“I was pleased to hear President Bush address our nation on this very serious issue.  This is not a Democrat or a Republican issue, it is an American issue.  I have supported this war, and I think America is safer now because of it.  But I have said all along that we cannot afford to rebuild Iraq alone, and that other countries need to commit soldiers to the security force.  I am pleased that President Bush acknowledged that in his speech Sunday night.  During a time when we have 9 million people out of work, 41 million without health insurance, and the largest deficit in our nation’s history, we can’t afford this all by ourselves.   

“I plan to support his request for more money, because I think we should do all we can to support our troops and finish what we started, but we can’t continue to spend a billion dollars a week indefinitely.  I hope that he will be successful in securing aid and commitments of troops from other countries as we continue to fight this war on terrorism.”