Hodes Hails Iraq Spending Bill in Democratic Radio Response
RESPONSE
New Hampshire Union Leader
Greg Hellman
Boston University Washington News Service
3/24/07
WASHINGTON, March 24—New Hampshire Congressman Paul Hodes, delivering the Democratic response to the President’s weekly radio address Saturday morning, hailed the passage of the House Iraq spending bill, which sets a timeline for troop withdrawal, as an important step to altering the course of the war.
“Under Democratic leadership, the House of Representatives told the President that it’s time to change course,” Hodes said. “We are holding him accountable for a new direction in Iraq.”
The bill imposes security benchmarks on the Iraqi government and mandates troop withdrawal by September 2008.
President Bush, who has already promised to veto the legislation if it were to pass in the Senate, blasted the measures calling them counterproductive to the mission on the ground and noting the bill’s shaky support, which narrowly passed the House Friday by a vote of 218-212.
“The emergency war spending bill they voted for would cut the number of troops below the level our military commanders say they need to accomplish the mission. It would set an artificial timetable for withdrawal that would allow the enemy to wait us out,” the President said. “I have made it clear that I will veto any such bill, and it is clear that my veto would be sustained.”
The President accused The House of playing politics by passing a bill they knew he would veto and called on Congress to send him a clean spending bill without timetables or restrictions.
“By choosing to make a political statement and passing a bill they know will never become law, the Democrats in Congress have only delayed the delivery of the vital funds and resources our troops need,” he said. “They need to send me a clean bill, without conditions, without restrictions.”
Rather than undercut the military, Hodes said the bill would provide troops with their needed resources while creating benchmarks for troop withdrawal.
“We support our troops by providing needed funding for their equipment and protection,” he said. “But this bill is not a blank check to fund the war in Iraq. It requires that the Iraqis meet the benchmarks for success that the President himself outlined in January.”
Hodes used the opportunity to also address scandals involving misspent government money on reconstruction in Iraq and the dilapidated conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, two issues addressed in recent weeks by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, on which Hodes sits.
“I can assure you the Congress will continue to keep a close eye on our military and VA facilities to ensure our troops and our veterans get the care they deserve,” Hodes said. “And while we put an end to the under-funding of our veterans’ care, we are also cracking down on the over-funding of politically connected contractors…. For four long years, a Republican Congress ignored that responsibility, and billions of dollars were wasted.”
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