(Oakland, CA) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), who has long called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, issued the following statement on the news today that he is stepping down:

“The resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is long overdue, and I hope his departure brings a significant change in the administration’s policy in Iraq.

“The fact that President Bush has agreed to accept Secretary Rumsfeld’s resignation only a week after declaring that he would serve until 2008 is a testament to the American public’s emphatic rejection of the Bush administration’s failed policy in Iraq.

“As someone who opposed this unnecessary war from the beginning, I hope that the Bush administration and its new Defense Secretary will join those of us who have been working to change the failed policy in Iraq so that we can bring our troops home and begin to restore our nation’s credibility in the world.”

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