Iraq

America's sons and daughters are being asked to referee a bloody civil war in Iraq. Senator Wyden wants to bring home our troops in Iraq, and is opposing spending bills for hundreds of billions of additional dollars for Iraq until the President agrees to a speedy timetable for withdrawal. This position is in keeping with his historic and consistent opposition to the war going back to the run-up to the invasion in 2003. In October 2002, Senator Wyden was one of 23 U.S. Senators who voted against the resolution authorizing President Bush to use force against Iraq. In his speech on the floor of the Senate, Senator Wyden said, "There is no question in my mind Saddam Hussein represents a very real threat to this country and to the world, but I do not want to, in the days ahead, compound the problems we already face with Hussein in the region by authorizing a unilateral, preemptive military strike at this time, and that is why I will oppose the resolution."

Senator Wyden has always supported American troops who are in harm's way and will continue to make sure they get the equipment they need.  But he has concluded there is no reason to believe that more American troops are going to change the situation in Iraq.  Only the Iraqi people can come together and make the tough choices necessary to reach a political settlement, and Senator Wyden firmly believes that the Iraqis will assume responsibility for their own security only if they can no longer use our troop presence as a crutch. 

Senator Wyden is also concerned by the President's decision to send more troops to Iraq and ignore the opinions of the Iraq Study Group, several top generals and a majority of the American public. The Senator opposed the President's plan because he was not convinced that overstretching our military any further will produce success in Iraq. 

Below are some of the key votes cast by Senator Wyden on the war in Iraq:

• October 11, 2002: U.S. Senator Ron Wyden was one of only 23 U.S. Senators to vote against H.J. Res. 114, a joint resolution to authorize the use of force against Iraq.  The day before, he voted for an amendment to provide a termination date for the authorization of the use of force and for an amendment that would have tied Congressional authorization for the use of force to a new UN Security Council resolution; both failed.
• March 20, 2003: U.S. forces invade Iraq.
• July 15, 2003: Wyden voted to prohibit excessive overseas deployments of members of the Guard and Reserves.  The amendment failed.
• October 17, 2003: Wyden voted to establish a commission to examine the role of policy makers in the development and use of intelligence related to Iraq.  He had voted for a similar amendment on July 16, 2003; both amendments failed.
• June 23, 2004: Wyden voted to require the President to submit an unclassified report to Congress describing his strategy for stabilizing Iraq and detailing the number of armed forces personnel that would be serving in Iraq in the future.  The amendment failed.    
• November 10, 2005: Wyden voted to establish a special committee of the U.S. Senate to investigate the awarding and carrying out of contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq.  He voted again for a similar amendment on June 20, 2006; both amendments failed.
• November 15, 2005: Wyden voted for an amendment to recognize 2006 as the period of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty.  The amendment also called upon the Administration to explain its strategy to Congress for the successful completion of the Iraq mission, including an estimated timetable for the phased redeployment of U.S. Armed Forces. The amendment failed.      
• March 21, 2006: After returning from Iraq, Wyden called on the President to “unequivocally agree to never establishing a permanent military base in Iraq.”
• April 8, 2006: Following the President’s remarks that U.S. troops would remain in Iraq until at least 2009, Wyden introduced a resolution calling for a Congressional vote of confidence on the President’s plan to keep troops in Iraq that long.   Wyden introduced a similar resolution as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill in June 2006. 
• April 26, 2006: Wyden co-sponsored an amendment expressing the sense of Congress that the U.S. “should not establish permanent military bases in Iraq or exercise control over the natural resources of Iraq.”  The amendment to the supplemental appropriations bill passed unanimously, but was stripped out in conference committee negotiations; a similar provision was included in the FY07 military appropriations bill (H.R. 5631) signed into law later that year.
• June, 22, 2006: Wyden was one of only 13 U.S. Senators who voted to require the redeployment of United States forces from Iraq by July 1, 2007, leaving only a minimal number of forces for training Iraqi security forces, conducting counterterrorism operations, and protecting U.S. facilities and personnel.  
• June, 22, 2006: Wyden was one of 39 U.S. Senators who voted for a resolution calling on the President to begin withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq in 2006 and to submit a plan to Congress by the end of the year with estimated dates for the continued redeployment of U.S. forces.
• August 2, 2006:  Wyden, along with a majority of his colleagues on the Intelligence Committee, voted to release parts of the Committee’s long-delayed report on prewar intelligence regarding Iraq. 
• January 9, 2007:  Wyden cosponsored S.233, a bill prohibiting the use of funds to pay for the proposed troop surge.  The bill did not receive a vote.
• February 1, 2007:  Wyden cosponsored and voted for a resolution opposing the surge and expressing the sense of Congress that the U.S. should transfer responsibility for internal security and halting sectarian violence to the government of Iraq and its security forces.  The resolution failed.  Wyden cosponsored and voted for additional anti-surge measures on February 5 and 17, 2007; these efforts failed as well.
• March 15, 2007:  Wyden cosponsored and voted for S.J.Res.9, which would have required the President to withdraw all combat forces from Iraq by March 31, 2008, except those needed to protect U.S. facilities and personnel, to train and equip Iraqi forces and to conduct counter-terrorism operations.  The measure failed. 
• April 26, 2007:  Wyden voted for the Supplemental Appropriations conference report, which contained a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.  The bill passed, but was vetoed by the President. 
• May 16, 2007:  Wyden cosponsored and was one of 29 U.S. Senators to vote in support of an amendment that would have withdrawn all combat forces from Iraq by March 31, 2008, except those needed to protect U.S. facilities and personnel, to train and equip Iraqi forces and to conduct counter-terrorism operations. 
• May 24, 2007:  Wyden was one of only 14 U.S. Senators who voted against a timeline-free Supplemental Appropriations conference report (H.R.2206). 
• July 18, 2007:  Wyden voted to require the Secretary of Defense to begin reducing the number of U.S. forces in Iraq within 120 days and complete the transition to a limited presence and missions (training, logistics counterterrorism, and personnel and infrastructure protection) by April 30, 2008.  The amendment failed. 
• September 20, 2007: Wyden cosponsored and was one of 28 U.S. Senators to vote in support of an amendment that would have withdrawn all combat forces from Iraq by June 30, 2008, except those needed to protect U.S. facilities and personnel, to train and equip Iraqi forces and to conduct counter-terrorism operations.

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