U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington) was scheduled to deliver the following statement on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday during debate on House Concurrent Resolution 63, declaring support for U.S. troops and opposing the President’s plan to send 20,000 more troops to Iraq.
Audio of Etheridge’s address may be heard here.
“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution.
“As a veteran of the U.S. Army myself, I strongly support our troops, our veterans and their families. Let me state at the outset that our troops have done everything they have been asked to do and done it exceptionally well. More than 34,000 troops from North Carolina have been deployed to Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and more than 5,000 are currently over there. More still are preparing to go back to the desert once again. I am tremendously proud of all the troops from North Carolina and across America who have laced up their boots and followed their orders and done their duty. They are our heroes, and we salute them.
“Regardless if one terms the President’s announced change in policy a “surge” or an “escalation” or an “augmentation,” the so-called new plan can be summed up in four words: “more of the same.”
“I myself have traveled to Iraq twice, and after I returned last year, I said the Administration must change from this failed policy. Specifically, I said that we need more burden-sharing support from other countries because the whole world has a tremendous stake in a stable Iraq and a peaceful Middle East.
“This Administration’s arrogant disregard for our international partners has destroyed U.S. alliances that were decades in the making. Those alliances saw us through the darkest days of the Cold War when the very existence of our country hung in the balance. Yet, this Administration tossed them aside like yesterday’s news. It is a sad tragedy to witness the forfeiture of America’s moral standing in the world and the abandonment of diplomacy as an effective asset for America’s interests. We need to bring all the parties to the table and discuss cooperative action to secure Iraq’s long-term stability and a peaceful Middle East.
“Mr. Speaker, I voted to give the President the authority to topple Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq because he said it presented a “grave and gathering threat” to America. The President said Saddam possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction and intended to use them against America. The President said Saddam was in cahoots with Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda terrorists. I took the President of the United States of America at his word. We have learned to our great regret what that was worth.
“Now the President wants to send 21,000 more troops to Baghdad. Republican Senator Arlen Specter called the new deployment “a snowball in July.” The outgoing Commander of Central Command with responsibility for Iraq told the Senate last November, “I do not believe that more American troops right now is the solution to the problem. I believe the troop levels need to stay where they are.” And the former Republican Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee John Warner, a decorated Marine and former Secretary of the Navy said last month, “I feel ever so strongly that the American GI was not trained, not sent over there, certainly not by resolution of this institution, to be placed in the middle of a fight between the Sunni and Shiite and the wanton and just incomprehensible killing that’s going on at this time.”
“Mr. Speaker, I have voted for every defense bill and war funding legislation Congress has passed for Iraq. I am very concerned about the state of readiness of America’s armed forces. As the Representative for Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base, I know that America’s military and our military communities have many unmet needs while the war in Iraq continues to consume more and more public dollars, with no end in sight.
“In conclusion, I rise in support of this resolution with no joy in my heart but with solid conviction in my soul. The failures of this Administration have gone unchecked and unchallenged by the Congress of the United States for far too long. We need a new direction in Iraq. The question before that Congress is this: is “more of the same” in Iraq an acceptable policy? The answer is: No.”