Appointment Of Conferees On H.R. 1591, U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health And Iraq Accountability Act, 2007

Floor Speech

APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 1591, U.S. TROOP READINESS, VETERANS' HEALTH AND IRAQ ACCOUNTABILITY ACT, 2007 -- (House of Representatives - April 19, 2007)

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Mr. SAXTON. I would like to thank Mr. Lewis for yielding time.

Mr. Speaker, this vote to me is about Jacqueline, Kate and Allie. Most of you don't know Jacqueline, Kate and Allie. You see, they are my granddaughters, the next generation, the generation that will perhaps be most affected by this policy.

To many in this Chamber, I am afraid this vote is not about the next generation; it is about setting a date for surrender. I believe it is time that this House go on record and vote on whether emergency funding bills should have a troop withdrawal timeline.

I want to reiterate to my colleagues the message that we are sending if we include such a timeline in this bill. Make no mistake, it is nothing less than a date certain for surrender.

Some in this Congress believe that the withdrawal timeline will send a message to the Iraqi Government to get serious about taking the lead and stabilizing Iraq. This is a flawed argument. It is flawed because it fails to address the collateral effects, the other effects and damage this message will do to the Iraqi people, the United States, to our allies, and to future American generations.

A surrender timeline for our troops will send a very clear message to al Qaeda, to the Sunni insurgent groups, and to the Shiite militias in Iraq. It will tell them that Americans no longer have the stomach to see this through.

The Iranians, who are continuing down the road of development of nuclear weapon capability despite sanctions and international pressure, will also take note of our timeline. Ahmadinejad already believes that Americans are incapable of resistance. He has said so. Our partner nations in the Middle East are watching to see the level of American commitment to Iraq before they increase their level of assistance. If we tell them we are going to pull up stakes and go home in 2008, can we expect much support from Saudi Arabia, from Egypt, from Qatar, from the UAE, from Jordan? I don't think so.

A surrender timeline will cause us to lose credibility with our allies, our other allies in the war on terror. Al Qaeda's front man, al-Zawahiri, warned our Iraqi counterparts already that America is about to depart and abandon them, just as we abandoned our allies in Vietnam. A surrender timeline will certainly degrade the level of trust and confidence that Iraqi soldiers have toward our forces. The negative effect of this surrender timeline on our troops will be significant as well.

Some in Congress say the war is already lost. We have heard that already. In my opinion, it is not. We are on the right track with a renewed strategy toward Iraqi security.

Fred Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute recently commented: ``The conflict in Iraq is central to our foreign policy and our future, indeed, our well-being. Surely we must keep fighting to win,'' he said, ``as long as victory remains possible. And it is possible although not certain,'' he said, ``that we will win in Iraq. Right now, the signs are more hopeful than they have been in many months. It would be a tragedy for America and for Iraq to abandon the fight just as the possibility of success begins to emerge.''

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