Blog Post

Blog Post
Democrats on Iraq Reporting
September 10, 2007
At 12:30, General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will testify to a joint House hearing about the coming White House report on Iraq. Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Lloyd Doggett discussed the White House's reporting this morning on the House floor:
Rep. Schakowsky:

"On August 6, I was in Iraq and what I learned from that visit that day was that, in fact, that the President's surge has failed and that there is no end in sight for the war in Iraq...

Blog Post
On Reported Administration Plan to Leave All U.S. Forces in Iraq
September 7, 2007
Recent reports -- the National Intelligence Estimate, and the GAO and Jones Commission reports -- all document the widespread failure of the Iraqi government to meet critical political reform benchmarks set by President Bush himself in January.

The stay-the-course strategy by General Petraeus and the President to leave all troops in Iraq has been rejected by the American people.

We need a new direction in Iraq that will protect our troops, promote stability in the region, and make America more secure.

Blog Post
House Passes Largest Investment in Student Aid Since GI Bill
September 7, 2007
The House has just passed the final House-Senate agreement on the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, H.R. 2669, which would make the largest single investment in college financial aid since the GI Bill of 1944. The bill will now go to the President's desk, and he has pledged to sign it into law.

Chairman George Miller of the Education and Labor Committee, the sponsor of the bill, spoke in favor:

Blog Post
Emanuel on Iraq Report: We don't need a report that wins the Nobel Prize for creative statistics or the Pulitzer for fiction
September 7, 2007
As the Gavel noted yesterday, the Washington Post reported U.S. military leaders and the White House are "cherry-picking" data on violence in Iraq to bolster their claims that the President's failed war strategy is working.
Blog Post
Homeland Security Chairs Call for Moratorium on Spy Satellite Program
September 6, 2007
Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment Chair Jane Harman, and Subcommittee on Management, Investigations, and Oversight Chairman Christopher P.
Blog Post
More Evidence Raises Credibility Question About White House Report On Iraq
September 6, 2007
"In congressional testimony Monday, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is expected to cite a 75 percent decrease in sectarian attacks." [Washington Post, 9/6/07]

According to a report in today's Washington Post, U.S. military leaders and the White House are "cherry-picking" data on violence in Iraq to bolster their claims that the President's failed war strategy is working.

Blog Post
Chairman Lantos: The Administration won't listen
September 6, 2007
This morning, the House Armed Services Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee held a joint hearing entitled "Beyond the September Report: What's Next for Iraq?" receiving testimony from the Honorable William J. Perry, Major General John Batiste, and General John M. Keane.
Blog Post
Armed Services Hearing on Gen. Jones Report
September 6, 2007
The Armed Services Committee is currently holding a hearing to receive testimony on the Independent Assessment of Iraqi Security Forces. General James Jones, USMC (ret), Chairman of the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq, will testify along with three other members of the Commission. The Commission's report (pdf) stated:

Blog Post
Foreign Affairs Hearing on GAO Iraq Findings
September 5, 2007
The Foreign Affairs Committee is currently holding a hearing, "Iraqi Benchmarks: An Objective Assessment." David M. Walker, head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office as Comptroller General of the United States, will testify.

Watch the hearing live >>

Blog Post
Caucus Chairman Emanuel Issues Letter to Bolten on President's Comments on Congress
September 5, 2007
Today Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel released the following letter to White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten regarding President Bush's comments on the United States Congress as reported by Sheryl Gay Stolberg in today's New York Times:

The following is the text of the letter: