[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6333]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  CONGRESS CANNOT AFFORD TO GIVE THE PRESIDENT ANOTHER BLANK CHECK ON 
                                IRAQ WAR

  (Mr. PERLMUTTER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. PERLMUTTER. Good morning, Mr. Speaker.
  After 4 years, billions of dollars and thousands of lives, President 
Bush is once again asking Congress to reward failure with a blank check 
for the war in Iraq. Many of my Republican colleagues are more than 
willing to give the President anything he wants, but Democrats refuse 
to be a rubber stamp for the President's failed policies and, instead, 
want to finally require Iraqis to take control of their country. And 
yet the President has threatened to veto legislation that contains his 
own benchmarks for success in Iraq, ensures our troops have the 
training they need, and fully supports both our veterans and our 
soldiers wounded in combat.
  Our legislation also commits additional funding to fighting the 
forgotten war in Afghanistan. Over the last 4 years, the Bush 
administration has redirected funds and troops away from Afghanistan, 
forgetting that al Qaeda and the Taliban were the ones that attacked 
our Nation in 2001.
  Mr. Speaker, Democrats will not allow President Bush to continue to 
pursue these failed policies. We will insist on a new direction.

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