[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18048-18049]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                  IRAQ

  Mr. REID. Madam President, this Sunday is the halfway mark of the 
year 2007. It is also the 2-month mark since President Bush vetoed the 
supplemental appropriations bill we sent to him which would have set a 
responsible path to reduce our combat operations, save lives, and 
finally change course in Iraq. President Bush called our bill a 
``recipe for chaos.''
  Now that 2 months have passed, here is what has happened under the 
President's escalation plan. It is clearly chaos: 126 brave Americans 
died in May alone, and more than 100 in June. This quarter has been the 
deadliest in the entire war. Sectarian killings have not declined. 
Yesterday, more than 20 Iraqis were beheaded. There is little evidence 
the Iraqi Government will meet any of the political benchmarks they 
have set for themselves. The surge was supposed to create the space for 
Iraq's political leaders to make the difficult decisions to unite their 
country. That has not occurred.
  I have said from the beginning that as long as President Bush remains 
obstinate and the Republicans in Congress continue to toe his line, 
this tragic war will continue. There is no sign of President Bush 
awakening to the devastating reality of this intractable war. But this 
week, there is new reason for optimism in that my Republican colleagues 
in the Senate are finally willing to join in calling for a new 
direction.
  A couple of days ago, on Tuesday, I congratulated the ranking member 
of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Richard Lugar, for 
courageously breaking ranks with President Bush and calling for the war 
to end. Senator Lugar said, among other things:

       Persisting indefinitely with the surge strategy will delay 
     policy adjustments that have a better chance of protecting 
     our vital interests over the long term.

  I agree with those words.
  The day after Senator Lugar's comments, another distinguished 
Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, George Voinovich, wrote 
a letter to the President. In the letter, Senator Voinovich urged the 
President to wake up to the truth that so many of us already know: that 
the war cannot be won militarily.
  It can only be won politically. Yet another distinguished member of 
the Armed Services Committee, Senator Warner, then said he expects the 
number of Republican defections with the President to rise.
  I am encouraged by what we are hearing now from Republican Senators,

[[Page 18049]]

even though it is only a handful. But when you join these three 
Senators with Senators Smith and Hagel, we are up to five. We still 
have 44 to go.
  I said earlier this week that this could and should be a turning 
point. After the recess, we will turn to the Department of Defense 
authorization bill, which is our next chance to force the President to 
change course.
  But we are still a long way from reaching our goal. More Republicans 
are saying the right things, but now we badly need for them to put 
their words into action by voting the right way also.
  The current handful of Republicans isn't enough. We would not be able 
to get any legislation passed without 60 votes, but we are getting 
closer. We are not where we need to be yet.
  In May, as I said, the President called our plan a ``recipe for 
chaos.'' Each day that goes by we sink further and further into the 
President's escalation, and it becomes even clearer that the best way 
to ensure chaos, death, devastation, and destruction is to stick with 
the President's failed policy. Let's go with our plan, which is not 
chaos but stability and the saving of people's lives.
  As we leave for the celebration of our Nation's birthday, the Fourth 
of July, I ask my colleagues to listen to the call of the American 
people. Choose the path that honors our troops, makes our country safer 
at home, and stronger abroad.
  When we return next week, let's get to work on a responsible new 
direction that Americans demand and deserve and, in fact, is long 
overdue.

                          ____________________