Hank Johnson: “the emergency supplemental conference report that will come before this House today does three crucial things. One, it…”

“the emergency supplemental conference report that will come before this House today does three crucial things. One, it supports our military men and women; two, it sets benchmarks for the Iraqis to meet; and, three, it makes clear that the war will not continue indefinitely. Unfortunately, after 4 years, thousands of lives lost, and billions of dollars spent, the President continues to demand an open-ended commitment to our American troops being deployed on the streets of Iraq. President Bush says he will veto the emergency supplemental, ignoring the views of this Congress, the American people, former military generals and the nonpartisan Iraq Study Group. While he delays signing this bill, the President continues to claim that the resources for American troops will begin to run out later this month. However, the fact is that the Congressional Research Service confirms resources will be available well into the summer. The New York Times notes this week that the real obstacle to getting the money promptly to the troops would be the veto of the President. The President should support this important legislation which sends a message that this war is not going on indefinitely.”