Victory in Iraq Caucus Members Respond to Democratic Iraq Resolution
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 13, 2007
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Victory in Iraq Caucus Members Respond to Democratic Iraq Resolution
Victory in Iraq Caucus Members today released the following statements regarding the Democratic resolution opposing President Bush’s plan to send additional troops to Baghdad:
“It is unfortunate that Democrats continue to play politics with the most important issue of our day. Defeat in Iraq would have catastrophic consequences for the United States and the world. Yet, instead of working to advance our mission in Iraq and promote victory, Democrats are content to grandstand on the floor of the House, oppose President Bush’s efforts, and offer no substantive alternatives.”
- Congressman Joe Wilson (SC-02), Chair, Victory in Iraq Caucus
“These meaningless nonbinding resolutions are a distraction; this is just a political stunt by the Democrats that will not bring us any closer to ending the war. It only serves to weaken the morale of our fighting men and women and allows our enemy to claim victory.”
- Congressman John Carter (TX-31)
“As Stuart Mill said, ’War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse.’ In Iraq, the only thing worse than staying, changing our approach, losing American lives, and persevering through suicide bombings and IED’s would be to retreat by a date certain leaving our troops and our nation in a more dangerous world. It may be unpopular, but I believe that the reason our enemies have not attacked the United States since 9/11 is that they do not want us united. They much prefer dissent and division. After all, ’a nation divided cannot stand.’ Proverbs 28:2 says, ’when a man is in rebellion, it has many rulers.’”
- Congressman Zach Wamp (TN-03)
“How can the majority party in Congress fund something that it believes is against U.S. interests? I am not sure how any member of either chamber can look the family of a young man serving in Iraq in the eye and tell them, ’we don’t think your son’s mission in Iraq is in the interest of the United States, regardless, we are going to send him there and fund it. Senator Kerry once asked, ’How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake,’ yet if the Democrat majority believes that the plan in Iraq is not in U.S. interests, that is exactly what they are asking of our servicemen and women.
“If the majority party in Congress believes that the mission in Iraq - as offered by the Commander-in-Chief and General Petraeus - is not in the interest of our nation, then they have the moral obligation to introduce legislation to end or change that mission. They owe that to the men and women in our armed forces and their families. They owe that to their constituents. They owe that to every American.”
- Congressman Jeb Hensarling (TX-05)
“As some of you may remember, on February 12, 1973, the first wave of the longest held Prisoners of War left Hanoi. I was among them. Words can not fully describe the unspeakable damage of the anti-American efforts against the war back home to the guys on the ground. I promised myself many things I would do when I returned home safely to my family - and one was that I would fight to ensure America never lets down our troops in harms way again. The Democrat resolution to deny success in Iraq is the first step for them to cut funding for our troops in harm’s way.
“We are elected to protect our men and women in uniform, just as they protect our freedom everyday. As long as we deploy men and women across the globe, we should never, ever leave a member of our military in harm’s way without support.”
- Congressman Sam Johnson (TX-03)
“This non-binding resolution does nothing to either win the war or end the war. It does nothing more than encourage our enemies and discourage our brave men and women who are in Iraq to finish their job.”
- Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04)
“In a time of war our citizens and those defending our freedoms deserve leadership, not politics. This non-binding resolution does little more than undermine the war on terror, demoralize our troops, and embolden the enemy. The President put forth a plan for victory that understands the mistakes of the past and sets benchmarks to measure Iraqi involvement and success. Congress should allow time for the plan to take hold, not put forth a resolution that is clearly a first step in a policy of retreat and defeat.”
- Congressman Gresham Barrett (SC-03)
“What this resolution shows the American people is that the Democrats, yet again, for all of their rhetoric have no plan and no alternative to fight Islamic extremism. This is a critical time for us in Iraq and this resolution does noting but embolden our enemies and send a message to our troops that their government is weak-kneed in its support of their mission.”
- Congressman Bill Shuster (PA-09)
“The Democrats non-binding resolution is nothing more than a political ploy, rather than a venue for substantive debate on the way forward in Iraq. This rhetoric is dangerous, and lends the impression that we do not support the efforts of our troops as they put their lives on the line for our freedom. The consequences of failure in Iraq are monumental, and we cannot risk defeat by the Islamic extremists that seek to destroy us. This resolution is merely a stunt that holds no water and does nothing but damage the morale of our troops and embolden the enemy that we are fighting.”
- Congressman Mike Conaway (TX-11)
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