Mike Pence: “The tide is turning in Iraq, Mr. Speaker, but nothing changes on Capitol Hill. Here we go again. Another Democrat plan…”

“The tide is turning in Iraq, Mr. Speaker, but nothing changes on Capitol Hill. Here we go again. Another Democrat plan for redeployment from Iraq, tying some $50 billion in necessary combat funds to a Democrat plan for withdrawal. With unambiguous evidence of progress on the ground in Iraq, the Democrats in Congress seem to have added denial to their agenda of retreat and defeat. And the evidence of our progress is unambiguous. I have seen many different Iraqs in my five trips, some hopeful, some not hopeful. But the news coming out of Iraq just in recent days from independent and official sources is encouraging. U.S. military fatalities are down sharply: 101 Americans lost their lives in uniform in June; 39 in October. Iraqi civilian deaths are down sharply: 1,791 casualties in August; 750 in October. Mortar rocket attacks by insurgents in October were the lowest since February 2006. Iraqi officials say they plan to reduce checkpoints, ease curfews, and open some roads around Baghdad because of the improving security situation. And this weekend, the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni in the neighborhoods of Baghdad has declined by more than 75 percent in the last 12 months. And yet here we are again, another plan for retreat and defeat in Iraq.”