Ellen Tauscher

Mrs. TAUSCHER

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I am happy at this time to yield 5 minutes to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah).

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I am very honored at this time to yield 5 minutes to my friend and colleague from the great State of California (Mr. Waxman), the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to yield 5 minutes to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Higgins).

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining.

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 2 of House Resolution 157 and as the designee of the majority leader, I demand that the time for debate be enlarged by 1 hour, equally divided and controlled by the leaders or their designees.

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to yield 5 minutes to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Rothman), a member of the Defense appropriations subcommittee.

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield 5 minutes to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley), a chief deputy whip.

Mrs. TAUSCHER

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman and the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee for yielding time. At this time I am happy to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Madam Speaker, I would like to yield myself 20 minutes. And at this time I would like to yield 5 minutes to my good friend and neighbor in California, the gentlewoman from Oakland, Representative Barbara Lee of the Appropriations Committee.

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hare), a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), a member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. (Mr. DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield 5 minutes to my neighbor and colleague from California (Mr. Honda).

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to lend my strong support to this bipartisan resolution supporting our men and women in uniform and opposing the President's decision to send more troops into Iraq. Last year, Congress united across party lines to say loudly and clearly, the year of 2006 must be a year of significant transition in Iraq. Rather than chart a new course, the President is proposing more of the same. His actions will only deepen America's involvement in Iraq's civil war. Instead of acknowledging the facts on the ground, instead of listening to the combatant commanders and the Iraq Study Group and instead of hearing the American people's call for change, the President has once again chosen to stick to his failed policies, and now he has raised the risk by insisting more U.S. troops head to Iraq. It has been 4 years, Mr. President. The American people have every right to expect a change of course in Iraq, and it is your responsibility to them and our men and women in uniform to stop fighting Iraq's civil war. As General Odom, the former head of the National Security Agency under President Reagan, wrote this weekend, unless Congress speaks up, and I quote, we may be doomed to 2 more years of chasing a mirage in Iraq and possibly widening the war to Iran. We cannot let that happen. Sending more U.S. troops to Iraq will not stabilize it or the region as a whole. As the latest National Intelligence Estimate makes clear, Iraq is becoming more polarized and violent, not less. Sending more American troops to Iraq without stronger Iraqi leadership will only lead to further chaos. My consistent opposition to this troop surge is built upon years of hearings in the House Armed Services Committee, congressional briefings and five trips to the region, including three to Iraq, witnessing the war firsthand and speaking with our troops and commanders on the ground. I have watched the President plead his case to the American people, trying to justify why more troops will save his failed policy; but I am consistently disappointed by the stubbornness exhibited by an administration that has failed every step of the way. I have stated from the beginning of the war that the Commander in Chief has the responsibility to define a well-articulated mission that has the support of the American people and an exit strategy to bring our troops home sooner and safer. He has neither. Top military commanders in Iraq, the bipartisan Iraq Study Group and the American people all agree that sending more troops to Iraq will not end the civil war. They understand the Iraqi Government needs to take responsibility for securing their own country, and we should immediately begin a strategic redeployment of U.S. troops in conjunction with diplomacy that forces Iraq's neighbors to step up as regional, responsible partners. If the President sidesteps the Congress, he does so at his own peril; and, sadly, it is the men and women of our Armed Forces and their families who will pay the highest price. I believe it is grossly irresponsible to send more troops to Iraq when only two thirds of our Army's up-armored Humvees in Iraq and Afghanistan have been fitted with the latest anti-IED protective kits. That is over 4,000 Humvees without the right equipment. General Pace has indicated that all armored vehicles will not be up- armored until July, well after the President's surge has occurred. This is why I am an original cosponsor of the Meehan legislation that requires the President to ask Congress for an up-or-down vote if he plans to raise troop levels in Iraq and why I am proud to support this legislation today. I will continue to challenge the President to abandon his flawed troop surge policy, and I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution. We owe it to our troops and to our conscience.

Mrs. TAUSCHER. If the gentleman will yield, I just wanted to respond, since you were so nice to quote me. Mr. Speaker, the truth is, as we all know, the Iraq Study Group had a very comprehensive strategy, but it was a radical departure from what the President is proposing today in this surge. I think there was some, you know, 70-plus recommendations in the Iraq Study Group, including shifting the mission to training of the Iraqi Security Forces and a big emphasis on diplomacy. So I don't think it is fair for the gentleman to cherry-pick a paragraph out of what the Iraq Study Group says. But with all due respect, I will tell you what the Iraq Study Group recommended is not what the President is doing now. Frankly, the President has rejected the Iraq Study Group recommendations, and I think that to suggest that he is going along with the Iraq Study Group recommendations is really not correct.

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Well, yielding myself some time, I don't disagree with you, but one recommendation out of some 70-odd does not make the Iraq Study Group what the President is doing. Mr. Speaker, at this time I am going to yield myself 25 minutes, and at this time I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois, the chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee, Mr. Costello.

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield 6 minutes to my friend and colleague from California (Mrs. Davis).

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Zoe Lofgren).

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt), my friend and colleague.

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to my friend and colleague from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 5 minutes to my friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Baldwin). (Ms. BALDWIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to my friend, colleague, and neighbor from California (Mr. McNerney).

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hooley).

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 6 minutes to my friend and colleague from Tennessee, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cooper). (Mr. COOPER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 7 minutes to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Israel).

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Madam Speaker, may I inquire about the time remaining on both sides?