Mitch Landrieu: “It is one of the reasons I rise to support the Bayh-Nelson-Ensign-Collins-Snowe amendment. It is a very sound proposal.…”

“It is one of the reasons I rise to support the Bayh-Nelson-Ensign-Collins-Snowe amendment. It is a very sound proposal. It establishes several important principles relative to the steadfast commitment of this Congress to finish a job that has already been started. As the chief sponsor of this amendment stated in his opening remarks, whether you voted to use force to overthrow this regime or not, the fact is, we are there now. We have an important job to complete. This is one of the most challenging tasks ever undertaken by the people of the United States. The Bayh amendment outlines a roadmap that might actually get us to where we want to go. Words such as freedom, education, prosperity, democracy, vibrancy, a free enterprise economy, I have heard my colleagues speak with passion. This amendment is an attempt not to undermine those principles but to ensure that we will actually get there, to the goal of this whole effort. I am afraid without this amendment, the plan before the Senate, which we are well aware of, will not get us where we want to go. It establishes a couple of important priorities. It says Iraqi security is important. It says the Congress, by good faith, will put up the $5 billion which, by the way, dwarfs the contributions of all other countries.”