Mike Pence: “As many Democrats make plans to cut or restrict funding to our troops in Iraq, yesterday before the Foreign Affairs…”

“As many Democrats make plans to cut or restrict funding to our troops in Iraq, yesterday before the Foreign Affairs Committee a dissenting voice came from a surprising place. Richard Holbrook was the former Assistant Secretary of State for the Clinton administration and has worked in diplomatic roles for every Democratic President since Lyndon Johnson. Yesterday, Ambassador Holbrook appeared before our committee and I asked him directly, Do you oppose efforts to eliminate or reduce funding to our troops on the ground in Iraq? Ambassador Holbrook responded: ``I do, I oppose it.'' When I asked him to elaborate, he went on to say: ``I think that if the Commander in Chief has deployed the troops, the ultimate weapon of denying them the resources to carry out their mission only puts them in harm's way, greater harm's way. I would remind you that we cannot cut the troop funding.'' I commend Ambassador Holbrook for his storied career in American foreign affairs and his willingness to speak truth to power, even the power of many in his own political party. As Ambassador Holbrook said yesterday before the Foreign Affairs Committee: ``We cannot cut off funding for our troops.''”