Tom Udall: “Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Obey, and Chairman Murtha have put together a very solid piece of legislation. This bill puts…”

“Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Obey, and Chairman Murtha have put together a very solid piece of legislation. This bill puts us on a path to end this war. This legislation holds the Iraqi Government accountable, and it holds President Bush accountable. Let us not forget, this is an Iraqi Government that refuses to pursue national reconciliation. This bill takes President Bush's benchmarks and puts them into law. This is a bill about accountability. Others have said we are handcuffing, micromanaging. No, this is a bill about setting a policy to extract us from a misguided war. I ask my colleagues, vote for this bill because it tells the Iraqis it is time for you to step up and defend your country. I rise today in support of this important legislation and would like to thank Chairman Obey and Chairman Murtha for their work in crafting this critically important bill. There are no easy choices to be made regarding Iraq, but the choices they have made are the right ones. I believe there are two fundamental issues we must address concerning the on-going war in Iraq. First, we must provide the resources necessary for our troops on the ground so they can protect themselves and our allies. Second, we must redeploy them as soon as we can, and bring to an end American involvement in ill-conceived, poorly planned, and mismanaged war. I believe this legislation achieves both of these goals.”