Russ Feingold: “I am pleased we have had a chance to debate S. 2633, the Feingold-Reid bill requiring the safe redeployment of our…”

“I am pleased we have had a chance to debate S. 2633, the Feingold-Reid bill requiring the safe redeployment of our troops from Iraq. I am very grateful to the majority leader for allowing this debate and for cosponsoring this legislation. He is a strong opponent of the war, and he understands how it is distracting us from our top national security priority: defeating the global threat presented by al-Qaida and its affiliates. While the debate on Iraq is refreshing, the Republicans still will not allow us to actually vote on the bill. In fact, if you listened to the other side during this debate, it was apparent they believe leaving large numbers of U.S. troops in Iraq indefinitely for an open-ended military mission is somehow in our country's interest. The American people must be scratching their heads and thinking: What is it going to take to get those folks in Washington to listen to us? I can assure them--and I can assure my colleagues--we will have more debate and votes on Iraq.”