Political Quotes

“Today is a solemn anniversary, a tragedy that began 10 years ago when President George W. Bush launched a war of choice in Iraq, driving our country into a costly, bitter conflict based on falsehoods and hyperbole. It took President Obama's fulfilling his campaign promise to end the Iraq war, and we are grateful that he brought the war to an end, but we must not forget how we got into the war in the first place so that these mistakes are not repeated. We were told there were weapons of mass destruction. We were warned about mushroom clouds. Now, I offered an amendment at the time that would have taken us down a different path. It would have required the United States to work through the United Nations, using inspectors and maximizing diplomacy and inspections to determine whether or not Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction. Unfortunately, my amendment failed by a vote of 72-355. What happened from there? We all know the tragic consequences: President Bush dragged this country into an unnecessary war. No weapons of mass destruction were ever found. The costs of the Iraq war soared far beyond what was projected, and we lost 4,400 American troops in Iraq, and over 32,000 were wounded, not to mention Iraqis. Once the war started, many of us in Congress quickly organized. Led by Congresswoman Maxine Waters and my good friend former Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey and myself, we founded the Out of Iraq Caucus. Over 80 Members joined.…”