[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12071]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 DEMOCRATS ARE WILLING TO WORK WITH THE PRESIDENT BUT WE ARE NOT GOING 
                        TO RUBBER-STAMP HIS WAR

  (Mr. RODRIGUEZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, Iraq must be held responsible. No one can 
be forced to have a democracy; they must want to themselves.
  The Iraqi government must meet the security, political and economic 
benchmarks that they have set for themselves. I would think that every 
Member of this Congress would want to hold the Iraqi Government 
accountable for the promises it has made earlier this year.
  On our supplemental, the bill fully funds the troops for the next 2 
to 3 months, ensuring that they have everything they need to conduct 
their mission. The bill includes additional funding to include improve 
military readiness above the President's request. The bill includes 
additional $1.8 billion for veterans' health care above the President's 
request. The bill also includes additional funding for the troops above 
what the President has requested. It is time for us to hold the Iraqi 
government responsible and ask them to come up to the plate as we have 
done ourselves.

                          ____________________