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July 12, 2007 Statement of Senator John E. Sununu Mr. President, I wish to address the Salazar-Alexander amendment
that has been filed, which we certainly hope to have a vote on next
week. This is a piece of legislation that I worked with Senators
Salazar and Alexander on addressing the recommendations of the Iraq
Study Group. The Iraq Study Group was a bipartisan effort covered extensively
in the media since the release of their recommendations in December
2006. I made the point at the time, 7 months ago, that those recommendations--there
were over 70 different proposals and recommendations in the report--represented
the most complete assessment that had been made of the situation
in Iraq. That it was a comprehensive framework, and that it did
not just deal with security issues but included recommendations
addressing political reforms that need to take place within the
country with the political dynamics of Iraq. That it included diplomatic
efforts that could make a real difference in stabilizing Iraq, supporting
the efforts of neighbors and other countries in the region, as well
as changes that ought to be made to our intelligence-gathering operation
to support not just our effort in Iraq but our effort to deal with
al-Qaida in Iraq and around the world. This is something that Senator
Dorgan spoke about. I said at the time that, that framework and those recommendations
should be embraced and implemented to the greatest extent possible,
first, because it is a comprehensive effort, and second, because
the Iraq Study Group proposals recognize the importance and responsibility
of the Iraqi Government implementing a series of reforms. They include
economic development, reconciliation, the sharing of oil revenues
with peoples of all regions and ethnic groups across the country,
the debaathification process--designed to bring the country closer
together, to create greater unity among the different ethnic factions
across Iraq. Only the Iraqi Government, given time, can accomplish
these goals which are essential to improving the stability within
the region, reducing the level of violence and creating the environment
where our troops can be brought home as soon as possible. No American
soldier should serve in Iraq a day longer than is absolutely necessary.
This plan is comprehensive in its approach. It recognizes the importance
and the responsibility of the Iraqi Government to take steps to
improve the situation, and it places an emphasis on the coalition
mission, the mission of U.S. forces, in addressing the threat of
al-Qaida, focusing on the counterterrorism mission within the country,
and training Iraqi security forces. This is one of the few and perhaps the only truly broad bipartisan
effort we have had before us in the last several months. We have
seen a series of relatively partisan votes dealing with hard withdrawal
dates, criticizing the Pentagon policy in one area or another. On this legislation right now we have seven Democratic sponsors,
six or seven Republican sponsors, and I think the support we would
receive from both sides of the aisle is even more dramatic than
that. So it is a bipartisan effort that attempts to implement or
help encourage the implementation of the recommendations of the
Iraq Study Group. I think that provides a very sound and strong
framework, not just for improving the situation in Iraq but for
also addressing a lot of the regional problems that are contributing
to its stability in the other countries in the region. I would encourage all of my colleagues to take a hard look at this
legislation. I don't think anyone would agree with 100 percent of
all of the recommendations in the Iraq Study Group Report, but I
think we can recognize that it is the product of a great deal of
effort to understand the situation, assess the climate in Iraq,
and make substantive recommendations that will move us forward.
I encourage my colleagues to support the amendment. ### |
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