Gabby Giffords: “As Members of the 110th Congress we are about to cast one of our most important votes yet. Americans in my district of…”

“As Members of the 110th Congress we are about to cast one of our most important votes yet. Americans in my district of southern Arizona and across the country want their Representatives to bring closure to the United States' involvement in Iraq. This vote is the first step towards doing precisely that. A few weeks ago President Bush gave a nationally televised speech to the American people to announce his new way forward for Iraq. But it sounded strangely familiar. The President acknowledged that his policies and plans in Iraq had failed to yield the promised results, and yet his only suggestion was to do more of the same. During my first few weeks in Congress serving on the House Armed Services Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, I have been listening, learning, asking tough questions. I have participated in many hours of hearings and briefings with top administration officials. Those people include Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Congressman Lee Hamilton, co-chairman of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group commissioned by the President. Since being sworn into Congress, I have also been reading dozens of letters sent to me by my constituents, flying home to my district almost every single weekend to meet with concerned citizens.”