[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9203]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1020
                     TIME FOR NEW DIRECTION IN IRAQ

  (Mr. EMANUEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, during the President's weekly radio 
address, he accused the Democrats of spending 68 days pushing 
legislation that would undercut our troops.
  During his tour of the Middle East yesterday, Defense Secretary 
Robert Gates said, ``The debate in Congress has been helpful in 
demonstrating to the Iraqis that American patience is limited.'' He 
goes on to say, it has a positive impact ``communicating to the Iraqis 
that this is not an open-ended commitment.''
  So who's right? Either the Secretary of the Defense, who is calling 
for the Iraqis to take ownership of their country, or the President, 
who is playing politics here at home? The Congress has provided the 
President the one thing he has refused to develop after 4 years of war: 
a policy to get the Iraqis off the sidelines and onto the field.
  So after years of chaos and bloodshed, when the administration asks 
for more troops and more time and more of the same, we are calling for 
accountability of the Iraqis and a responsible redeployment of U.S. 
troops. Our troops are bearing all of the responsibility for the 
President's policy, and the Iraqis have no accountability.
  Secretary Gates, thank you for your honest assessment of what it 
takes to bring a new direction to Iraq.

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