Douglas Alexander: “my purpose today is to say I believe it is time for President Bush to take the Iraq Study Group report down off the…”

“my purpose today is to say I believe it is time for President Bush to take the Iraq Study Group report down off the shelf and use it for something other than a bookend. But first let me say something about the resolution that we are about to consider. There is a reason why we don't have 535 commanders in chief or 100 commanding generals each saying: Charge down this street or over that hill. The Founders of our country made the President the Commander in Chief and gave to Congress the power to declare war and pay for it. That is why I will vote against this resolution and any of the resolutions that seek to micromanage the war. Once a war is authorized, as this one was by a bipartisan vote of 77 to 23 in 2002, it is the President's job to manage the war. As an example of why we don't need 535 Members of Congress micromanaging the war, consider this: Since last January, the new Democratic majority has offered 17 different bills and resolutions outlining what we ought to do in Iraq, and there will be more coming in the next few weeks, I am sure. I am not about to cut off funds for General Petraeus's troops in the middle of the current military exercise, which clearly Congress has the power to do but should not do.”