House Debate on the Iraq Accountability Act

May 10, 2007

The House is currently debating the revised Iraq Accountability Act (HR 2206) which supports our troops and holds President Bush and the Iraqi government accountable. This bill requires the President to confront the realities of the Iraq war and take account of the facts on the ground. It fully funds the troops over the next two-three months -- ensuring that they have everything they need to conduct their mission. It appropriates $42.8 billion immediately and requires the President to report to Congress in July, guaranteeing two votes by Congress, to determine if a second installment of requested funding is released.

Speaker Pelosi:

"The President's own benchmarks for measuring progress in Iraq will be the centerpiece of that evaluation. You would think that the President would embrace this legislation - it has his benchmarks. It asks for a progress report. Perhaps he thinks there will be no progress so he's afraid of that report...I don't know why the President doesn't understand - this war cannot proceed indefinitely and that's the course he has us on."

Appropriations Chairman David Obey:

"What we are in essence doing is giving the President about 60 more days to make his case before those votes occur. I think that's eminently fair to him and I think it's eminently fair to those of us in the Congress who disagree with his position."

Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel:

"So here we are, our Armed Forces are up to 160,000 troops. We're over $600 billion appropriated for this, lost 3,300 lives. 25,000 wounded fellow citizens. And so the need for a political solution, and the Iraqi answer? We're taking the summer off, going fishing. This bill says no way. You have got to be accountable for your country and get off the sidelines and get on to the playing field and take ownership of your country's future."