[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 10479]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. SHELBY. Madam President, in passing this emergency supplemental 
appropriations bill this afternoon, the Democratic-controlled Senate 
has sent a message--one that the war is lost, that we have given up, 
and that we have no hope of victory.
  Today, we have also put an arbitrary deadline on our military. I 
believe it is unequivocally wrong to do this, the wrong message at 
exactly the wrong time. I believe we must give our troops the 
opportunity to win. We cannot tie the hands of our commanders on the 
ground. We cannot have 535 generals micromanaging the war from the 
Halls of Congress.
  This war is a test of wills. Our defeatist message states that today 
our will has been broken. This is not the message we want our enemy to 
hear. Our actions in the Senate have consequences. I believe we have 
just sent a message--the wrong message--that our efforts were not 
enough. We have sent a message that the enemy has won. I believe we 
have sent a message of surrender, a message of submission, a message of 
failure. And this message was not just sent to those fighting against 
us in Iraq, it reverberates around the globe. Today, I believe the 
Senate has illustrated raw partisan politics at its worst.
  I believe the American people deserve better. Our troops deserve 
better. Our Armed Forces need the support of the people--us--who sent 
them into a war zone, not partisan politics. They need the time to 
succeed, not a timetable for retreat.
  George Orwell once said: The quickest way to end a war is to lose it. 
Yes, the quickest way to end the war is to lose it. With today's vote, 
we are well on our way. Yet fortunately, for our troops, the President 
will veto this bill, and Congress will have enough votes to sustain it.
  In the coming weeks, when Congress crafts a new supplemental 
appropriations bill, I believe we must not use the same narrow-minded 
approach. We must not send another message of defeat, of surrender.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California is recognized.

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