Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I rise to speak against the bridge bill that was sent over by the House of Representatives. I hope the Senate can do…”

“I rise to speak against the bridge bill that was sent over by the House of Representatives. I hope the Senate can do what the Senate has been doing all year, and that is stop these reckless amendments that would tie the hands of our generals, that would dictate policy on the ground in Iraq from 6,000 miles away, from people who do not know what is going on on the ground, it seems. We have voted 40 times in the last year, since February, on amendments that would constrain the troops in the field doing what they are doing. Last week the Iraqi Government and U.S. commanders proclaimed that al- Qaida had been routed in every neighborhood in Baghdad, an 80-percent drop in the murder rate. The BBC reports that all across Baghdad streets are springing back to life, shops and restaurants which closed down are back in business. People are walking on the streets. Things have changed in Baghdad. Things have changed in Iraq. The only place it doesn't seem to change is in the Congress. We should not vote on anything that underfunds the troops, which is what this bridge bill does, and overregulates what our troops in the field are doing when we are not there every day, day in, day out, watching the progress. General Petraeus is succeeding in quelling the violence. Now we must work with the Iraqis to have stability in that country so we can leave. General Petraeus has already said he is bringing home a brigade from the surge. We are going in the right direction.”