Kendrick Meek: “Guess what, the American people have said, I don't like that. I don't want to do that any more. So now we have the…”

“Guess what, the American people have said, I don't like that. I don't want to do that any more. So now we have the opportunity to put the language in the bill that would hopefully get us to the point where the Iraqi Government will say, wow, the U.S. Government is no longer playing around with us. The American people are no longer playing around with us. We will actually have to perform. We will actually have to turn out the troops and keep the retention as it relates to our security forces and to secure our own country. We are not going to be there forever. We are going to make sure of that. For those that are saying we have to be there as long as we have to be there, I am saying that there has to be benchmarks. I am saying $500 billion has been spent in this war thus far and will continue to be spent unless someone stands up and takes the responsibility on. I commend the Speaker, commend the leadership, commend every Member that has put their shoulder to the wheel and said this must be done now, not next year, not 3 years from now, not maybe we will think about it one day. The bottom line is there are folks here saying we don't want to let down Iraqi people but, guess what, I don't want to let down a U.S. taxpayer.”