[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12266-12267]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              IRAQ FUNDING

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, it is my understanding, prior to my doing 
the closing--and I don't know if the distinguished Republican leader 
has anything today--it is my understanding that the Senator from 
Virginia wanted to make a statement. Does the Senator from Kentucky 
have anything to say?
  Mr. McCONNELL. No, Mr. President, I don't have anything to add.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The senior Senator from Virginia is 
recognized.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, if I may engage our respected leaders in a 
colloquy regarding the passage last night of the House supplemental. I 
am speaking for, I think, a number of Senators on both sides of the 
aisle, who have some thoughts with regard to how we proceed on the 
funding issue. I personally--speaking for myself--believe we should 
have no bifurcation of the funding and that it should all be acted upon 
at one time. I am very anxious that the tentative schedule of the 
leadership is before Memorial Day. That is most important.
  I hope some of us could address the Senate and the leadership 
regarding the subject of benchmarks. I read with great interest that 
the President is openminded on the question of benchmarks. I believe it 
is important that, in September, General Petraeus is going to give us a 
report, together with the U.S. Ambassador, and presumably the 
Secretaries of State and Defense will join in that very important 
report to the Congress--indeed, to the whole country--with regard to 
the status of things in Iraq in September. I do believe there is such a 
rapidly unfolding situation over there--we don't know from day to day 
how to anticipate certain things. Earlier this morning, General Mixon 
reported that he didn't have sufficient forces, U.S. forces and 
presumably Iraqi forces, to perform his mission in Diyala Province.
  I am hopeful, speaking for myself, that we can put in some language 
tied to benchmarks by which the President, before we go out on the 
August recess, would report to the Nation and to the Congress on his 
judgment as to whether there is progress on the benchmarks and whether 
he feels that in the July timeframe some change in strategy must be 
brought about in order to achieve the goals of the original strategy 
laid down on January 10 of this year.
  My language would not have any obstruction to the flow of funds, but 
it would simply keep the Nation and the Congress fully informed of his 
judgment, together with his senior advisers, at that critical time 
before we go out on the August recess. I believe we have a 
responsibility, first and foremost, to the men and women in the Armed 
Forces, their families, and to the country for the Congress to watch 
this situation very closely and not defer until the September timeframe 
the concentrated judgment that would be brought to bear on the 
receiving of the report in September.
  To what extent can you advise us as to the process that might be 
followed in order to expeditiously get to the conference but at the 
same time either the conferees be informed of the views of others or we 
have some mechanism by which to address the issue?
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, there are many issues--in fact, most issues 
that come before this body deal with monetary things, policy issues, 
which do not deal with the lives of our men and women in uniform. This 
issue does. I cannot speak for my Republican counterpart, Senator 
McConnell, but I can say without any question that I believe he and I 
are arm-locked in the recognition of how serious this is and how we 
have to do the very best the Senate can do. We are going to try to do 
that.
  This is a time when we have to work on a nonpartisan basis--not 
bipartisan but a nonpartisan basis--to get a matter to the House of 
Representatives so we can do a conference. At this stage, I have to say 
to my friend from Virginia, who is so knowledgeable about things 
military, we don't know how we are going to do that yet. That is a fair 
statement. Everything is on the table. But how we take things off the 
table and put certain things back on the table, I don't know at this 
stage. I

[[Page 12267]]

don't think my friend from Kentucky does, either, but we are open for 
suggestions and comments. It is not an easy situation. The House of 
Representatives is a different body than we are. The majority party 
there can do what they want to do. We cannot do that. This is the 
Senate, which is divided, as we speak, 50 to 49. So we have to work 
together.
  I say to my friend that I understand his involvement in this. He has 
worked over the years very well with the Democrats. I look forward to 
that continuing during the supplemental appropriations bill. Speaking 
for me, I don't know how we are going to get there, but we are going to 
try. We have no choice. Failure is not an option.
  Mr. WARNER. I thank the majority leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, nobody has done more for his country, 
for the defense of this country, and for the Armed Forces of this 
country than the distinguished Senator from Virginia. We thank him for 
his ongoing advice about how to deal with this most difficult problem.
  The majority leader and I are in exactly the same place. I believe 
the Senator from Virginia is as well. It is our great desire to get to 
conference and get a bill signed before Memorial Day. Exactly as the 
majority leader indicated, how we get from here to there is a matter 
under serious discussion between the two of us and with our members. So 
we will be working to get the job completed at the earliest possible 
opportunity.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I only add that I have been as critical of 
the President as anybody in the Senate. But I have to say that, in the 
last week or two, his spokesperson, his Chief of Staff, speaking with 
the authority of the President, has been available to Senator McConnell 
and me anytime I have asked. I appreciate that. If we are going to get 
this done, the President has to be part of the solution.

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