Tom Latham: “I rise today to share everyone's frustration with the mistakes that have been made in Iraq, and the fact that progress…”

“I rise today to share everyone's frustration with the mistakes that have been made in Iraq, and the fact that progress has not been made as fast as we would all have liked. I would say, though, before you cast your vote on this resolution, I think it is only fair to remind Members of this Chamber that the main thrust of this resolution focuses only on one of at least 10 of the recommendations the administration is carrying out based upon the work of the Iraq Study Group. Others include shifting our primary mission to training and equipping Iraqi security units and embedding more U.S. soldiers in the Iraqi military. The administration has also pledged to hold the Iraqi Government accountable to its commitments to take primary responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November, establishing a fair constitutional amendment process, reforming de-Baathification laws, creating a fair oil revenue sharing arrangement and holding local elections. Let me also remind the Democratic majority that when the Iraq Study Group announced its recommendations, the Democratic leaders publicly stated they hoped the President would embrace the report.”