Worldwide War On Terror
WORLDWIDE WAR ON TERROR -- (Senate - February 06, 2007)
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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, for the last few weeks, a bipartisan group of Senators has worked to bring to the floor a resolution expressing opposition to the President's proposal to increase American troops in Iraq. In an effort to have an honest, thoughtful, and productive debate, they put aside their differences, only to be run over by partisan politics. I support the bipartisan resolution opposing the escalation. I support an honest and open debate on a policy that clearly needs to change. But I do not support what I saw take place in this Chamber yesterday.
Our soldiers and their families have sacrificed too much to accept the political obstructionism that is keeping this body from having a debate on a most critical issue. Our troops have given so much, and they deserve much more than what they got from the U.S. Senate yesterday. The least we can do is to have this debate, and the best we can do is to get this policy right for our troops.
I would like to thank those who worked on this resolution: Senators LEVIN and WARNER and Senators BIDEN and HAGEL and others. Throughout their careers, they have shown how much they care for the men and women in uniform. In crafting these resolutions, they showed us that when principled individuals from opposing parties care strongly about an issue, politics doesn't always have to win out.
Unfortunately, some in this body still don't want to have a debate about Iraq. It is long past time to have this debate. The American people have called for it, our troops have earned it, and we should be big enough to have it.
Over 3,000 American soldiers are dead, more than 20,000 have been wounded in combat, over 2,000 have lost their limbs, and more than $350 billion of taxpayer money has gone to Iraq. Scores of Iraqis are killed every day in what has essentially devolved into a civil war.
All across my State, I have heard a strong and clear message from Minnesotans: Change the course in Iraq and push for the strategy and solutions that will bring our troops home. We need a surge in diplomacy, Mr. President, not a surge in troops. It is a message that was echoed all across this country from Montana to Minnesota, from Pennsylvania to Virginia. Unfortunately, there were those in this Chamber yesterday who did not listen to that message, who would prefer no debate. This bipartisan resolution expresses the strong opposition of this body to the President's decision to stay the course and send an additional 21,000 American troops to Iraq. I strongly support this bipartisan resolution and implore my colleagues to allow this resolution its due course.
The people of Minnesota, like their fellow citizens around the country, recognize what is at stake in Iraq. Of the 22,000 troops involved in the surge, nearly 3,000 are from Minnesota. As I have traveled throughout our State, I have spoken with many families who have paid a personal price in this war, and I think of them often.
I think of Claremont Anderson from Hoffman, MN, who would drive hundreds of miles to attend public events in the last 2 years. I just saw him and his wife Nancy this weekend; they braved 7-degree below-zero wind chills to come to an event in Glenwood, MN. When I see Claremont, any time anyone even talks about the war, he starts to cry. That is because his son Stuart, an Army Reserve major, was killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq.
I think of Kathleen Wosika from St. Paul, MN. Just last month, her son, James Wosika, Jr., was killed while he was patrolling on foot in an area near Fallujah. He was a sergeant with the Army National Guard 1st Brigade, whose current duty will be extended under the President's escalation. Sergeant Wosika was the third member of his unit to die within a 6-month period. He was the seventh member of the brigade to be killed since their deployment last spring.
I also think of Becky Lourey of Kerrick, MN. That is near Duluth. She is a mother of 12 and a former State senator. Her son Matt was killed when the Army helicopter he was piloting went down north of Baghdad. I watched this Gold Star mother, a woman who has adopted eight children, comfort her grandchildren, hold her shaking husband, and stand tall for hours in a high school gym in Finlayson, MN, where hundreds of people came to gather for her son's memorial service.
Claremont Anderson, Kathleen Wosika, and Becky Lourey are parents whose children made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country, and they are among the many Minnesotans who told me without apology they want to see a change of course in Iraq. They pray others will not have to experience their pain.
Although I opposed this war from the beginning, I recognized that many did support it. But 4 years later, we are now dealing with a dramatically different situation. What we know now about the events and facts leading up to this war has changed dramatically. The conditions inside Iraq have changed dramatically. Our role there has changed dramatically.
Last November, citizens in Minnesota and across the country voted for a new direction in Washington. Americans made clear at the ballot box they were tired of the politics-as-usual partisan bickering and that they wanted a meaningful and bipartisan change of course in Iraq. To the country's bewilderment, the President responded with a plan to escalate the number of American troops in Iraq. That is not the change in course the American people voted for. It is not the change in course the Iraq Study Group recommended. It is not the change in course Iraq needs to halt its civil war. It is not the change in course our military forces deserve.
Distinguished Senators from both sides of the aisle are seeking ways for this body to bring about the right kind of change. The bipartisan resolution proposes a strategy that recognizes the facts on the ground in Iraq. It incorporates many of the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group.
For years, we have heard from administration officials, from military officials, and from the Iraqis themselves that there can be no military solution in Iraq. Stability can only be achieved through diplomatic and political solutions. This resolution calls on the administration to engage other nations in the region to create conditions for the compromises between Iraqi Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds that will be necessary for peace. Furthermore, the resolution calls on the administration to apply pressures on the Iraqis themselves to stand up and take responsibility for their country. By following the recommendations of this resolution, the President would send a much stronger signal to the Iraqis that we are not going to be staying there indefinitely.
As of last Thanksgiving, this war has now lasted longer than World War II, and after nearly 4 years of intensive military involvement in Iraq, including more than 3,000 American deaths, we have to be focused on reducing our troop presence in Iraq instead of putting even more American service men and women in harm's way. Haven't we asked our men and women to sacrifice enough?
Recently, at the funeral for a fallen soldier, I heard a local priest say that our leaders have an obligation to do right by our children when we send them to war. He said that our children may be over 6 feet tall when we send them to war, but they are still our children. ``If the kids we are sending to Iraq are 6 feet tall,' he said, ``then our leaders must be 8 feet tall.' I would add that if these soldiers are willing to stand up and risk their lives for our country, then those of us in the Congress must be brave enough to stand up and ask the tough questions and push for the tough solutions.
Claremont Anderson, Kathleen Wosika, and Becky Lourey are standing tall. The parents I met with this weekend whose kids are supposed to be coming home this month but are now staying much longer, they are now doing everything to be brave and stand tall. The 400 members of the Air Minnesota National Guard whose deployment ceremony I attended Sunday, in Duluth, MN, they are standing tall. The teenage brother and sister who will see not only their dad but also their mom be deployed in the next 2 weeks, those two kids are standing tall. My friend Senator Webb, who will speak with us momentarily and whose son is serving bravely, he is over there and he is not afraid. He is standing tall. The injured soldiers in the VA hospital in Minnesota recovering from traumatic brain injuries and in their wheelchairs with their strength and their spirit, they too are standing tall.
I would say to my friends across the aisle, by having an honest and open debate on this war and on this resolution, we in Congress can also and finally stand tall.
Our Constitution says that Congress should be a responsible check and balance on Presidential power. Congressional oversight for Iraq policy is long overdue. We have seen this bipartisan resolution and bipartisan work challenging the President's proposal for an escalation of American troop levels in Iraq. Even as Commander In Chief, our President does not enjoy unlimited power. On behalf of the public, Members of this body have a responsibility to exercise our own constitutional power in a fairminded, bipartisan way, to insist on accountability, and to demand a change of course. Ultimately, the best way to help our soldiers and their families is not only to give them the respect they deserve but also to get this policy right.
I hope that my friends across the aisle will see the merits of this resolution and the urgency of having an open and honest debate on this issue; our troops and their families deserve nothing less.
I thank the Chair.
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