Washington, DC — For three years now, I have, along with my Democratic colleagues, questioned the Administration about their specific plans in Iraq. Time after time, we have been given rhetoric when simply asking for the facts. Congress and the public deserve the facts from this Administration about progress in Iraq and what the future holds for both the American and Iraqi people.

I joined my colleagues today in supporting the amendments on the Iraq war calling upon the President and his Administration to provide answers and a plan on the war. In September of 2004 I said to Secretary Rumsfeld at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, “When you look at the statements that have been made in the past by you and others in the Administration, it is very difficult to track the predictions and the expectations that were presented to this Committee, to others in Congress, and certainly to the American people, with where we are today.”

This past September I confronted Secretary Rumsfeld again at an Armed Services Committee hearing, “You know, one of the challenges for those of us sitting on this side of the table is that the strategy which you have described…has neither benchmarks nor results that we can see which lead us to believe that it's a strategy that's working.

We in Congress have repeatedly asked for answers and have repeatedly been obstructed by the Administration.

Last month, many of us sent a letter to President Bush specifically asking him, “How many Iraqi forces must be capable of operating without U.S. assistance or with minimal U.S. support before we can begin reducing our military presence and when will that number be reached?” We have yet to receive a response.

I have just returned from Israel and Jordan where I saw first-hand the true devastation that terrorism can inflict on a nation. We must continue to be strong in our fight against terrorists, but we need an Administration that levels with the American people on true goals and objectives.

President Bush noted on Friday that it is legitimate to criticize his conduct of this war. What we need now is for the President to listen to this criticism and provide answers.

As I have said in the past, I disagree with the way the President has used the authority granted to him and the way he has prosecuted this war. I am glad that the Senate today acted in a bipartisan manner to demand answers from the President. The time is long overdue for the Administration to give us the facts about their current and future plans for the war in Iraq. Our brave men and women who serve valiantly each and every day deserve nothing less.

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