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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) issued the following statement after President Bush vetoed the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act this evening.
"Tonight, on the four year anniversary of the infamous mission accomplished speech, President Bush rejected Congress' efforts to finally bring our troops' mission to an end. By vetoing the emergency supplemental bill, President Bush ignored the wishes of Congress, the American people and retired generals.
"President Bush claims the situation is getting better in Iraq, but that's simply not the case. April was the deadliest month of the year for American troops and one of the deadliest of the entire war. How is that progress?
"Now that the president has rejected our legislation, he has a responsibility to tell the American people and our troops how many more years he expects us to stay. Does he think we'll be there five more years? Maybe ten years? And what exactly do the ground conditions have to look like in order to begin a withdrawal?
"Retired General William Odom said this weekend, 'No effective new strategy can be devised for the United States until it begins withdrawing its forces from Iraq. Only that step will break the paralysis that now confronts us.'
"General Odom is correct. Today our troops are serving as referees in a deadly civil war that shows no end in sight. This Congress offered the president a dramatic change. Unfortunately, he rejected it. Change is indeed needed, and it's time the president sits down and works with this Democratic Congress so we can finally produce the change that will end this war." |
