[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4243]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     CONGRESS MUST SEND THE PRESIDENT A MESSAGE THAT THE DAYS OF A 
                     RUBBERSTAMP CONGRESS ARE OVER

  (Ms. LEE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, for 4 years, President Bush has been able to 
run the war in Iraq any way he wanted to, without any questions or 
proper oversight from Congress. That changed with the November 
elections when the American people said they wanted a check on the 
President's power.
  This week, the House is checking that power, debating a simple 
resolution that sends the President the message that this House does 
not agree with his plan to send more troops to Iraq.
  I hope this debate serves as a wake-up call to the President, and 
that the status quo in Iraq is not acceptable to this new Congress. And 
this new plan is not a change in direction, but it is an escalation of 
his same failed and dangerous policy.
  The President has already heard from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group 
and from his own generals that a military solution is no longer 
possible, and yet that is exactly what he has proposed.
  Mr. Speaker, this week, Democrats and Republicans will send the 
President a strong message that we must change course in Iraq, and it 
is really time for the President to listen.

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