Ted Poe: “Mr. Speaker, the narrow issue is: More troops to the front, or not? Many here say ``no more troops,'' but what are the…”

“Mr. Speaker, the narrow issue is: More troops to the front, or not? Many here say ``no more troops,'' but what are the consequences for the troops on the ground without more aid? What will happen in and around Baghdad where those troops are supposed to be sent? Their mission there will be more difficult without more troops. Does this Congress want to tell our troops on the ground, do your job with less, even though we have it in our power to send you aid? Mr. Speaker, 171 years ago this month, a somewhat similar call for aid was made; and it, too, was refused. In an old, beat-up Spanish mission in central Texas, Bexar, Texas, to be exact, 187 men from every State in the United States, 13 foreign countries, including Mexico, found themselves in a precarious situation. They were behind the walls facing an enemy. They needed help. Texas politicians, even so-called military experts, had it within their power to send more troops. And for all the similar reasons that are mentioned here, including the troops shouldn't even be in the mission and the plan was a bad idea from its inception, this plan is not working, your troops there should even leave, similar reasons we hear today, no help was sent. The place, Mr. Speaker, was the Alamo, and the time was February 24, 1836.”