Last week, the House of Representatives and the United States Senate passed the Iraq Accountability Conference Report. I voted for this legislation. This agreement reached between the House and the Senate provides more funding than the President requested for our troops and veterans, while forging a true new direction in Iraq.
The agreement approved by the House and the Senate last week supports our troops and veterans, and it holds the Iraqi government accountable by instituting the President’s own benchmarks. It has been four years since the President’s “Mission Accomplished” speech. But we know our mission was not accomplished. According to the National Security Network, since May 1, 2003, more than 3,000 American troops have been killed. The cost to the American taxpayer is approaching $500 billion – ten times what the White House estimated before the war began. Insurgent attacks in doubled between 2005 and 2006, while estimates of civilian casualties are in the hundreds of thousands. Four years into the war, the Iraqi economy is going backwards with oil production and electricity below prewar levels. Meanwhile, as the military continues to suffer under the strain of repeated deployments, Iraqi politicians have made little progress on meeting the benchmarks that are so critical for political reconciliation. It is time to change the course.
The President has said he will veto this legislation, and therefore it is going to come back to Congress.
Last November, the voters in the 7th Congressional District voted to change the way Congress is doing business, and specifically to change the direction of the war in . In passing this legislation, the Democratic Congress has listened to the will of the people and voted for that kind of change. But it’s the President and his supporters in Congress that are putting up the road block to change. In order for Democrats to hold this President accountable and overturn his promised veto, we once again need the help of the American people. The American people must join us in demanding that the President either sign the Iraq Accountability Conference Report or demand a veto override. We need help convincing the President and his supporters in Congress that they are continuing a failed policy in , and that it is time for a new direction.
It is past time to provide for our soldiers who were sent into battle without proper equipment or a clear mission. It is past time to provide for our veterans who are not getting the best medical care when they come home, and to our military that is being stretched to the limits by the current Bush war policy. Now is the time to hold the Iraqi government accountable to meet benchmarks the president created. Now is the time to support our troops and convince the President and his supporters to approve the bill passed by the House and the Senate last week.”
