[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3349]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
 PENTAGON TO KEEP 140,000 TROOPS IN IRAQ--STATUS QUO CONTINUES DESPITE 
                         NO POLITICAL PROGRESS

  (Mr. PASCRELL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PASCRELL. Madam Speaker, in case anyone was still under the 
impression that the President was serious about changing the dynamics 
on the ground in Iraq, they should put all those hopes aside. If the 
administration gets its way, this President will leave 8,000 more 
troops in Iraq when he leaves office than were there before the surge 
last year.
  In 2006, before the President's troop escalation plan, there were 
132,000 American troops in Iraq. This summer after five combat brigades 
come home, there still will be 140,000 troops on the ground.
  There is not going to be a change. Last year the President moved 
ahead with this troop escalation plan, promising that it would give the 
Iraq Government the stability to make some of the tough political 
decisions. As the troop escalation comes to an end, the Iraq Government 
has failed to bring about any real political progress, and repeated 
deployments are severely straining our military readiness.
  Madam Speaker, the status quo is not working. We will continue to 
fight to end this war and head our country in a new direction.

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