Louise Slaughter: “H. Res. 387 provides for consideration of three bills, including the supplemental appropriations for the Iraq war. It is…”

“H. Res. 387 provides for consideration of three bills, including the supplemental appropriations for the Iraq war. It is striking to realize that for 4 years the war in Iraq has been funded by supplemental appropriations measures. From the beginning the White House has refused to plan ahead. Instead it has counted on Congress to accept its demands and pass one supplemental bill and then another time and time again, with no end in sight and no accountability required in return. The American people have rejected a House that blindly accepts the administration's predictions about Iraq, all the while ceding its role in deciding matters of war and peace, the most solemn responsibility given to the Congress. My fellow Democrats and I promised a new way forward. And so the first funding bill that we delivered to the President reconciled our party's conscience with the brutal realities the war presented to us, realities that we, unlike some in the administration, are willing to acknowledge. We sought then, as we do now, to end this war but to do so responsibly, without adding to the suffering the Iraqi people and our soldiers have already experienced. Our first bill provided the President with all of the funding he requested but attached conditions to it. We asked for the President to stand before the Nation and justify the war.”