On the recordMay 27, 2010
I thank the Chair. I thought I had a little more. Madam President, the Senator is trying to read the amendment in a way that is simply not accurate. The amendment simply asks the President to provide his vision of a timetable by which he would intend to withdraw the troops. It is entirely nonbinding. Any suggestion that this is binding in any way on the President or the U.S. Government is completely false and a mischaracterization of the amendment. It is not binding. In fact, it allows the President specifically to identify variables that would cause him on his own to change the timetable. So how anyone can say this is a binding timetable in any way, shape, or form is beyond me. It is merely a request that the President give us his vision of when he might withdraw from Afghanistan. It is the only fair way to characterize this amendment.





