FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 11, 2007

No More Blank Checks Mr. President
House passes Iraq Accountability Act, funds troops requires accountability

WASHINGTON- Congressman John B. Larson (CT-01), Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, issued the following statement tonight upon passage of the Iraq Accountability Act in the House of Representatives.

�Tonight we gave the President a chance to meet Congress halfway and heed the will of the American people. Congress passed the Iraq Accountability Act, a bill that will fully fund our troops, fulfills our commitment to our veterans and requires there to be progress in Iraq. Meanwhile, Vice President Cheney was trying to convince the Iraqi government not to take a summer vacation while our troops are fighting for their stability. The Iraqi people must step up and take control of their own country.

�I have believed for some time that it is imperative that we begin the safe, strategic and secure withdrawal of our troops in Iraq. The Iraq Accountability Act that we passed tonight brings us one step closer to that. No longer will we write a blank check for the war in Iraq without requiring accountability from the President and the Iraqi people. It maintains our commitment to our men and women in Iraq right now who have been deployed, redeployed and deployed again and also clearly demands responsibility from the President and the Iraqis.

�With Mother�s Day this weekend, thousands of mothers across the country will spend their day worrying about their children that are serving in Iraq. Mothers like Carol Tripp of Bristol, Connecticut whose three sons and husband are stationed overseas and who hasn�t had her entire family together since 2001. It is for these mothers that we are stood our ground with the President tonight.

�We have tried to meet the President halfway, but his obstinacy and hubris has clouded his better judgment. The President wants a blank check and no accountability and we cannot in good conscience grant him that. It is time for a change of course in Iraq. The era of endless spending without oversight blank checks and no accountability is over Mr. President.�

 

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