Jon Kyl: “I believe my time will be more productive fulfilling a commitment I have made to lead a trip to Iraq. Without disclosing…”

“I believe my time will be more productive fulfilling a commitment I have made to lead a trip to Iraq. Without disclosing when or precisely where we will be in the Middle East, I will tell my colleagues that I will be able to personally deliver a message not only to our troops of support of the American people for their mission but also hopefully to deliver a message directly to the Prime Minister of Iraq that we expect him to continue to fulfill the commitments he has made to carry out this new strategy, which has signs of success already, and to learn directly, firsthand from our commanders and troops on the ground, their assessment of how this new mission is proceeding. What the Congress needs to do is to provide assistance and to be able to bring home a report unfiltered through the media of precisely where the conditions stand right now. While I would have voted no, in effect, I will be voting no by my presence in Iraq. There are three reasons I oppose the resolution to move forward with this particular nonbinding resolution.”