[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11494]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  HOUSE REPUBLICANS MUST REALIZE THAT A CHANGE OF COURSE IS NEEDED IN 
                                  IRAQ

  (Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, last week President 
Bush vetoed a plan to fund our troops and to change the direction in 
Iraq. Following his veto, the House voted for the fourth time in 3 
months for a new direction in Iraq and rejected the President's open-
ended commitment.
  Unfortunately, House Republicans have refused to join us in our 
attempts to change the course of the war. Republican Leader Boehner 
said over the weekend that he wants a clean bill. What he is really 
saying is that he wants us to rubber-stamp the President's war 
proposal. That's what Republican Congresses have been doing for 4 
years, and it hasn't helped our military and it hasn't made America 
safer.
  When are House Republicans going to realize that the American people 
overwhelmingly support benchmarks and a real plan to change direction 
in Iraq? One encouraging sign was when Leader Boehner said this weekend 
that he would be willing to look at a plan B in September. Does that 
mean that House Republicans will finally begin to join us in changing 
the course of the war in Iraq? We'll have to wait and see.

                          ____________________