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Washington, D.C., July 12th – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives considered legislation, (H.R. 2956) the “Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act” which sets a timetable to bring our troops home from Iraq. Below is the Congressman’s statement on the bill, which passed 223 to 201.
“The Iraq war has been the worst foreign policy fiasco in American history.
“After four years we have lost over 3,600 American soldiers, 600,000 innocent Iraqis have died and we are spending $10 billion a month. In that time, conditions on the ground in most of the country have only gotten worse.
“According to the White House report released yesterday, the Iraqi government failed to meet any of the political benchmarks set by Congress earlier this year. Clearly, the Iraqi government cannot or will not do what is necessary to reconcile their internal differences. The American people cannot be expected to continue sending their sons and daughters to risk life and limb defending a broken government.
“The current Iraq policy is not worthy of the sacrifice of our troops and their military families. It is leading us down a dead end street. It is time for a change.
“The Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act is that new direction, bringing our brave men and women home within a year. Doing so will allow our military to reset so go after the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, the Taliban in Afghanistan and al Qaeda.”
Key provisions in H.R. 2956:
- Requires American forces to begin redeploying within 120 days and to complete the transition to a limited presence by April 1, 2008.
- Reiterates that the redeployment must be done in a safe and orderly way, with maximum attention paid to the protection of American forces.
- Requires a comprehensive strategy by January 1, 2008 for U.S. policy in Iraq, including a discussion of American national security interests in Iraq and the broader region, the specific missions remaining forces would undertake, and minimum force levels required to accomplish them.
- Requires the President to submit updates on the use of and need for any forces remaining in Iraq every 90 days starting on July 1, 2008.
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