[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12069]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            THE WAR IN IRAQ

  (Mr. SESTAK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SESTAK. Mr. Speaker, we are at the point where no one should call 
the war in Iraq ``Bush's war.'' It is ours, America's war. We are in 
this together. We Democrats need the Republicans if we are to end it 
without a failed Iraqi state.
  It is not just about ``getting out of Iraq.'' It should be about 
redeploying out of Iraq so that we can better ensure U.S. security 
elsewhere, as we leave Iraq with relative stability.
  The resolution we will soon vote on is today's stalking horse, with 
merit, but with less of a strategic plan for a successful end than the 
last Iraqi resolution, despite times that are now more dire in Iraq 
and, therefore, also for us. We need both the Republicans and a new 
strategy so that we can successfully end this conflict for our 
betterment. I see the key as President Bush's statement that our 
commitment is not open-ended. We, therefore, now need to define how to 
end it, together.
  I will vote for this resolution, but I am expressing my reservations 
because it lacks defining how to achieve the end of an open-ended 
commitment by a winning strategy.
  That is why we need the Republicans, and they us, to resolve the war 
successfully by a strategy that deliberately defines the end of our 
open-ended commitment so that we can then use it to exact success, 
diplomatically, regionally, ensuring our, and Iraqis', greater 
security.

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