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Washington, DC – Congressman Bill Shuster, who recently led a bipartisan delegation to Iraq, met with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, this morning to discuss progress in the region. Secretary Rumsfeld is on Capitol Hill today holding meetings with a small group of members of Congress to hear their perspective on the War on Terror.
“Some people say they don’t trust President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld, but I have great confidence in both of them. More importantly, I trust the soldiers and Marines I spoke to last week in Iraq. The information they shared with our Congressional Delegation showed detailed progress. It’s war, and war is not easy, but we are moving forward. We should not let Washington politicians micromanage this war,” said Shuster, a member of the Armed Services Committee.
Last week Shuster, along with two other Republicans and three Democrats, traveled to Iraq to meet with U.S. military leaders and Iraqi Security Forces. The focus of today’s meeting with Secretary Rumsfeld and General Pace was to report what they learned in Iraq and discuss how the administration might better communicate to the American people. The entire delegation from last week’s trip was invited, but none of the Democrats attended today’s meeting.
“Today we had the chance to sit down with the two top military advisors to the President of the United States and the Democrats couldn’t make it,” said Shuster. “This was a chance to discuss the progress we saw during our trip or talk about our concerns. Today the Democrats missed a rare opportunity.”
Republican Representatives Jack Kingston (GA01) and Dennis Rehberg (MT), also on the trip to Iraq, were in today’s meeting. |
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