Mike Levin: “Voting ``no'' today will not bring home the troops during the next four months. The President is determined that the…”

“Voting ``no'' today will not bring home the troops during the next four months. The President is determined that the troops remain during this period. The danger is that cutting the funds could leave our troops in Iraq without the necessary equipment, including equipment vital for their safety. It is so difficult to watch the deaths of so many brave American soldiers. Until we can force the President to bring them home, we must give them the equipment they need to keep them safe. So de-funding this supplemental will not shorten the war but could endanger the safety of our men and women in uniform. This is the issue confronting those of us, like myself, who actively opposed going to war in the first place 4 years ago, and who have voted time and again since then to press the White House and the Iraqi government to achieve a number of key benchmarks so our troops can come home. The Iraqi government has to finally step up and make some difficult political decisions and end the sectarian violence that is tearing their country apart. The benchmarks contained in this bill are important, but they would be much more effective if they were backed up by a realistic timetable for the redeployment of our troops if the benchmarks are not met. The House and Senate approved just such a bill last month, but the President vetoed it and there were not enough votes in either the House or the Senate to override the President.”