Friday, July 13, 2007                                                                                                  Printable Version (PDF)

 

Washington, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-5) rose on the House floor to reaffirm her support for a new direction in Iraq.  Matsui joined her colleagues in voting for H.R. 2956, the Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act. 

 

The Act requires a responsible redeployment of U.S. troops beginning within 120 days of enactment and ending by April 1, 2008.  It also requires the President to publicly justify the post-redeployment missions for the U.S. military in Iraq, and the minimum number of troops necessary to carry out those missions.

 

“At a time when there is mounting evidence that the President’s ‘surge’ policy is failing our troops, it is the responsibility of Congress to hold him accountable.  We must act now to ensure that we do justice to the honorable service of the brave men and women who serve in our armed forces,” said Matsui.

 

The Administration has conceded that while violence continues in Iraq, the Iraqi government has failed to meet key benchmarks for political and economic success.  These benchmarks were endorsed by the President in January, yet they have yielded unsatisfactory progress and political reconciliation in Iraq is non-existent.

 

Well into the fifth year of the war, and after $450 billion spent, 3,600 American lives lost and more than 26,000 wounded, the American people are unquestionably in favor of a new direction in Iraq.  More than 70% of the population is in favor of the removal of almost all U.S. troops from Iraq. 

 

According to a report by the National Security Network, since the President announced his “surge” policy, more than 25,000 troops have been sent to Iraq.  In that time frame, approximately 600 have been killed and more than 3,000 have been wounded.  In May alone, 127 American troops were killed in Iraq, making it the third most-deadly month since the war began.