[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18373-18374]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          WEBB AMENDMENT 2012

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise to speak on the Webb amendment. I 
know there will be many speakers. Like everything I do, I want to seize 
the day and talk about what I think about the Webb amendment.
  It is almost 10:30 in the morning in Washington. It is 6:30 in the 
evening in Baghdad. Yesterday, in Washington it was 98 degrees, and 
everybody was complaining about the heat wave. They couldn't wait until 
they got into air-conditioning. Well, it was 115 degrees in Baghdad 
and, boy, would I like to get our troops in air-conditioning--in air-
conditioning back home.
  I check the temperature every single day in Baghdad because I want to 
think about our troops. I want to try to envision what they are going 
through. I think about those men and women out there carrying over 100 
pounds of body armor in brutal heat, being shot at, being attacked by 
brutal IEDs. Yes, it is hot in Baghdad, and it is hot in more ways than 
one.
  We need to care about our troops, and we need to care for our troops. 
We all say we support our troops. Well, let's support them, all 100 of 
us, all 100 Senators. Regardless of party and how

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we voted on the war, let's say we support our troops. Then if we really 
do support them, let's support the Webb amendment.
  The Webb amendment does support our troops and our families and also 
the employers of those in the Guard and Reserve. But it supports our 
troops. The Webb amendment gives our troops a breather, and if the 
Pentagon will not do it, Congress needs to do it. That is why I support 
the Webb amendment.
  I salute the Senator from Virginia. Senator Webb is a freshman 
Senator, but he is no stranger to war. He is a warrior's warrior, a 
combat veteran. He also was the Secretary of the Navy. He knows full 
well the stresses the men and women in our military are facing and 
their families are facing.
  The Webb amendment is simple and straightforward. It supports our 
troops by giving them more time at home between deployments. It deals 
with troop fatigue. It deals with troop exhaustion. For our men and 
women in the military, if you are in the full-time military, the all-
volunteer military, your time at home would be at least as long as the 
length of your last deployment. For the Guard and the Reserve, no one 
would be redeployed within three times of their previous deployment.
  Why is this important? Our military is overstretched, and our troops 
are exhausted. Their families are also living with tremendous stress. 
Every time they hear a news report about another attack, they wonder 
how their loved one is and if they are surviving. They have an 
unending, agonizing fear of a strange car pulling up to their home with 
unbearable news. Whether you are a spouse, a mom, or a dad, or 
children, you are bearing the stress of this war. The Webb amendment 
gives our troops a breather and some relief to our families.
  This current President says the struggle in Iraq will be long and 
will require continued sacrifice. Sacrifice from whom? There is no 
shared sacrifice. The sacrifice is falling on our troops now serving in 
Iraq and Afghanistan. The sacrifice has been made by those who died in 
Iraq, by the 85 Marylanders who died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  Mr. President, you are from Maryland. You know that some of the men 
and women who died came from our service academies--West Point, the 
Naval Academy. Some came from renowned schools and universities. Some 
of our kids came from the school of hard knocks. One, named Kendall 
Frederick, only had a green card. He died when a bomb hit his convoy 
when he was driving to get his fingerprints taken so that he could 
become an American citizen. Thousands of others are wounded.
  Some say we are micromanaging the war. You know what. I am for 
micromanaging the war. Maybe if we micromanaged the war, it would not 
be costing us $12 billion a month, and maybe we wouldn't be going it 
alone. So no matter how one feels about deadlines or benchmarks, we 
must support our troops. And I believe this is the way to do it.
  I conclude by saying this: While our troops are out there every day 
in 115-degree heat, let's see what the Iraq Parliament is doing. Our 
guys are fighting for a military solution. Let's see what they are 
doing for a political solution.
  The Iraqi Parliament cannot even reach a quorum. Mr. President, 12 
members of the Iraqi 38-Member Parliament no longer attend Cabinet 
meetings. So one-third of the Cabinet doesn't show up for meetings. 
Seventy-five Members of the Iraqi Parliament are boycotting, refusing 
to do any work at all so that the very Parliament cannot get a quorum. 
While the Iraqi Parliament doesn't show up and stays home in its air-
conditioning, our guys and gals are out there patrolling Baghdad in 
115-degree heat with 100 pounds of equipment and body armor. Listen, if 
you support the troops, support Webb.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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