| (Warwick, R.I.) Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI) today voted against H.Res. 861 - Resolution on the War in Iraq, joining 149 of his Democratic colleagues, including Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI). Following the vote, Langevin, a member of the House Armed Services Committee released the following statement:
“As a nation and a Congress, we need to make hard choices to ensure that our presence in Iraq does not do long-term damage to our military or endanger the men and women who proudly defend our nation. However, this resolution today did not address any of those questions nor does it provide answers for a nation that demands them. Instead, Republicans have given us more of the same. We deserve better.
“In October 2002, I voted against the resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq, but since then, I have supported every supplemental appropriations measure to fund our troops because it is Congress’s responsibility to give them the resources needed to accomplish their mission. It is precisely that support for the troops that motivates me to point out how we may do irreparable harm to our military if we do not alter our mission in Iraq quickly. Our men and women in uniform have performed admirably in difficult conditions – in many cases adapting quickly to missions outside their traditional roles, such as policing and reconstruction. However, the current pace of operations is untenable, and we are seeing evidence of the impact it is having on our military.
“General Barry McCaffrey recently traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan to assess U.S. operations there. Upon his return, he briefed the Armed Services Committee on his findings and gave us a very frank assessment. He has stated that we should know by the end of the year whether the new Iraqi government will be effective in controlling the insurgency. He has also claimed that we cannot sustain our current level of operations beyond Christmas without breaking our military and endangering our ability to fight future missions. In other words, we are quite possibly six months away from a point of no return that could have long-ranging effects on our military and the stability of the Middle East.
“So what is our strategy to prevent the worst-case scenario from occurring? Where is the accountability? Where is the Congressional oversight? I’ll tell you one thing -- they're not in the resolution we voted on today. The Republican leadership promised a debate on Iraq but then refused to consider any alternatives to their own bill, preferring to embrace the status quo and ignore the very difficult decisions this Congress needs to make.”
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