[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6136]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             CONGRESS SHOULD REJECT DEMOCRATIC PLAN ON IRAQ

  (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, in January, President Bush described his plan 
to win the war in Iraq, and last week Speaker Pelosi described her plan 
to end the war in Iraq. The only problem with that, Mr. Speaker, is, as 
George Orwell said, the quickest way to end a war is to lose it; and I 
believe the Democrat plan to micromanage our war in Iraq with 
benchmarks and deadlines for withdrawal is just that, a prescription 
for retreat and defeat.
  But common sense and the Constitution teach us that Congress can 
declare war, we can fund or choose not to fund a war, but Congress 
should never attempt to conduct war. In fact, this is a broadly held 
view by some of the leading arteries of America's traditionally liberal 
media. The L.A. Times yesterday said: ``Congress can cut funding for 
Iraq, but it shouldn't micromanage the war.'' In The Washington Post 
today, the lead editorial entitled ``The Pelosi Plan For Iraq'' said: 
``In short, the Democrat proposal is an attempt to impose detailed 
management on a war without regard to the war itself.''
  I commend these American newspapers for their sensible reasoning. 
Common sense and the Constitution demand Congress should reject the 
Pelosi plan.

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