Moran Statement on President's Veto of Bill to Begin Bringing an End to the War

Press Release

Moran Statement on President's Veto of Bill to Begin Bringing an End to the War

Congressman Jim Moran, Virginia Democrat, delivered the following statement on the House floor today during debate on legislation to override the President's veto of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act -- legislation which would have begun bringing our troops home from Iraq. The bill failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed to override a Presidential veto.

"When the President vetoed this bill, he said it was because he felt that decisions like this should be left to the military, not to politicians.

"But, the fact is that when the President declared that Iraq was part of the global war on terrorism, there wasn't one single military officer who agreed. That was a political decision made in the White House to go into this war.

"The fact is that none of us have been asked to sacrifice anything in pursuit of this war. The sacrifice has fallen exclusively on the backs of our military and their families.

"This week, the 2,108th child was told that they will not see their mommy or daddy again because they will never return from Iraq. How many more children have to lose their parents before this policy is reversed?

"3,351 American soldiers have lost their lives. More than 24,000 have been seriously wounded. This past month more than 100 soldiers lost their lives -- the deadliest month on record. Things are getting worse rather than better.

"The British Broadcasting Corporation and the American Broadcasting Corporation just completed an extensive survey of Iraqis. It turns out that 82% have lost confidence in U.S. policy in Iraq. In fact, 86% have lost a member of their household due to violence -- and the majority feels this policy is ineffective and they were better off under Saddam Hussein than the American occupation. The State Department has also just reported that the number of terrorist incidents has gone up by 25% -- most of them in Iraq.

"This policy has been a failure. I urge rejection of the President's veto of this bill."

The Iraq Accountability Act would have supported our troops, providing $4 billion more for our troops than the President requested. This includes additional funding for military health care, military housing, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles for our troops, and a Strategic Reserve Readiness Fund. The measure also would have honored our veterans, providing $1.8 billion not requested by the President to begin meeting the unmet health care needs of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The measure also would have established a responsible timeline for the redeployment of U.S. combat troops from Iraq with redeployment beginning in October 2007, at the latest, with a goal of being completed by March 2008. This represents the approach recommended by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which also called for a goal of redeployment being completed by March 2008.

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