[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10395]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2215
                   A SAD AND SOBERING DAY FOR AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Clarke). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Madam Speaker, this is a sobering and sad day 
for America and for the House of Representatives. The Iraq supplemental 
war bill came to the floor this evening. It is a bill where the 
President had requested the resources of the American people to support 
American men and women in harm's way nearly 11 weeks ago. The bill that 
came to the floor tonight had that amount of resources, and then some. 
It had over $20 billion in extra money, Madam Speaker, money that 
nobody could honestly say with a straight face was appropriate in an 
emergency supplemental bill.
  In addition to that, it also had all sorts of timelines and arbitrary 
benchmarks that make it so that the Speaker of the House and every 
single Member of this House is in fact a commander-in-chief.
  There was celebration on the other side of the aisle when this bill 
passed, muted. I would suggest, Madam Speaker, it was a little 
embarrassed, because they understand in their heart what they have 
done. What they have done is a shameful action, Madam Speaker.
  General Petraeus came to visit the Congress today. General Petraeus 
is the Commander of Coalition Forces in Iraq. General Petraeus and his 
men and women are putting their lives on the line, day in and day out.
  He came to the House today. He came to Congress today to ask for 
clarification of what Congress had intended. He asked for the 
opportunity to inform the House of Representatives, the Members of the 
House. And from what I heard this evening, Madam Speaker, the majority 
party didn't listen and they didn't learn. All they have done, 
apparently, is to work on legislation that will ensure defeat.
  Madam Speaker, this majority party is vested in failure. Vested in 
failure. Their actions do a disservice to our troops. They say to our 
troops, we have got no faith in you. We don't believe in your mission. 
We don't believe in you. That is what this majority party says.
  They send the wrong message to our allies. What they say to our 
allies is that you can't trust America. America's word is not good, 
given this majority party.
  And they send the wrong message to our enemies. What they say to our 
enemies is, all you have to do is wait.
  Madam Speaker, this is a sad and a shameful day. The majority leader 
in the United States Senate has said that this war is lost. ``This war 
is lost.''
  I stood with parents of a constituent of mine this weekend, Madam 
Speaker, this past weekend, who was on his way to Iraq that very day. 
They asked me, what am I supposed to say to my son? It is a heart-
wrenching question, Madam Speaker, when you have the majority leader in 
the United States Senate saying that the war is lost. It is in 
headlines across this Nation that the majority leader says this war is 
lost.
  Madam Speaker, I think it is incumbent, given that kind of statement 
by the majority leader in the United States Senate, for the House 
Democrat leaders to come down to this floor and say what they believe. 
Do they believe the war is lost? Do they agree with Senator Reid?
  Madam Speaker, their silence is deafening. Do you hear them? What do 
they say? Are they here tonight? Are they here to say what they believe 
about our troops? Are they here to say that they believe in the men and 
women who are protecting our freedom and working as hard as they can to 
protect themselves?
  Madam Speaker, this Democrat silence is deafening. What a shame. What 
a terrible shame.
  Madam Speaker, it pains me and it saddens me to say what appears to 
be leading these new Democrats is the same as the old, and that that it 
is all politics all the time. What a shame.

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