[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14621]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          NOMINATIONS OF GENERAL PETRAEUS AND GENERAL ODIERNO

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, we also have an opportunity today to 
confirm the nominations of two of our Nation's leading generals. 
Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen have both, rightly, talked about the 
challenges facing the Nation as we transition from one Presidential 
administration to the next during a time of war. The next President 
will be fortunate to have General Petraeus and General Odierno 
responsible respectively for central command area of operations in 
Iraq.
  It is the nature of world events that the next President will be 
confronted with some international emergency that could not have been 
anticipated. What we know is that our strategic interests in the Middle 
East and Persian Gulf are longstanding and are being challenged. We 
know that the threat of an Iran regime bent on securing a nuclear 
weapon will not end when a new President is sworn in next year.
  We know that despite the real progress made as a result of the surge 
of forces into Iraq, that the transition of forces, responsibilities, 
and missions must be managed with a steady hand.
  Both of these fine officers are well prepared for their next 
responsibilities. As a nation we are lucky to be able to call upon such 
men at this critical point in American history.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader.

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