Statement of Rep. Kind Regarding Iraq Supplemental Appropriations Bill
Statement of Rep. Kind Regarding Iraq Supplemental Appropriations Bill
Today, U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) made the following statement regarding
his vote to approve the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act of
2007:
"It is time for a new direction in Iraq. We cannot continue to ask our troops to baby-sit a civil war.
With our help, the Iraqis have established a coalition government, and we have trained more than
250,000 Iraqi Security Forces. We must now send a message to them that the patience of the
American people is not endless, and that the Iraqi people must take control of their future by
making the tough political compromises essential to living in peace. In short, it is time to take the
training wheels off.
"Although I have had concerns about setting a date certain for withdrawal, a responsible timeline
will work to hold the Iraqi government accountable for much-needed and overdue progress.
Essentially, this is a timeline on the Iraqis to come together and take control of their country by
using the President's own benchmarks for success.
"Our troops have done a terrific job under difficult and dangerous conditions. They deserve a
clearer mission, they deserve to have the training and equipment they need to complete that mission,
and they deserve the best care when they return home with physical and emotional wounds. The
supplemental provides for all these needs.
"Finally, the supplemental refocuses our efforts on the unfinished work in Afghanistan, where we
have to have more resources to prevent the Taliban from reconstituting, and to fight the Al Qaeda
network that is gaining strength.
"A new direction, not an escalation, is what is needed in Iraq. We have now been in Iraq longer
than the entire Second World War. The supplemental provides that new direction - one where the
Iraqis assume responsibility for their future, and the U.S. starts to redeploy our troops and
strengthen our military that is stretched too thin and on the verge of breaking. "More of the same,"
or "staying the course," is not an option."
Source