Albio Sires: “through a congressional debate on the Iraq supplemental funding bill, Senate and House Republican leaders said that…”

“through a congressional debate on the Iraq supplemental funding bill, Senate and House Republican leaders said that significant improvements will be needed to be seen by September in Iraq, otherwise a serious course correction might be needed. We'll see if Republican leaders will continue to back those words and will finally join us in moving the Iraq war in a new direction, or will they move the deadline to a later date like they have done in the past. It will be interesting to see if they stand by their statements in light of General David Petraeus' acknowledgment over the weekend that conditions in Iraq were not improved by September. The general also indicated that stabilizing Iraq will take as long as 10 years. Mr. Speaker, Democrats remain committed to forging a new direction in Iraq. In the coming months, Democrats will continue to hold President Bush accountable to fight to ensure that the Iraqi people take control of the country. A 10-year commitment is simply unacceptable to us. Now we will see if the Republicans will stand by their past statements and join us in the efforts in September.”