Tim Ryan: “Before we get into this, because we, being on the Committee on Armed Services, we talk about this all the time. This…”

“Before we get into this, because we, being on the Committee on Armed Services, we talk about this all the time. This seems to be like every conversation you have on the floor and off the floor somehow gets back to the war, somehow gets back to this administration's march to war. I just want to be clear with the American people, this is not personal. This is not us trying to demagog an issue for political gain. We have 800 soldiers who have been killed. We have thousands of soldiers who have been wounded. We have had hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent Iraqis killed because of this. This is a distinction that my colleagues and I have to make because we are elected Members. My colleague represents 700,000, my other colleague represents 700,000 and I represent 700,000 citizens of this country who want to know why we are in the predicament we are in. This is not personal with the President. I am sure we would all say he is an affable man who we all would probably sit down and have a Diet Coke or a cup of coffee with and completely enjoy the time together. But, we have an obligation, a constitutional obligation because this Chamber, Article 1, section 1 of the Constitution says the people govern, not the administration, not the executive branch. The legislative branch, everything starts here in the House. This is why we are bringing this up.”