Mr. Speaker, earlier today the Congressional Progressive Caucus held an event called ``Winter Soldier'' where we honored our men and women in uniform who have returned as veterans. And then this afternoon, we were given another bite at the so-called apple, as if we were continuing the honor of these winter soldiers.

What happened this afternoon, what happened less than an hour ago was an amendment on the House floor to fund the Iraq-Afghanistan war until June of 2009 failed. It did not pass. It failed. Now, that is the way to honor winter soldiers: stop paying for the President's debacle, for the failed international policy, for the damages that are being caused to our soldiers across the waters. That is the way to make up and honor winter soldiers.

So what is a Winter Soldier? In 1991, a courageous group of veterans of the Vietnam War took their cause to Washington in an event called ``Winter Soldier.'' Today, we honored that tradition, and we looked at a new generation of veterans and a new warfront, Iraq.

The event, which was organized with the Iraq Veterans Against the War, got to the heart of the issue: how this endless occupation is affecting our men and women in uniform and the Iraqi people themselves.

In recent months, we have heard from General David Petraeus, we have heard from Ambassador David Crocker, and we've heard a lot from the administration, all armed with PowerPoint presentations and colorful posters attempting to convince us that after 5 years we are finally making progress in Iraq.

That's what made this morning so unique. This was an opportunity to hear not from the military's top brass but directly from the very soldiers who put their lives on the line to carry out the administration's policies.

Today's event was a continuation of Winter Soldier hearings that were organized earlier this year at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Maryland. Over 3 days, dozens of veterans shared their personal stories and testified about their own experiences on the ground in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

These weren't pundits or analysts talking about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the abstract. These were the stories, these were the testimonies of the men and women who had experienced the horrors of war up close and personal.

As I listened to the testimony this morning, I was struck that while each witness brought a unique and very personal perspective towards the occupation of Iraq, there was one consistent thread that connected each and every testimony: that despite the valor and sacrifice of our troops, and at almost every level, the administration's strategy in Iraq has failed and continues to fail.

What a great response to these wonderful soldiers because today's vote says exactly what we need to say: put an end to this war, reject a blank check to extend this occupation into another year, concentrate on funding the redeployment of our troops and the redeployment of our contractors.

We owe nothing less than that to those brave men and women in uniform and those who have been there before them, and we also owe nothing less than that to the Iraqi people.