[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1084]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         BRING OUR TROOPS HOME

  (Mr. GRIJALVA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I believe this Congress has a mandate from 
the voters to start bringing our troops home from Iraq. This is not an 
option that we can pursue at our leisure. This is a solemn obligation 
of absolute urgency.
  As we speak, preparations are being made to send more of our Nation's 
sons and daughters to Iraq, with or without our consent, and some are 
already there.
  A recent headline in the Financial Times states our predicament: 
``Congress is helpless only out of choice.'' The Constitution gives 
this House, gives this body, if it chooses to exercise it, the power of 
the Federal purse. No signing statement or political calculation can 
erase this hard fact. And if we choose to deny that we do have this 
power, we do a disservice to our Constitution, our constituents, and 
this body.
  The escalation in Iraq, as announced by the President the other 
night, will only deepen our involvement in this debacle.
  Mr. Speaker, this war is a financial, strategic and moral disaster 
for this Nation. We need to bring this sad misadventure to an end and 
start bringing our troops home now.
  The American people have clearly expressed their view on Iraq in the 
last election that policy has to be changed by this Congress.

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