Press Release

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), member of the House Armed Services Committee, issued the statement below following the Committee’s hearing on the United States Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) report on the assessment of the Iraqi government’s record of performance:

“Today’s testimony on the GAO’s report showing that only 3 of 18 benchmarks have been met in Iraq has demonstrated that we need more than ever to fully scrutinize our policies and progress in Iraq, as well as our overall strategy in the Global War on Terror.

“In particular, during next Monday’s hearing we need to thoroughly question General Petraeus on the different types and variances in the Defense Department’s reporting of sectarian violence in the region. In addition, we must pay close attention to whether or not the success we are seeing in Anbar is transferable to the rest of the country and, if so, to what extent. Furthermore, we must call upon General Petraeus to establish milestones for reaching the eighteen benchmarks, including what needs to be accomplished to meet these goals and how long this process could realistically take.

“Mr. Walker’s testimony today posed serious questions about the role of the U.S. in Iraq and the surrounding region, as well as to our overall homeland security and foreign policy goals. These are areas where we cannot afford to be misled by skewed information issued to promote a political agenda. We must recognize the objectivity of the GAO in ascertaining an unbiased assessment of Iraq.

“Having received this report, we must now proceed in asking the right questions in order to responsibly re-deploy our troops from a war that should never have been started.”

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