David Obey: “Mr. Speaker, this war is a terrible tragedy, and it is time to bring it to an end. This is a straightforward bill to…”

“Mr. Speaker, this war is a terrible tragedy, and it is time to bring it to an end. This is a straightforward bill to redeploy our military forces from Iraq and to end the war in Iraq, and I want to thank the leadership for bringing it to the floor today. This bill would allow the administration and joint chiefs 3 months to plan a safe and orderly redeployment process, and then an additional 6 months to carry it out. It provides for the orderly transfer to Iraqi authorities the military bases and facilities we have constructed and occupied on their national territory, as General Petraeus himself has always insisted would happen when we depart from Iraq. The bill permits U.S. Armed Forces to remain deployed in Iraq in order to protect U.S. embassy and diplomatic personnel. It also allows limited special operations to pursue members of al Qaeda and other global terrorist organizations, and it continues the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces. Mr. Speaker, this bill does not walk away from Iraq or the Iraqi people. It specifically continues diplomatic, social, economic, and reconstruction aid; and it allows the President to provide asylum or other means of protection to those Iraqi citizens who might be physically endangered by our leaving Iraq because of services they provided to our military personnel.”