Alan Simpson: “I rise today not because I want to take part in this debate, but because I am ashamed that this Congress is engaging in…”

“I rise today not because I want to take part in this debate, but because I am ashamed that this Congress is engaging in it at all. I've heard a lot of posturing so far this week. I've heard a lot of hyperbole and a lot of revisionist history. I've also heard some things that just don't mesh with reality. I don't think that everything my colleagues say is completely honest. So for a moment, let's be honest-- because that is the least we owe to our constituents and to the men and women who are fighting this war. I am willing to admit that if Congress knew in 2002 what it knows today it might not have voted to authorize the war. Knowing that Saddam Hussein apparently did not have weapons of mass destruction, Congress might have preferred to contain him, perhaps bomb him, strengthen international sanctions, and work with our allies in the region to undermine his regime. But we can't go back to 2002 and redo that vote. We have to deal with the situation that is currently before us. And what is before us right now is a Congressional resolution that undermines our troops while they are in the middle of fighting a war that Congress sent them to fight.”