Russ Feingold: “I oppose the fiscal year 2008 Defense authorization bill because it authorizes $189.5 billion for the war in Iraq but…”

“I oppose the fiscal year 2008 Defense authorization bill because it authorizes $189.5 billion for the war in Iraq but does nothing to end the President's misguided, open-ended Iraq policy. That policy has overburdened our military, weakened our national security, diminished our international credibility, and cost the lives of thousands of brave American soldiers. There are certain provisions of the bill that I support strongly, including a pay raise for military personnel, Senator Webb's amendment creating a Commission on Wartime Contracting to examine waste, fraud, and abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Senator Lautenberg's amendment to create a Special Investigator General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. But on balance, I cannot vote to support a bill that defies the will of so many Wisconsinites--and so many Americans--by allowing the President to continue one of the worst foreign policy mistakes in the history of our Nation.”