[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7414]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           IRAQ SUPPLEMENTAL

  (Mr. HONDA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, in any endeavor, one must set achievable 
goals and benchmarks. As a teacher, I found that it was critical to 
provide guidance to students whose reports were not proceeding on 
schedule.
  President Bush definitely needs some help in his work in Iraq. His 
initial research was terribly flawed and cut corners in disturbing 
ways. He ignored the advice of learned experts in his stubborn pursuit 
of a flawed hypothesis. When he brainstormed an outline for pursuing 
the war, he never planned for how it would end. His incoherent strategy 
in Iraq rambles on and on without any movement towards a successful 
conclusion. I personally would have failed this student long ago.
  The question we face today, however, is on whether we should set a 
strategy for redeploying our troops out of Iraq or continue giving the 
President a blank check to continue an open-ended war in Iraq. I voted 
against the war and I want our troops out now.
  Now that Democrats have been voted in as the majority in the House 
and Senate, we have responsibilities to our constituents to exercise 
constitutional and congressional oversight in Iraq. To fulfill that 
responsibility, I stand in support of the Iraq Accountability Act, 
which would establish a definite date to end this awful war.

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