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




                         PRESIDENT BUSH'S VETO

  (Mr. WALZ of Minnesota asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, 4 years ago today, President Bush 
landed for a photo opportunity on an aircraft carrier in front of a 
banner that said ``Mission Accomplished'' and declared an end to major 
combat in Iraq. Four years later this President refuses to even discuss 
the reality of a military mission that has entered its fifth year.
  Yesterday the President vetoed only the second bill that has ever 
come to his desk. He called it a ``prescription for chaos and 
confusion.'' I ask, how is that different from what we have now? He 
refuses to even hold the Iraqis accountable for making political, 
economic or diplomatic reforms that he promised and they promised to 
make. He's holding up funding for our troops and for our veterans.
  But what exactly is the President waiting for? Now that the President 
has rejected our legislation, he has the responsibility to tell the 
American people how many more years does he expect us to stay. Do you 
think it will be 5? Maybe 10? And what exactly do the ground conditions 
look like in order to have us beginning to withdraw? Wishful thinking, 
political talking points and rigid ideology do not make good foreign 
policy.
  This President was wrong when he declared an end of combat 
operations, and he has been consistently wrong about every single thing 
in Iraq. It's time that this President works with the new Congress, 
elected by the majority of the American people, so that we can bring 
about a change to this war and truly secure America.

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