(Washington, DC) – U.S. Representatives Barbara Lee (D-CA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Jim Moran (D-VA), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) joined former Director of the National Security Agency, General William Odom; former Assistant Secretary of Defense, Dr. Lawrence Korb; and John Bruhns, an Iraq war veteran with Americans Against Escalation in Iraq at a press conference on Capitol Hill today to call for an end to the policy of arming and training Iraqi Security forces. The following is Congresswoman Lee’s statement (as prepared):

“Despite the Bush administration’s rhetoric and photo ops, the fact remains that there is no military solution to the situation in Iraq. The redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq is a precondition to restoring our national security and our efforts to fight international terrorism and putting us on a path toward a foreign policy that provides real solutions for global peace and security.

“Nonetheless, many people who understand that we need to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq nonetheless seem to feel that we must leave behind a substantial number of troops to train Iraqi forces.

“While that may sound to some like a reasonable idea, as our speakers today have attested, the results have been catastrophic.

“The bottom line is that the civil war that is taking place in Iraq is raging within the very security forces we are arming and training. The weapons and the expertise we are providing are being used both to kill American forces and Iraqi civilians as well as to to commit acts of terrorism and ethnic cleansing. This policy only serves to further endanger our troops and pour gasoline on an already out of control civil war.

“Congresswoman Waters has introduced H.R. 3134, the Responsible Security in Iraq Act to prohibit the use of federal funds for the training equipping of Iraqi Security Forces and civilians.

“As we work to limit the already extensive damage caused by the administration’s failed policies in Iraq, I encourage my colleagues to reconsider the blind commitment to arming and training Iraqi security forces, and to support her bill.

“Congress has the power to bring an end to the President’s failed policy in Iraq by fully funding the safe, timely and responsible redeployment of U.S. troops and contractors. When we do, let’s make sure they all come home. That means no permanent bases, and it means ending the policy of equipping and training the Iraqi Security forces.”