Walz statements on Iraq
02/13/2007
(Washington D.C.) - Today, Rep. Tim Walz spoke several times on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in favor of the Iraq Resolution. Walz delivered both a 1 minute and a 3 minute speech this morning. He is expected to deliver a 5 minute speech shortly.
At this time, audio is not available from Walz's first two floor speeches. Tune in to C-SPAN now to see Walz's 5 minute Iraq floor speech.
The following is the text of Walz's earlier speeches. Text of Walz's upcoming floor speech will follow after delivery.
Walz will also speak about the Iraq Resolution tonight on MSNBC's Hardball at approximately 5:30pm EST. Additionally, he will appear on C-SPAN's Washington Journal tomorrow, Wed. Feb 14th at 8:15am EST.
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Statement #1 of Rep. Tim Walz in favor of the Iraq Resolution being considered today by the U.S. House of Representatives
February 13, 2007
"Madame Speaker, this week the House will have an opportunity to truly support our troops by having a substantial debate here in the House about the President's latest troop escalation plan.
Some of my Republican colleagues say that such debate undermines our troops' efforts in Iraq. Nothing could be further from the truth.
How can this Congress stand on the sidelines when the President has been told by his generals, by an independent commission created by the old Republican Congress, by the American people, and by both Democrats and Republicans in the new Congress that this plan will not work?
How can this Congress stand on the sidelines while our troops continue to serve as referees in a situation on the ground that our own intelligence agencies say is worse than a Civil War?
Madame Speaker, the resolution we will begin debating today has the well-being of our troops first. First and foremost, we support them, and we support them by saying, 'enough is enough' with the bad planning. The President should not send more troops to Iraq for the simple reason that it will not make any difference on a deteriorating situation on the ground."
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Statement #2 of Rep. Tim Walz in favor of the Iraq Resolution being considered today by the U.S. House of Representatives
February 13, 2007
Mr. Speaker, today we begin a long overdue debate on the President's troop escalation plans and the Iraq war in general. I spoke earlier this morning, and I had the opportunity to address some of the conflicts between the testimony of experts and the Administration's wishful thinking in regard to the escalation.
What is said here on this floor of Congress, what is said by our experts and what is said by this Administration matters. It matters because our troops will be asked to fulfill the mission that comes out of these discussions. Our debate on this resolution is about far more than expressing our disapproval of the President. We offer this debate in the hopes that it will shape the mission that our soldiers are asked to carry out, one that is based on facts and reality not blind ideology.
I retired for the National Guard in 2005 and the unit I served with is now in Iraq. Many of these soldiers are kids that I taught in my high school class room and coached on our school football team. They joined my Guard unit and I trained them. We deployed together in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and now they are deployed again to Iraq.
As a 24 year veteran of the Army National Guard, I know that our soldiers are trained to fulfill the mission they are given. But having a mission that is achievable is the key to any military success. The previous Republican Congress failed to hold the administration accountable for providing a mission that could succeed and in doing so they failed to support our troops.
Last week I had the opportunity to speak with a Field Commander of the Minnesota National Guard who is serving in Iraq. He told me that our soldiers are performing magnificently, every minute of every hour of every day, that's not the issue that's at hand here. The issue at hand is providing a mission that can succeed.
Mr. Speaker, when we recess for our district work period next week, I will go home and look in to the eyes of the families of these soldiers. These are the same families and the men and women who learned on cable TV that they would be extended in their tour of duty. These are the same men and women who will face financial loss because many of them had planned to return to their jobs after an 18 month deployment to work in the agricultural and construction businesses and now they will be delayed in their return. They'll miss the critical seasons. They have been deployed for two and a half of the last four years.
Mr. Speaker, we can and must do better by our soldiers. The resolution that we will debate today, and I am in support of is meant as a first step in giving our troops an achievable mission and a chance to return. Our soldiers are trained to fulfill their mission without question. We as civilian leaders have a duty to question it on their behalf. For the past four years this Republican-led Congress has failed in their duty.
This resolution is about this Congress standing up and saying, "we will achieve our duty to the same level of excellence as our soldiers have."
Thank you.