WASHINGTON, November 10, 2003 -- Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) announced today that he introduced a resolution on Friday with 25 Co-sponsors to urge the President to immediately ask for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation.  Rep. Rangel’s resolution holds Rumsfeld accountable for the conduct of the Iraq war and occupation in which 240 American soldiers had been killed as of last Friday. 

Specifically, the resolution describes Rumsfeld’s “gross mismanagement of his responsibilities and faults him for “rejecting the advice of his senior military officers and sending members of the Armed Forces to war in Iraq without adequate planning and sufficient equipment.”  He “misled the American people in his assessments of the progress of the war and occupation” and “demonstrated a lack of sensitivity in his public statements regarding the war and Armed Forces casualties,” the resolution asserts.

“This resolution would make official what  many members of Congress already believe – that the soldiers in Iraq and America’s foreign policy would be helped greatly if Donald Rumsfeld would leave,”  said Rep. Rangel.  “I am so pleased to already have 25 co-sponsors put their name on this resolution.  They are willing to stand up and say what so many policy makers know, that the first step to brining our troops home is to send Donald Rumsfeld home.”

In introducing the resolution, Rep. Rangel noted the recent inconsistencies reported in the press involving Secretary Rumsfeld and others in the Bush Administration.  He noted that a leaked Rumsfeld memo broadened the credibility gap because it revealed how Rumsfeld wrote of doubts of the war’s success at the same time as he was going out of his way to promote the war to the press and public.  He also mentioned the internal squabble that resulted when President Bush announced that National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice instead of Mr. Rumsfeld would head a group on the reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Clearly, the bush Administration cannot agree on a plan for getting out of Iraq and it seems there won’t be a plan until the Administration puts the lives of American soldiers ahead of the egos of Administration officials.  While I imagine many changes are needed, it is clear to the world that the architect of this mess is Donald Rumsfeld.  The first step in cleaning up the mess and re-engaging with the international community is to remove Rumsfeld,” Rangel said.

Rep. Rangel also praised Rep. John Murtha and Rep. David Obey for their publically calling for changes at the Pentagon.  On September 5, Rep. Obey wrote to the President recommending that "... you allow the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense to return to the private sector."  Rep. John Murtha said in a September 25 statement, "this administration must hold accountable the people who were responsible for these gross miscalculations and fully engage our international community in the rebuilding process.” Without mentioning names, Rep. Murtha wrote to the President that “heads must roll.”