FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                             CONTACT: Kevin Lawlor, 202/225-1880

July 12, 2007                                                                                         www.tauscher.house.gov

REP. ELLEN TAUSCHER STATEMENT ON H.R. 2956

THE RESPONSIBLE REDEPLOYMENT FROM IRAQ ACT

Washington, DC  - House Armed Services Strategic Forces Sub-committee Chairman Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Alamo) addressed the U.S. House of Representatives today during the consideration of H.R. 2956, the Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act.  Attached please find a copy of Rep. Tauscher’s remarks:

Mr. Speaker,

I am pleased to voice my strong support for Chairman Skelton’s legislation.  It represents an unequivocal belief that the United States cannot and should not be in the business of fighting Iraq’s civil war.

For years it has been clear to me that US troops have successfully and bravely accomplished the mission authorized by Congress in the fall of 2002.

The use of force authorization addressed only the threat posed by Iraq; allowed weapons inspectors back into Iraq; and to enforced the oil-for-food program.  This authorization does not match the current mission, or lack thereof, in Iraq.

We are no longer at war with the Iraqi government: Instead, our forces are caught in the middle of a sectarian conflict in Iraq.

We have long since assessed that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

And the Oil-For-Food Program was terminated in 2003. 

Instead, today US troops are caught in bloody civil war with no end in sight.

Chairman Skelton’s bill, of which I am a proud co-sponsor, would make significant reductions in our troop presence by April 2008.

The President continues to blindly stay the course in Iraq with disastrous and deadly consequences. 

Democrats, along with Republican colleagues who no longer trust the President’s leadership, are doing all we can to slow the President’s full-speed ahead mismanagement and divert the policy toward returning the troops home sooner and safer. 

This more responsible presence, consisting of limiting US presence to fighting terrorism and training Iraqi forces, will protect American interests in the region and be the first step toward restoring the readiness that has been exhausted over the last four years.

I appreciate Mr. Skelton’s leadership on this matter and urge my colleagues to support this common-sense approach.