Patty Murray: “I rise today, after two days of testimony by General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, to talk about a subject we have…”

“I rise today, after two days of testimony by General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, to talk about a subject we have still heard virtually no discussion of from this administration: the impact of this war on our servicemembers and veterans. General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker have now spent countless hours in an attempt to sell both the Congress and the American people on the virtues of the President's surge. Their aim is to convince us to spend more time, more money, and more lives in Iraq. Yet we have heard precious little about the impact of this surge on the men and women who are actually on the battlefield fighting. That is a disturbing omission that leaves me--and I am sure thousands of military families across the country--deeply unsettled and greatly concerned for the future of our Nation's plan to take care of these heroes. We all know going to war has a profound effect on our men and women in uniform, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are no exception. As the Iraq war now enters its fifth year, it is clear the fighting overseas has taken a tremendous toll on the lives of our troops, who have served this Nation so honorably, and on their families, who have supported them so fully. Yet, over and over again, in their sales job, this administration has either failed to make the cost of caring for our wounded warriors a priority or--as we found this week--blatantly misled Congress and the American people about that cost.”