Joe Manchin

I rise to speak about an honorable, dedicated public servant and a good friend from West Virginia whom we lost last month on October 29. Lloyd G. Jackson was a true West Virginian, born in our southern coalfields in a small town in Lincoln…

Our military withdrawal, as agreed to in the 2008 Security Agreement, sends a clear message to the Iraqi people and the Arab world that the United States keeps its commitments.

President Obama and Prime Minister Maliki have an opportunity to set a common vision beyond the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

I believe that that was the right decision.

It is time to complete the transition of responsibility for Iraq's security now to the Iraq Government.

I can't believe in this many--the 21st century we don't have an energy policy that's totally energy independent.

The aim should be setting in place--over the next year--a strong and enduring foundation for normalized ties under the SFA.

Iraq is governing itself. It is a sovereign nation. It is an emerging source of stability in a vital part of the world.

The authors of that agreement always intended for it to be renegotiated at a later date to allow some U.S. forces to remain in Iraq.

Our forces should withdraw from Iraq, and the President has made the right call in abiding by the agreement signed by his predecessor.

This new chapter in U.S.-Iraqi relations after December is not an abandonment of Iraq.

U.S. troops should leave because the Iraqis want us to leave.

This fulfills the pledge made by President Bush, as well as President Obama.

U.S. troops should leave because they are the wrong instrument for the political problems that the Iraqis now face.

First, and most importantly, we should leave because we said we would.

The withdrawal of U.S. forces with Iraqis in charge of their own security and violence at record lows was unimaginable 4 years ago.

I continue to believe that this decision represents a failure of leadership, both Iraqi and American, that it was a sad case of political expediency, supplanting military necessity, both in Baghdad and in Washington, and that it will have…

Currently the Nation is virtually energy independent in the stationary sector. Neither natural gas nor coal--the fossil fuels most important to stationary energy--are currently traded in an integrated global market that sets a global price.

It is nonetheless good domestic politics.

We are completing the drawdown of our forces by the end of this year.

While my position on the withdrawal of U.S. military forces is not driven by domestic politics, it is nonetheless good domestic politics.

We've declared energy independence. We don't believe that we should be dependent on a drop of foreign oil.

Iraq will not be able to defend its own air space until 2020, at the earliest.

I know that will help our legislators in making their final determination if you all can be in agreement.

It really is only going to be cured if your 2 agencies are working as one.