Sen. RUSSELL FEINGOLD: We Are Moving Backwards on Iraq

[laststeamtrain]

We Are Moving Backwards on Iraq

By Sen. RUSSELL FEINGOLD

I rise today to express my disappointment both in the final version of the supplemental spending bill that we expect to consider today and in the process that led to this badly flawed bill. Those two concerns are linked, because the flawed procedure that the Senate adopted when we passed a sham supplemental bill last week without debate or amendments helped grease the wheels for a final bill that contains no binding language on redeployment. While our brave troops are stuck in the middle of a civil war in Iraq, we have a bill with political benchmarks that lack meaningful consequences if they are not reached.

Legislation as important as this funding bill should have been openly considered in this body. I am talking about an open and on the record debate, with amendments offered and voted upon. That's the way the Senate is supposed to operate. I share the desire of my colleagues to pass this important bill as quickly as possible, but that was no excuse for us avoiding our responsibilities as legislators.

Unquestionably it was easier -- and faster -- for us to send a place-holder bill back to the House. By doing that, the real work could be done behind closed doors where all kinds of horse trading can occur and decisions are unknown until the final deal is sealed. That process makes it a lot easier for most members of Congress to avoid responsibility for the final outcome ­ we didn't have to cast any votes or make any difficult decisions. In short, we didn't have to do any actual legislating. And now that we face a badly flawed take-it-or-leave it bill, we can simply shrug and tell our constituents "Hey, we did the best we could." Well, that's not good enough ­ not when we are talking about the most pressing issue facing this country.

In the five months we've been in control of Congress, a unified Democratic caucus, with the help of some Republicans, has made great strides toward changing the course in Iraq. We were able to pass a supplemental bill supported by a majority of the Senate that required the phased redeployment of our troops to begin in 120 days. And last week, a majority of Democrats supported ending the current open-ended mission by March 31, 2008. It's been almost one year since 13 Senators supported a proposal I offered with Senator Kerry that would have brought our troops out of Iraq by this summer. Now, 29 Senators support an even stronger measure, enforced by Congress's power of the purse, to safely redeploy our troops.

Unfortunately, after that strong vote, we are moving backward. Instead of forcing the President to safely redeploy our troops, instead of coming up with a strategy providing assistance to a post-redeployment Iraq, and instead of a renewed focus on the global fight against al-Qaeda, we are faced with a spending bill that kicks the can down the road and buys the Administration time.

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http://www.counterpunch.org/feingold05242007.html

View Sen. Feingold's remarks from the floor here:http://feingold.senate.gov/Video/feingold_052407_iraq.wmv

[Clark2008]

1. God, I wish he or Gore or Clark were running so I'd have a candidate.

I like Kooch and Gravel, but I don't think they have a snowball's chance in hell. Clark may not in the primary, either, but I think he would have a great shot in the general should primary voters get their heads out of their asses and stop buying the media line.