[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14332-14333]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1900
                 VOTE ON IRAQ SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, the American people want U.S. soldiers 
out of Iraq. A majority of Iraq's elected Parliament want U.S. soldiers 
out of Iraq. And I want soldiers out of Iraq, out of harm's way and out 
of the middle of a civil war.
  This is what the American people elected us to do in November, 
knowing the best way to support our troops is to protect our soldiers 
and get them out of Iraq.
  Since January, 431 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq; 83 American 
soldiers died in January, 80 died in February, 81 died in March, 104 
died in April, and 83 Americans have died in Iraq so far in May.
  Since January, 2,496 U.S. soldiers have been wounded in Iraq. In 
fewer than 5 months, the U.S. casualties in Iraq is already exceeding 
the number of soldiers who died or were wounded in Iraq in 2003. But 
the President insists we're winning. The reality is his stubbornness 
and intransigence has lost the war and the peace.
  Outside my office, we honor the fallen heroes of the State of 
Washington by showing the photographs of 78 men and women killed in 
Iraq. Adding more pictures will not sustain their memory. We honor 
these fallen heroes only by protecting the living.
  The way forward is not more casualties, as the President freely 
admits will occur.
  The way forward in Iraq is not claiming phony ties to 9/11, fake 
intelligence,

[[Page 14333]]

or outright fabrication, although these are the trademarks of this 
administration.
  Demanding a timetable to get our soldiers out of Iraq, as I have done 
repeatedly, is the strongest support anyone in this Congress or country 
can do to support our soldiers.
  I voted today to support U.S. soldiers by voting against a bill that 
approves an endless war and provides the President with a box of 
preapproved blank checks. A Nation does not support its soldiers by 
accepting more Americans killed and wounded in Iraq while carrying out 
the flawed mission of a failed presidency. The Congress does not 
support our soldiers by passing flawed legislation that supports a 
President who is totally out of touch with reality.
  Spending more money in Iraq without a timetable to get out of Iraq 
only buys more casualties in a needless military disaster ordered by a 
President who can mislead, but not lead, America in war or peace.
  The invasion of Iraq was and is all about oil. The one and only 
benchmark that matters to the President is for Iraq to pass an 
American-engineered oil law that delivers the oil wealth of Iraq into 
the hands of Western oil companies.
  The President would not listen when a majority of Iraq's parliament 
signed a petition last week demanding a timetable for the withdrawal of 
U.S. forces. That's because it doesn't matter what they think; only 
what the President and his neocon friends want. And they want oil. They 
want it so much that the President will keep the U.S. soldiers in Iraq 
until he can strong arm the passage of a law that provides cover for 
Western oil companies to control Iraq's vast oil wealth. That is the 
President's definition of mission accomplished.
  The American people elected us to stand up to a President who is out 
of touch and out of control. Over 3,000 U.S. casualties ago, we were 
handed the gavel to lead against the President who had taken his 
Republican majority in Congress to suspend the coequal branch of 
government.
  The President issued orders, and the Republicans bowed their heads 
and complied. We must lead, not capitulate.
  American soldiers will never be safe as long as the President can 
order a military escalation in one breath and, in the next, predict 
growing casualties. The Iraq people will never be free so long as the 
President has the freedom to occupy their Nation. The American people 
will never be served as long as the President can go it alone in Iraq 
and in the halls of Congress.
  The American people gave us a mission, but on this day, we have 
failed in that mission.

                          ____________________