Joe Biden: “today, Senator Hagel, Senator Levin, and I are submitting a bipartisan resolution that opposes the President's plan to…”

“today, Senator Hagel, Senator Levin, and I are submitting a bipartisan resolution that opposes the President's plan to escalate the war in Iraq. This resolution says what we and many of our colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, are against: deepening America's military involvement in Iraq by escalating our troop presence. Just as important, it says what we and many of our colleagues are for: a strategy that can produce a political settlement in Iraq. That's the only way to stop Shiites and Sunnis from killing each other and allow our troops to leave Iraq without leaving chaos behind. Last week, when Secretary of State Rice presented the President's plan to escalate our troop presence in Iraq to the Foreign Relations Committee, the reaction from Democrats and Republicans alike ranged from profound skepticism to outright opposition. This resolution will give every Senator a chance to say where he or she stands on the President's plan. I believe that when a President goes way off course on something as important as Iraq, the single most effective way to get him to change course is to demonstrate that his policy has waning or no support--from both parties. The more we make Iraq a partisan issue, the more the President is likely to dig in. The more we show that Americans across the board don't want to go down the path of escalation, the better our chance to stop it. Iraq is not a partisan issue. It's a challenge we must meet as Americans.”