U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement Thursday regarding the Iraq supplemental funding bill and why the President should veto it soon:Audio will be played on TIB Radio on Sunday...“Two months ago General David Petraeus came to Capitol Hill to explain the situation in Baghdad and to outline his plan for improving it. And then we ratified that plan. A Democratic-controlled Senate sent General Petraeus to Iraq , and they did so without dissent.
“There were no illusions about what the mission would involve: we’d demand greater cooperation from the Iraqi government, and they’d get greater security in return. If we had more room to help secure the capital city, they’d have room to build a civil society.
“Now that mission’s underway. Security’s improving and political reforms have followed. The Petraeus Plan, not two months old, and running at half its ultimate strength, is, at this point, showing progress.
“There will be no political reforms in Iraq without basic security. That’s what General Petraeus told us. That’s the story he told us we could hope to see unfold, and if it did, we’d have reason to hope for success.
“The American people are willing to stick with this fight as long as they think we have a chance to win it. And right now we’ve got a chance to win it. The question is, do we fan this spark of hope or do we smother it?
“The Democratic leadership has a different view. They don’t seem to think situations can change. They’ve made no allowance whatsoever for improvements in Iraq . They call for a change in course, but the only change in course they seem to approve of is retreat.
“The bill they’re sending to the President today says one of two things: it says they’re either determined to lose the War in Iraq or they’re convinced it’s already lost.
“Nothing good can come from this bill.
“It’s guaranteed to delay the delivery of supplies and equipment to the troops. It’s loaded with pork that has no relation to our efforts in Iraq or Afghanistan . And it includes a deadline for evacuation that amounts to sending a ‘Save the Date’ card to Al Qaeda.
“The date isn’t tied to circumstances on the ground. It’s completely arbitrary. They pulled it out of thin air. And the terrorists have already marked it on their calendars.
“This bill is the document of our defeat. The President knows this. That’s why he’s said for weeks that he isn’t going to sign it. And because it has no chance of becoming law, because the Democrats knew it never had a chance of becoming law, it’s nothing more than a political statement.
“Which means one thing: the Democrats have traded in the possibility of a military victory in Iraq for the promise of a political win at home. They’ve said so. They talk about this bill as ‘not one battle,’ but ‘a long-term campaign.’ If only they had the same appetite for victory in Iraq as they do for political victories on the floor of the Senate.
“The political point they want to make is that we should pull our troops out of Iraq . They’re sending equipment and supplies to our troops to carry out their mission, but telling them they’ll have to come home a year from now, regardless of how far along that mission is.
“But if the war’s already lost, why wait a year? It’s not right to ask American soldiers to stick it out another year if you think the battle’s over. If Democrats want to end this war, they should vote against funding it. Period.
“But they’re not going to do that. They’ll wait another year. They’ll supply and equip our soldiers to fight a war they think we’ve lost. They’ll just use the spending bill that funds that extra year of fighting as a vehicle for pork. There’s more than $20 billion of spending in this war spending bill that has absolutely nothing to do with the War in Iraq or Afghanistan , and it shouldn’t be there.
“The senior senator from Nevada has said repeatedly today that this legislation is serious.
“How serious is $2.5 million for tours of the Capitol?
“Is $3 million for sugar cane serious?
“$22.8 million for geothermal research?
“Or $13 milling for ewe replacement and retention.
“Is this serious?
“This bill was intended to fund and equip American soldiers and Marines who left their families to risk their lives overseas. But it’s become a joke. It’s ballooned into a gravy train for members. It absurdly broadcasts a date certain for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq to our enemies. And it’s designed to draw a veto, risking that the very supplies it’s meant to deliver won’t get there in time.
“The American people are watching this charade. They have reason to be confused.
“They have reason to be angry.
“I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill to demonstrate that it is right for the President to veto it, and to show that we’ll proudly sustain that veto.
“Then we can get on with our real mission: to fund our troops.
“Let’s get this to the President as quickly as possible, so he can do with it what it deserves.
“No bill has deserved the veto pen more than this one.”
Mark's Remarks
I initially was a bit skeptical of McConnell's leadership in the Senate, given his quiet character. However, hidden behind that quiet veneer is the true tactician. His moves in the Senate to stave off some of the defeatist, communist, subversive and contrarian garbage coming out of the cesspool of Democrat minds has been phenomenal. He is a HUGE improvement over Bill Frist, and it makes me think he should have been party leader all the time in the Senate. Frist was a disaster. McConnell, as MINORITY LEADER, is showing far more effectiveness than Frist did as MAJORITY LEADER.
