Frank Lautenberg: “this morning I rise to discuss the terrible situation we see in Iraq. While home in New Jersey over these last few days…”

“this morning I rise to discuss the terrible situation we see in Iraq. While home in New Jersey over these last few days, I was often approached by constituents on the street and there was one topic that would come into the conversation almost immediately, when people said: Senator, when are we going to get our troops out of the crossfire in Iraq? It is a great question, but the answer is certainly not clear. Our constituents back home understand that President Bush has totally mishandled the diplomatic and strategic parts of the Iraq mission and our troops are the ones who are caught in the middle--caught in the middle of an ethnic civil war between Sunnis and Shiites. From my home State of New Jersey, we have already lost 74 people in Iraq; nationwide the total is quite clear--over 3,000 have lost their lives, and there are over 23,000 wounded with injuries that could disable them for the rest of their lives. To make matters worse, a disproportionate amount of the burden of this conflict has fallen to Guard and Reserve troops.”