Jim Sensenbrenner: “I rise today in fervent support of the brave men and women of our Armed Forces currently serving in Iraq. While American…”

“I rise today in fervent support of the brave men and women of our Armed Forces currently serving in Iraq. While American soldiers and Marines courageously risk their lives to confront a determined enemy in Iraq, the Democrat leadership in Congress offers this resolution. The spineless resolution under consideration would undermine our military commanders' plan for victory in this ongoing struggle. This act of political posturing strikes me as inconsistent with pledges of support for our troops. We cannot simultaneously claim to support the troops while calling into question the validity of their mission. The question, Madam Speaker, quite simply, is this: to fund or not to fund. If this Congress intends to provide our service men and women with the funds they need to achieve their mission, and we must, it follows that funding ought to go hand-in-hand with resolute commitment in support of their current mission. If not this plan, what plan? Before you answer that, recognize that Congress is not, and has never been, tasked with administering a war. No successful war in the history of mankind has ever been managed by the legislative branch of any government. And no credible alternative for victory in Iraq has emerged from any member of this institution. I find it curious that not a single Senator opposed the confirmation of General Petraeus as Commanding General of our troops in Iraq.”