[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10280]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         CONGRESS NEEDS TO PASS SUPPLEMENTAL CONFERENCE REPORT

  (Mr. WALZ of Minnesota asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Madam Speaker, the conference agreement 
reached between the House and the Senate on the Iraq accountability 
bill provides more funding than the President has asked for our troops, 
more for our veterans, while forging a new direction in Iraq. This bill 
will hold the President accountable for meeting his own military 
readiness standards. The Iraqi Government will also be held accountable 
for the first time for meeting political, economic, and security 
benchmarks that the administration itself has set.
  This Congress must pass this legislation, because our troops have 
performed magnificently. The administration has failed. They have 
failed to hold the Iraqis accountable.
  President Bush criticizes our time lines, while both Secretary Gates 
and General Petraeus admit there is no military solution, and Secretary 
Gates even called the time lines in the bill ``constructive'' and 
``helpful'' in pushing the Iraqis to a solution.
  Madam Speaker, this Congress has a constitutional responsibility to 
be accountable for war to the American public. The President will have 
the opportunity to sign this bill on the fourth-year anniversary of his 
declaration of ``mission accomplished.'' I and the vast majority of the 
American people urge him to do so.

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