Ramstad Opposes Arbitrary Troop Withdrawal Plan

RAMSTAD OPPOSES ARBITRARY TROOP WITHDRAWAL PLAN

U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad (MN-03) today voted against the plan to impose arbitrary deadlines for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.

"Arbitrary deadlines imposed by Congress will only hamstring our commanders and troops and delay completion of their mission," said Ramstad. "As with troop increases, I believe troop withdrawals should be determined by our commanders in Iraq."

"Our troops should be withdrawn when commanders in the field determine enough Iraqi forces are trained to secure their own country," said Ramstad. "We need to accelerate their training so Iraqi forces can take over the security function, and our troops can come home with their mission completed."

"We also need to continue to eradicate al Qaida terrorists in Iraq," said Ramstad.

"In addition to opposing fixed withdrawal dates, I also oppose efforts to place operational and budgetary restrictions on the funding for our troops," said Ramstad. "As the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace testified, these restrictions would effectively tie our military's hands."

"I also oppose this bill because it uses funding for our troops as leverage for over $10 billion of special interest pork-barrel spending," said Ramstad. "$75 million for peanut storage in Georgia, $25 million for spinach growers in California, $120 million for shrimp fishermen and $15 million for rice farmers in Louisiana do not belong in an emergency spending bill to fund our troops."

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