Louise Slaughter: “Mr. Speaker, when my fellow Members of Congress and I speak and debate and cast our votes on this floor, we seek to…”

“Mr. Speaker, when my fellow Members of Congress and I speak and debate and cast our votes on this floor, we seek to reconcile our ideals with what is possible to achieve. We seek to do what is right in principle and necessary at any particular point in time, and pray that the two are one and the same. That struggle has formed the foundation of the fight Democrats have waged since January, and it is the basis of what we are doing today. This war was not challenged by the last Congress. It was supported by the last Congress. It was defended by the last Congress. Year after year, the Republican-led House kept this war alive. But the public rightly lost faith in the war and those who would support it unquestionably. We all know what the result was. The first opportunity the new majority had to change course in Iraq came with the first version of this bill. That legislation conditioned any future support for the conflict upon proof that our efforts were bearing some fruit. What is more, it would have ended the war by August 2008 at the very latest. Democrats, and some Republicans, united, and that bill was passed by the House.”