[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24686]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  REAL PROGRESS IS NOT BEING MADE IN IRAQ--IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE OF 
                                 COURSE

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, President Bush says progress is being made 
in Iraq, but many of the examples he pointed to in the nationally 
televised speech last week were overestimated or overly optimistic. Let 
me just cite a couple examples.
  First, President Bush said, ``Iraq's national leaders are getting 
some things done, such as sharing oil revenues with the provinces.'' 
But according to the Washington Post, the President's statement ignored 
the fact that U.S. officials have been frustrated that none of these 
actions have become law and that a possible compromise has collapsed.
  The President also thanked ``the 36 nations who have troops on the 
ground in Iraq.'' But if he had checked with his own State Department, 
he would have realized that only 25 countries are still involved in the 
war, supplying only 11,600 troops. Now, that is less than 7 percent of 
the size of the U.S. forces still on the ground.
  Mr. Speaker, this is nothing new. The President has been painting 
rosy scenarios for the situation in Iraq from the very beginning. Time 
and time again they have been proven wrong. The status quo simply can't 
continue. It is time to change course.

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