Congress Should Reject Democratic Plan on Iraq

CONGRESS SHOULD REJECT DEMOCRATIC PLAN ON IRAQ

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, in January, President Bush described his plan to win the war in Iraq, and last week Speaker Pelosi described her plan to end the war in Iraq. The only problem with that, Mr. Speaker, is, as George Orwell said, the quickest way to end a war is to lose it; and I believe the Democrat plan to micromanage our war in Iraq with benchmarks and deadlines for withdrawal is just that, a prescription for retreat and defeat.

But common sense and the Constitution teach us that Congress can declare war, we can fund or choose not to fund a war, but Congress should never attempt to conduct war. In fact, this is a broadly held view by some of the leading arteries of America's traditionally liberal media. The L.A. Times yesterday said: ``Congress can cut funding for Iraq, but it shouldn't micromanage the war.' In The Washington Post today, the lead editorial entitled ``The Pelosi Plan For Iraq' said: ``In short, the Democrat proposal is an attempt to impose detailed management on a war without regard to the war itself.'

I commend these American newspapers for their sensible reasoning. Common sense and the Constitution demand Congress should reject the Pelosi plan.

http://thomas.loc.gov