Mark Udall: “I will vote for this defense supplemental without hesitation, but with regrets and concerns. To begin with, I regret…”

“I will vote for this defense supplemental without hesitation, but with regrets and concerns. To begin with, I regret that we have to be voting on this bill now. I thought the President's decision to begin military action in Iraq was premature. I thought it would have been better to allow more time for other measures, including coercive inspections, to accomplish the goal of disarming Saddam Hussein. However, Congress--by adopting the resolution authorizing the use of force--left it to the President to decide if and when military action would begin. That is another source of regret. I opposed the resolution precisely because I thought it gave the President too much discretion about the timing of that action. But the resolution was enacted. And, now that military action has begun, it is necessary for Congress to consider the Administration's requests for funds to pay for it and for related purposes. Our troops are in the field, actively engaged in operations that Congress has authorized. Under those circumstances, I cannot make them the victims of my regrets by failing to support this bill to provide them what they need to carry out those operations. So much for my regrets. I also have strong concerns about some things that are in this bill and some things that were left out. The bill does have many good features. For example, I am glad that the Appropriations Committee placed some important limits on the President's request before bringing the bill to the floor.”