STATEMENT OPPOSING THE ESCALATION OF TROOPS IN IRAQ

Washington, D.C. - Mr. Speaker, the American people want a new direction in Iraq and they expect Congress to act accordingly. 

• It has been almost four years since this Administration declared the end of major combat in Iraq. 

• Since this declaration we have seen more than 3-thousand soldiers killed in combat, and more than 22-thousand injured. 

• We can’t forget that these aren’t just numbers.  These are our sons and daughters.

• There are now more than 3-thousand men and women who will never return home to their families.

o Many are children, 18, 19 or 20 years old. 

o Their lives have ended before they ever really began.

• I started my career as a psychiatric nurse at the Dallas VA Hospital. 

• I know first hand the physical and psychological trauma these young people will face. 

• It is a long-term battle for them and their families as they learn to live with these disabilities.

• We are in a war with no end in sight.  And now we are talking about troop escalation. 

• How many more young lives are we going to lose? How many more soldiers will face life long disabilities?

• The experts have weighed in on this issue, and they say that troop escalation is a mistake. 

• The President assembled a group of experts to design a new course for Iraq. 

• The President’s experts did not recommend additional troops.  In fact, they recommended the opposite.

• Mr. Speaker, it’s time to listen to the experts and the commanders on the ground. 

• Our troops are faced with the impossible task of policing a civil war. 

• Each day we hear of sectarian attacks and bombing.

• Our soldiers are caught in the middle with no real strategy to end the violence.

• A great American military cannot be a substitute for a weak Iraqi government. 

• We need to focus on diplomatic solutions and training Iraqi security forces so that they can take control of their own country. 

• With this escalation we are just adding to the chaos.

• Mr. Speaker, my constituents in North Texas continue to grieve the loss of their sons and daughters in Iraq. 

• They are concerned for our troop's safety, and they are demanding answers.

• This war is costing us 100 lives and $2 billion a week. 

• At an overall cost of $500 billion, we will be paying the cost of this war for decades to come.

• In my Congressional District in Dallas, Texas, our share of the cost is almost $1 billion. 

o In Dallas, this would have provided 400-thousand children with health care,
o or paid for 23-thousand additional police officers.

• For our nation’s 300 million Americans, their share is $13-hundred a piece.

• Accountability of Iraq war spending has been appalling.
 

• Last week we began Congressional hearings regarding contracting fraud. 

o Apparently, there are $12 billion unaccounted for. 

o Contractors were being paid with large bags of cash. 

o This is truly an embarrassment and the height of irresponsible. 

• And now we are talking about spending more money and adding more troops. 

• We need to end this.  Redeployment needs to start now.

• Mr. Speaker, we have before us a bipartisan resolution opposing the escalation of troops in Iraq.

• However, this debate is only the first step. 

• The ultimate goal is to bring our troops home safely and swiftly.

• It is time for the President to listen to the American people.

• The best way to support our troops serving in Iraq is to say ‘NO’ to the President’s escalation of the war.

• I strongly urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson is the highest-ranking Texan on the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure. She represents the 30th Congressional District, which includes downtown Dallas, Northeast, East Oak Cliff & Pleasant Grove; all of Balch Springs, De Soto, Lancaster & Hutchins and parts of Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Glen Heights, Wilmer and Ovilla.