Barbara Boxer: “In March and April I voted for an emergency spending bill that would have fully funded our troops in Iraq but would have…”

“In March and April I voted for an emergency spending bill that would have fully funded our troops in Iraq but would have changed their mission--would have changed their mission--to a sound mission. That mission would have taken our troops out of the middle of a civil war and put them into a support role, as the Iraq Study Group suggested, training Iraqi soldiers and police. We would have allowed them to fight al-Qaida and protect our troops. The President did not agree to that, and he will not agree to that. As a matter of fact, the President will not agree to any change in strategy in Iraq. That is more than a shame. For the American people, it is a tragedy. It does not seem to matter how many Americans die in Iraq, how many funerals we have here at home, or what the American people think. This President will not budge. This new bill on Iraq keeps the status quo. Oh, it has a few frills around the outside, a few reports, a few words about benchmarks--while our troops die and our troops get blown up. Now, I understand why this legislation is before us today. It is because this President wants to continue his one-man show in Iraq. That is the only thing he will sign. The President does not respect the Congress. What is worse, he does not respect the American people when it comes to Iraq. He wants to brush us all off like some annoying spot on his jacket. Well, that is wrong, and we won't be brushed off. We have lost 3,427 American soldiers in Iraq.”