This spring, I was joined by 10 of my colleagues for a private meeting at the White House with President Bush. We had a very open and frank conversation with the President, and I was pleased to have the opportunity to relay directly to the President concerns about the surge, the general direction of the war and the views of my constituents. It was at this meeting that we pressed the President to agree to both military and political benchmarks, which he subsequently did. A supplemental spending bill including those benchmarks and two reports to Congress on the progress of the surge was overwhelmingly approved in the House and Senate with tremendous bipartisan support. I am very proud of the work our troops are doing in Iraq, and I hope the Iraqi government will quickly assume greater responsibilities for security within their borders so our troops can come home as soon as possible. I have always voted to fund our troops and will continue to do so.