Rep. Waters, Rep. Woolsey and Rep. Lee Introduce Legislation to Conclude the Iraq War

[Kevin Spidel]

Rep. Waters, Rep. Woolsey and Rep. Lee Introduce Legislation to Conclude the Iraq War

Washington, DC - Today, Representative Maxine Waters (CA-35), Representative Lynn Woolsey (CA-6), Representative Barbara Lee (CA-9) and other Members of Congress introduced legislation that would conclude the United States' involvement in Iraq within 6 months of the enactment of the legislation. Congresswoman Waters' statement is below:

"First, I would like to thank Representative Woolsey, Representative Lee and all the others here today for their work to conclude the war in Iraq. The individuals here today have been a strong and consistent voice in calling for a conclusion of the Iraq war.

"Today, we are here to unveil legislation introduced by Representative Woolsey and supported by each of us that would conclude the United States' involvement in Iraq within 6 months.

"If enacted, the bill would:

· Repeal the authorization of the use of force against Iraq that was passed by Congress in 2002;
· Require the complete withdrawal of US troops and contractors within 6 months of the enactment of this bill;
· Turn security activities and military operations in Iraq over to the elected Iraqi government within 6 months of the date of enactment.

· Prohibit the US from establishing permanent bases in Iraq;
· Accelerate the training and equipping of Iraqi military and security forces;
· Pursue security and stability in Iraq through diplomacy;
· Provide assistance to the Iraqi government in recovering archeological, cultural and historic artifacts that have been lost since the US invasion;

· Fully fund veterans health care.



"This plan is what the American people wanted when they voted for a Democratic Congress in the mid-term elections.

"The President's decision to escalate the war was a misguided one. It was built on false and misleading statements and has gone on for far too long. The United States has paid too much -- in both human lives and dollars - for this war. As of today, more than 3,310 US servicemembers have died; more than 22,000 have been injured; and the war has cost US taxpayers more than $350 billion - nearly $10 billion a week.

"Last week, the President proposed sending more troops to Iraq; that will not improve the situation in Iraq.

"Instead, we should support this bill, redeploy our troops from Iraq and, once and for all end our involvement in Iraq."