[WCUSP] John Dingell's bill for Iraq withdrawal

[yvonne simmons]

Congressman John D. Dingell  
Serving Michigan's 15th Congressional District 


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NEWS RELEASE Contact:  Adam Benson or Kimberlee
Trzeciak 
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
   202/225-4071 (office)  
   202/271-8587 (cell) 



 Dingell Introduces Legislation Requiring U.S. Pullout
from Iraq by January 20, 2009  
 Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15)
today introduced legislation setting a hard date for a
pullout from Iraq.  The bill does not yet have a
number.  The Congressman made the following remarks on
this legislation:

“Yesterday the President announced that he will ask
Congress for almost $200 billion to continue his
failed policies in Iraq.  He has also presumptively
warned those that disagree with his Iraq strategy that
“they ought to make sure our troops have what it takes
to succeed.”  This type of divisive politics may have
worked for the President in the past, but the majority
of Americans now realize that it is the President who
is not giving the troops what they need: a clear plan
for quickly and safely getting our troops out of Iraq.
 

“I have been opposed to the war in Iraq from the very
beginning, but as the war drags on I am increasingly
concerned that the President is hoping to leave this
mess for the next President to fix.  That is why today
I am introducing legislation that would require the
President to begin withdrawal of our troops from Iraq
within thirty days, and require him to complete that
withdrawal by January 20, 2009.  It would require the
President to implement the findings of the Iraq Study
Group, to assist with the rebuilding and
reconstruction of Iraq, to engage in vigorous
diplomatic efforts to enlist the assistance of other
regional and global actors in these efforts, and to
provide humanitarian assistance to the millions of
Iraq refugees that have been displaced by the
sectarian violence in Iraq. 

“For years now, the American people have been told
that progress in Iraq is just around the next corner. 
Over and over again, the President has told us that we
need to be patient, to allow him more time to show
results.  The sad reality is that President Bush has
no strategy for Iraq, and has instead adopted a policy
of running out the clock so that he can lay the blame
for his failures on the next President.  

“The President ignored the findings of the bipartisan
Iraq Study Group, which offered a blueprint for
transferring responsibility for security to the Iraqi
police and military, and demanding political progress
by the Iraqi government.  The President has vetoed
spending bills that included benchmarks for progress
that the vast majority of the American people support.
 And now in the same week media reports indicate that
more than a billion dollars has gone unaccounted for
in Iraq, the President has requested what amounts to a
blank check so that he can keep 130,000 troops in Iraq
through the end of his term in office.

“Because the President refuses to take responsibility
for his failed strategy, I believe it is time for
Congress to act.  My bill would allow the United
States to safely and responsibly begin bringing our
troops home from Iraq, while at the same allow us to
fulfill our responsibilities to the Iraqi people.” 
  
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Congressman John D. Dingell Homepage
 


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