Political Quotes

“I went to the Rules Committee yesterday for the fourth time since January asking that my amendment be made in order to allow the House to discuss and vote on the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group as the way forward in Iraq. For the fourth time this year, the Rules Committee said no. I can only assume from that action that the Democrat leadership instead prefers to continue to lock down the House and deny the opportunity to take the bipartisan road on Iraq policy. On the question of finding solutions in Iraq, this House cannot continue to just blindly follow the White House or the leadership of the Congress. The Washington Post has editorialized that the debate on Iraq in recent weeks is all about political gamesmanship. Every member in this House knows that's true and that is what's been going on here. More importantly, I believe that the American people know what's going on. Just look at the polls on where Congress stands. We owe it to the men and women in our armed forces who are putting their lives on the line every day in Iraq to at least take the time to discuss the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group. We also owe it to their families. We need to have a honest, true debate on the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group.”