[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17420-17421]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 RESPECTED REPUBLICAN PULLING AWAY FROM THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION ON WAR 
                                IN IRAQ

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, an influential Republican voice 
on foreign affairs admitted that the war in Iraq is doing more harm 
than good and that, I quote, ``Our course in Iraq has lost contact with 
our vital national security interests in the Middle East and beyond.''

[[Page 17421]]

  Those are the words of Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, 
who went to the Senate floor last night to say that changes in strategy 
need to be made before September. Lugar's comments should be listened 
to very carefully by my Republican colleagues who continue to hold out 
hope that the President's troop escalation strategy can work.
  Senator Lugar is just the latest to admit that the President's plan 
is not working and that a new strategy is needed in Iraq. Last week, 
General Petraeus himself said that we will not meet the target of 
seeing any positive results from the troop escalation plan by 
September.
  Now, Senator Lugar's realistic assessment of the war in Iraq is 
commendable, but words are simply not enough. If Lugar is convinced 
that the war in Iraq is no longer in our Nation's best interest, he 
must join us in finding an alternative that begins to bring our troops 
home.

                          ____________________