[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11001]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 THINGS ARE GETTING WORSE IN IRAQ AND PRESIDENT BUSH IS NOT WILLING TO 
                    TAKE THE WAR IN A NEW DIRECTION

  (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, over this past weekend, five more American 
soldiers were killed in Iraq, bringing the number killed in April to 
over 100 U.S. soldiers. It was the deadliest month for American 
soldiers this year. Sadly, the total number of Americans killed now 
stands at 3,351, along with thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women and 
children.
  The realities on the ground that our brave soldiers continue to face 
day in and day out stand in stark contrast to President Bush's 
pronouncement 4 years ago that major combat operations in Iraq were 
over.
  If major operations were over 4 years ago, what have our troops been 
fighting the last 4 years? If indeed our mission was accomplished 4 
years ago, as the banner behind the President on that aircraft carrier 
proclaimed, what are American troops still doing in Iraq?
  If the President truly wants to bring our mission to a just 
conclusion, he should work with Congress instead of simply vetoing our 
funding bill as he did. It's now up to the President to decide if he 
will support accountability for Iraqis, benchmarks for success, and new 
direction in Iraq, for we cannot stay this course.

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