[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4774]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       THE COST OF STAYING IN IRAQ IS MAKING AMERICA LESS SECURE

  (Mr. WALZ of Minnesota asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, the war in Iraq has now gone on 
for more than 5 years. Those 5 years have seriously hampered our 
military's readiness, and the human and financial costs grow greater by 
the day. Eighty-eight percent of our current and former military 
officers believe this war has stretched our military dangerously thin, 
and 60 percent say it has left us weaker than at any time since 
Vietnam.
  Pete Geren, the Secretary of the Army, said, ``We are consuming our 
readiness as fast as we build it,'' and the Army Chief of Staff, 
General George Casey, said, ``The last six-plus years at war have left 
our Army out of balance, consumed by the current fight, and unable to 
do the things we know we need to do to prepare for the future.'' In 
addition to spending hundreds of billions of dollars on this war, the 
cost to care for our veterans and rebuild this Army will take us 
decades.
  While our military is standing up and facing these challenges with 
great dignity and professionalism, there are some here who say we need 
to stay the course and stay in Iraq for 100 years. This is not 
sustainable. This is not a plan. This is not security. We need real 
leadership that understands the cost of staying in Iraq and not 
redeploying our troops is making America less secure and not more.

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