Tim Walz: “this week the House will have an opportunity to truly support our troops by having a substantial debate here on the…”

“this week the House will have an opportunity to truly support our troops by having a substantial debate here on the House floor about the President's latest proposal for a troop escalation in Iraq. Some of my Republican colleagues will say that such a debate undermines our troops' efforts in Iraq. Nothing could be further from the truth. How can this Congress stand on the sidelines when the President has been told by his generals, by an independent commission created by the old Republican Congress, by the American people, and by both Democrats and Republicans in the new Congress that this plan will not work? How can this Congress stand on the sidelines while our troops continue to serve as referees in a situation that even our own intelligence agencies say is worse than a civil war? Madam Speaker, the resolution we will begin to debate today has the well-being of our troops first. First and foremost, we support them. We support them by saying enough is enough with the bad planning. The President should not send more troops to Iraq for the simple reason that it will not make any difference on a deteriorating situation on the ground.”