Secretaries of Defense; three I 
served under in the Department of Defense. Every one in the last 30-
plus years I have worked with--except one, coincidentally; when 
Secretary Rumsfeld was Secretary of Defense I was taking 2 years of my 
life preparing to try and get elected to the Senate, so with that one 
hiatus I have worked with them all, I have established a satisfactory, 
hard-working relationship with Secretary Rumsfeld.
  Our committee is now in the midst of its markup and prepared to bring 
to the Senate its annual authorization bill. This is the most intense 
work period between our committee and the Department of Defense.
  I conclude by saying think first of our troops and their sacrifices 
that they have made, the risk they face each day, and our goals to try 
and support the formation of some type of democratic government of the 
choosing of the Iraqi people and their leadership. Progress is being 
made every day now. Now is the time to stand steadfast in our support 
of our troops, the coalition forces, the Iraqi elected leaders, and the 
people.

[[Page 6607]]

  I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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