    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
    [April 14, 2007]
    [Pages 414-415]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    April 14, 2007

        Good morning. This week, I extended an invitation to congressional
    leaders of both parties to come to the White House so we can discuss the
    emergency war funding our troops are waiting for. When we meet on
    Wednesday, I look forward to hearing how Members of Congress plan to
    meet their responsibilities and provide our troops with the funding they
    need.
        Supporting our troops is a solemn responsibility of all elected
    officials in Washington, DC. So 68 days ago, I sent Congress an
    emergency war spending bill that would provide the vital funds needed
    for our troops on the frontlines. But instead of approving this funding,
    Democrats in Congress have spent the past 68 days pushing legislation
    that would undercut our troops. They passed bills that would impose
    restrictions on our military commanders and set an arbitrary date for
    withdrawal from Iraq, giving our enemies the victory they desperately
    want.
        The Democrats' bills also spend billions of dollars on domestic
    projects that have nothing to do with the war, such as funding for tours
    of the United States Capitol and for peanut storage. And after passing
    these unacceptable bills in the House and Senate, Democratic leaders
    then chose to leave town without sending any legislation to my desk.
        The Senate came back to Washington earlier this week, but the House
    is still on its Easter recess. Meanwhile, our troops are waiting for the
    funds. And to cover the shortfall, our military may be forced to
    consider what Army General Pete Schoomaker has called ``increasingly draconian measures.''
        In the next few days, our military leaders will notify Congress that
    they will be forced to transfer $1.6 billion from other military
    accounts to make up for the gaps caused by Congress's failure to fund
    our troops in the field. That means our military will

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    have to take money from personnel accounts so they can continue to fund
    U.S. Army operations in Iraq and elsewhere.
        This $1.6 billion in transfer comes on top of another $1.7 billion
    in transfers that our military leaders notified Congress about last
    month. In March, Congress was told that the military would need to take
    money from personnel accounts, weapons, and communications systems, so
    we can continue to fund programs that protect our troops from improvised
    explosive devices and send hundreds of mine-resistant vehicles to the
    frontlines. These actions are only the beginning, and the longer
    Congress delays, the worse the impact on the men and women of the Armed
    Forces will be.
        I recognize that Republicans and Democrats in Washington have
    differences over the best course in Iraq, and we should vigorously
    debate those differences. But our troops should not be trapped in the
    middle. They have been waiting for this money long enough. Congress must
    now work quickly and pass a clean bill that funds our troops, without
    artificial timelines for withdrawal, without handcuffing our generals on
    the ground, and without extraneous domestic spending.
        When you live in Washington, it's easy to get caught up in the
    complexities of legislative procedure. But for the American people, this
    is not a complicated debate. When Americans went to the polls last
    November, they did not vote for politicians to substitute their judgment
    for the judgment of our commanders on the ground. And they certainly did
    not vote to make peanut storage projects part of the funding for our
    troops.
        The American people voted for change in Iraq, and that is exactly
    what our new commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, is working to achieve. And they expect their elected
    leaders to support our men and women on the frontlines, so they have
    every resource they need to complete their mission.
        We owe it to the American people and to our troops and their
    families to deliver our full support. I will continue working with
    Republicans and responsible Democrats to do just that. I call on Members
    of Congress to put partisanship on hold, resolve their differences, and
    send me a clean bill that gets our troops the funds they need.
        Thank you for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 7:35 a.m. on April 13 in the Cabinet
    Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on April 14. The
    transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    April 13, but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. In the
    address, the President referred to Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA,
    commanding general, Multi-National Force--Iraq. The Office of the Press
    Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of this address.