Washington, DC— Today the House of Representatives approved, by a vote of 246 to 182, H. Con. Res. 63, legislation disapproving of the President’s decision to deploy more than 20,000 additional U.S. combat troops to Iraq.  Congresswoman Watson voted in favor of the resolution.

“The war in Iraq is almost in its fifth year,” said Congresswoman Watson.  “The American people have lost faith in the President’s course of action and have demanded a change.   Today’s vote represents the first of many steps the House will be taking to chart a new direction in Iraq.”

“I will never vote to leave our troops without the support they need,” said Congresswoman Watson.  “But neither will I vote to continue down a path that is putting them at needless risk.  Our current course in Iraq is breaking our military, weakening America, and emboldening those who most wish to do us harm.  We cannot endorse the President’s stay the course strategy.  I implore my colleagues to join me in taking this opportunity to compel the President to change course.”

Congresswoman Watson’s complete floor statement follows.  You may also see and hear her floor statement by going to http://www.house.gov/watson

Floor Statement

             “Madame Speaker, the escalation of the conflict in Iraq is an exercise in futility.  It has been three years now since the President declared that our original mission was accomplished in Iraq. 

             “And then the President let victory escape from our grasp.  He confused the toppling of the Saddam Hussein with accomplishing the mission.

             “But there is more important question being raised here on the House floor.  It is an issue which has confused our mission in Iraq from the beginning.  And it is the preposterous argument that Iraq is part of the war against al Qaeda.

             “The al Qaeda attack on America killed almost three thousand innocent Americans, in New York, at the Pentagon, and in a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  We pursued al Qaeda into Afghanistan, dislodged the tyrants of the Taliban, and cornered Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora.  We had al Qaeda on the run; we had the world united against terror and in favor of freedom and democracy.

             “But the President switched his focus at a critical time.  He dismissed the factors which had brought success in Afghanistan—a just cause, clear evidence, and a communities of nations—and instead pursued his Iraq adventure, based on faulty intelligence, and employing a strategy rejected by his own Army Chief of Staff and numerous other Generals.  Most tragically, we pulled our special forces out of the mountains of Afghanistan, where they had al Qaeda on the run, and put them into Iraq, where there was no al Qaeda.

            “Thus the President gave al Qaeda breathing room; he let them regroup, because he lost focus on the War on al Qaeda to wage war on Iraq.  And yet he continues with his obsession with Iraq.  Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, al Qaeda and the Taliban regroup.

             “Madame Speaker, Iraq is not the central front in the war on al Qaeda.  Iraq is a distraction from the war on al Qaeda.  And each day we spend in Iraq is a day wasted.  Each day in Iraq is a day we are not working to bring the perpetrators of 9/11 to justice.   What ever happened to Osama bin Laden?  The families of those who perished on 9/11 are still waiting for an answer.

             “This so-called “surge” is not a display of strength, Madame Speaker.  In truth, it is an appalling display of our weakness.  We are sending only twenty-one thousand combat troops to Iraq.  That number was chosen not because that is the number of troops we need to get the job done.  That number was chosen because, after stretching our military thin for four years, that is all the troops we have available.

             “The President cannot tell us what victory is, or when he hopes to achieve it.  What is our goal in Iraq, Madame Speaker?  What are we trying to achieve?  Are we going to leave this mess for the next President?

             “We were then told, ‘we are going to bring Democracy to Iraq.’  I do not think that anyone could mistake what we have in Iraq today as ‘Democracy.’

             “We are told that if we pull out, the region will be destabilized.   Iraq is consumed by civil war, her neighbors—including our allies Jordan, Kuwait, and Turkey—are overwhelmed with refugees, and Iran is strengthened and emboldened.  If that is not already “destabilized,” then the word has no meaning.

             “The occupation itself is what is destabilizing Iraq.  The occupation is making America less safe.  The occupation undermines American prestige and authority.  And the occupation in Iraq makes it harder to defeat al Qaeda.

             “The continued occupation—the surge included—is the product of failed thinking by a President and an administration that have no concept of how to keep America safe.  There is no military solution to the mess in Iraq; only a political solution.  Yet still the President is shoveling more troops into a search for an elusive military “victory.”

             “The military battle for Iraq is over.  Our only hope is to change course, to acknowledge the reality that the President has lost the military struggle in Iraq.  Only then can we re-engage with a strategy to give us a political victory.

             “We must now remove our U.S. forces, which are fueling unrest and serving as targets for the insurgents.  Next, we must move forward with a political and diplomatic strategy to engage both our allies and our adversaries in the region.  This will mean talking to Iran.  It does not mean capitulating to Iran.  Even at the height of the Cold War, Reagan was willing to talk to Moscow.  But until we are willing to engage with Iran, our friends in the Middle East, who fear Iranian dominance as much as we do, will not believe we are serious about confronting the Iranian threat.

             “Last, and most appalling is the desperate slur we hear from some Republicans that we are going to ‘cut off funds for the troops.’

             “This attack is especially galling when it has been a Republican Congress and Republican President which for years left our troops vulnerable—without proper equipment—without proper body armor—in an effort to fight this war on the cheap.  Even now, the President is trying to send these additional troops into Baghdad without the proper armor kits for their Humvees, leaving them vulnerable to the roadside bombs that are killing our troops.  Those who dare to criticize us for not supporting the troops had better first explain why they would vote to send more troops to Iraq without supplying the armor and equipment they need to do their job.

             “I will never vote to leave our troops without the support they need.  But neither will I vote to continue down a path that is putting them at needless risk.  Our current course in Iraq is breaking our military, weakening America, and emboldening those who most wish to do us harm.  We cannot endorse the President’s stay the course strategy.  I implore my colleagues to join me in taking this opportunity to compel the President to change course.”