IRAQ

Mark was one of 23 Senators to vote against H.J. Res. 114, the 2002 resolution giving the President authority to go to war in Iraq. He believes that the resolution was unconstitutional and that Congress shirked its most important duty by not making the final decision to go to war. More than three years later and at war, we have found no weapons of mass destruction or links between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda. Instead, we have found that our intelligence was flawed leading up to the war, and our troops are trying to fight a war and rebuild a nation without a clear plan of victory.

Mark wants the troops, the President, and the United States to succeed in Iraq. A safe, secure, self-governing, and democratic Iraq is our greatest hope. We must do everything possible to complete President Bush’s mission in Iraq by transferring full authority to the Iraqi people. Mark recently supported S.A. 2518 to the FY 2006 Defense Authorization Bill, which requires the President to submit quarterly reports to Congress, explaining the strategy for victory in Iraq. S.A. 2518 passed the Senate 79-19, demonstrating the strong bipartisan support for measurable benchmarks to measure U.S. success in Iraq.

Although Mark has been vocally critical of the President’s policy with regard to Iraq, and the conduct of the Administration leading up to the war, he has always and will continue support the troops. This includes voting in favor of all military funding the Administration has requested since beginning his service in the Senate. He has visited Iraq to gain a sense of the reality on the ground, participated in numerous hearings as a member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and supported every request for funds to help win the war. From privates to generals, Mark admires and supports those who sacrifice so much so that we can remain a free and safe nation.