Ellen Tauscher: “I am very pleased to voice my very strong support for Chairman Skelton's legislation. It represents an unequivocal…”

“I am very pleased to voice my very strong support for Chairman Skelton's legislation. It represents an unequivocal belief that the United States cannot and should not be in the business of fighting Iraq's civil war. For over 4 years, it has been clear to me that our troops successfully and bravely accomplished the mission authorized by the President in the fall of 2002. Today's report that our troops have done their job but the Iraqi Government has not underscores the deep problems with the Bush administration's approach. We are no longer at war with Iraq's Government; instead, our forces are caught in the middle of an escalating sectarian conflict in Iraq, with no end in sight. Yet, the President continues to blindly stay the course, with disastrous and deadly consequences. Chairman Skelton's bill would make significant reductions in our troop presence by April of 2008. Democrats, along with our Republican colleagues who no longer trust the President's leadership, are doing all we can to change the President's full speed ahead mismanagement of the war in Iraq and divert the policy toward returning our troops home sooner and safer. This more responsible presence, which limits U.S. presence to fighting terrorism and training Iraq forces, will be a first step in restoring stability in Iraq and the readiness of our military which has been badly damaged over the last 4 years.”