Frank Pallone: “this past Sunday, May 1, marked the 2-year anniversary of President Bush's aircraft carrier news event in which he…”

“this past Sunday, May 1, marked the 2-year anniversary of President Bush's aircraft carrier news event in which he declared ``Mission Accomplished'' in Iraq. Two years later, our troops are still facing a strong insurgence that shows no sign of slowing down. Our troops are doing valiant work, but that sadly is not always enough. I will include for the Congressional Record a New York Times investigative report from April 25 titled, ``Bloodied Marines Sound Off About Want for Armor and Men.'' The article should be required reading for every Member of this House, as well as the high-ranking military and civilian personnel at the Department of Defense. Times reporter Michael Moss interviewed Marines from Company E who served a 6-month stint in Iraq last year. During that time, Company E endured the highest casualty rate of any marine company in the war. According to the Times, ``More than one-third of the unit's 185 troops were killed or wounded during that time.'' Several months after the beginning of the war as Congress was debating its first emergency supplemental, we were all alerted to the fact that our troops did not have the equipment they needed to adequately do their job and to protect themselves from extreme harm or death. We heard they did not have the body armor they needed, nor did the Humvees come with the necessary protective steel armor to protect them from being easy targets of insurgents.…”