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Inslee listens to a constituent.

Montage of Wing Point in Bainbridge Island and the Edmonds Ferry.

Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District

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Inslee takes stand against troop increase

16 February 2007

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee voted for a resolution that expresses support for American troops and disapproves of the president's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq.

The vote on the measure, which passed by a margin of 246 to 182, culminated a marathon debate in the House of Representatives on the Iraq war.

During debate on the resolution, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), who voted against the war in Iraq, gave a speech in support of the resolution.

Below is the text of his speech:

Mr. Speaker,

America will hear 435 separate ideas about Iraq, but I want to know one great shining light about our country. The American people are absolutely unified, no matter what they think about the policy in Iraq, of holding American warriors and our sons and daughters close to our hearts. This is a unified position across this country, and it is a bright light for America.

Now I've heard some people have suggested that soldiers who fall in Iraq will have fallen in vain. That is wrong. Any American who falls in the course or conduct of American wars, they do not fall in vain. They fall into our arms, and they fall into our hearts. And there they will always remain. And we are unified on this principle. And when I go to a memorial service for a young man from Redmond, Washington next Monday, I will carry the unified American prayers and hearts of the 650,000 people I represent.

Now we are in a difficult situation in Iraq. And none of us have a silver bullet, and none of us have a magic wand. And it seems to me that when we are in dark times, we should go back to fundamental American character to find a way forward. There are three parts of the American character we should think about here: first, the character of the American mission in Iraq; second, the character of American common sense; and, third, the character of American democracy.

What is the character of our mission in Iraq? President Bush, when he started this war, said we had three missions. Eliminate WMD. Mission accomplished, they were never there. Second, eliminate any terrorists that attacked us on 9/11. Mission accomplished, they were never there. Third, eliminate Saddam Hussein as a threat. Mission accomplished, he is no longer a threat to anyone who walks the face of the earth. Our proud men and women have fulfilled the three mandates of missions set forth by George Bush. And now we have one moral mission to complete, and that is the moral responsibility to give the Iraqis a reasonable chance to form a government. We have done that after four years, and our investment of 3,000 plus lives and hundreds of billions dollars of American money has fulfilled that moral obligation in spades.

Second, what is the American character of common sense? Why did General Abizaid, when he asked all the divisional commanders whether this escalation would help, and every single one of them say no, why is that? It's because they have common sense. Common sense of a fellow I met - I was on a walk a couple months ago, I met an old college friend. His son was serving in Baghdad, and I asked him about what he thought of Iraq. And he says, "We have no common sense in our policy." He says, "The problem, the fundamental problem, in Iraq was that the Shiites were not agreeing with the Sunnis, principally over oil revenues. And my son is serving in Baghdad today as a security blanket because the Iraqi politicians will not make the compromises necessary to form a government." That has to end.

It is American common sense to understand the real enemy in Baghdad is sectarian intransigence. The real enemy in Baghdad is their failure to compromise. And the best weapon we have is a dose of reality to the Iraqi people of all sectarian face. You have to get a grip on your country because you are very shortly going to have your own fate in your own hands. The best weapon we have in Iraq is to tell the rest of the immediate region that they must become responsible for their own neighborhoods. That's the weapon of reality we should use.

And third, what is the character of American democracy? George Bush said that he was the decider. That is wrong. The decider is the American people. And the American people had a message to George Bush that there has to be a change in Iraq policy. And he is not listening to the generals, he is not listening to the bi-partisan commission, and he is not listening to the American people.

Congress has responsibility co-equal with the president under Article I of the Constitution: to declare war, to raise and support armies, to make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces. It is time for Congress to stand up on our hind legs and take away the keys of the man who has driven our foreign policy into a ditch. It is time to restore American mission to where it belongs, to American common sense where it belongs, and to American democracy where it belongs. Support this resolution. Prevent this escalation in Iraq.

Click here to read the resolution.