[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12642]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 HOUSE REPUBLICANS STILL WANT TO PROVIDE PRESIDENT BLANK CHECK ON IRAQ 
                                  WAR

  (Mr. BUTTERWORTH asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BUTTERWORTH. Madam Speaker, while the President continues to 
resist any changes to his failed policy in Iraq, the situation is 
getting worse, it's getting worse for our troops. American casualties 
are up 53 percent this year over the same period last year.
  Despite the escalating civil war, last week Pentagon officials told 
35,000 more American troops that they will be sent to Iraq. Earlier 
this year, the President said the surge would last a couple of months, 
but now the administration is planning to stretch the plan out for 18 
months.
  It is increasingly clear that the President's plan to escalate the 
war in Iraq is not working. The American people overwhelmingly favor a 
new direction in Iraq and a plan to hold the Iraqi Government 
accountable for their own nation and their own security, but for some 
reason Republicans continue to stall, unwilling to break away from 
President Bush and ignoring all the bad news on the ground.
  Madam Speaker, after 4 years of failed policies, we do not need to 
give the President a blank check.

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