Sam Farr: “This debate tonight is not about support of our troops. There is not a Member of Congress that does not support our…”

“This debate tonight is not about support of our troops. There is not a Member of Congress that does not support our troops. And it is not about national security. It is about one thing. It is about politics. And I say that for three reasons: First of all, the timing. It was just a year ago that we were rushed to judgment to give the President the authority to unilaterally invade Iraq, at a time when the U.N. inspectors were saying give us more time; we have not found weapons of mass destruction. If they are there, give us more time to look for them, which had the support of the international community. But why was that vote passed a year ago today? Because it was on the eve of the November elections and the President wanted the vote before the November elections so he could use it in the campaigns. We followed that vote last spring with a $78 billion supplemental request. That money does not run out until next April. In the defense appropriations bill, we put enough money in for the troops, so why now? Why have this vote now? Could it be the rush to judgment this year is to get it as far away from the next November elections? Because if we went to next spring, there may not be national support for this bill. I think today is a sure rush to judgment, and I do not think we need to do that. We need to prove to the world that we have a workable plan.”