Media

Rep. Kendrick Meek of the Speaker's 30 Something Working Group returned yesterday from a Congressional Delegation trip to Iraq. He shares his views saying, "The American people are asking for our troops to come home. I think that should be the goal of the Congress - for our troops to come home. I think that there are some Members of Congress who feel that we should be there as long as we need to be there. I think that when you start looking at billions and billions of dollars that have been spent thus far on this war and then with the President just yesterday asking for an additional $50 billion dollars as though I was to ask you 'let me borrow $50 dollars' - I think that that's the kind of attitude that has been allowed to take place here in Washington for far too long and we need to bring an end to it."

Watch:

The President is demanding tens of billions more dollars for the war in Iraq despite non-partisan conclusions, such as the draft GAO report and the recent National Intelligence Estimate, that the Iraqi government has failed to achieve required reforms.

As in the past, President Bush stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the facts on the ground about the sectarian civil war in Iraq or the growing bipartisan opposition to his failed policies. He insists that our soldiers sacrifice even more, and taxpayers spend billions more dollars for an Iraqi government incapable or unwilling to institute reforms required by the President himself.

The Washington Post reported today that President Bush is preparing a request to Congress for $50 billion more to fund his failed policies in Iraq -- policies that have cost the American people dearly both in lives and taxpayer dollars. The American people are demanding a New Direction on the Iraq war not another quarterly invoice. It is time to wind down this war and begin to bring our troops home safely and soon.

PRICE PAID BY U.S. TROOPS IN IRAQ

· June, July, and August 2007 have marked the bloodiest summer so far for U.S. troops in Iraq. [icasualties.org]

· U.S. casualties in Iraq are 65 percent higher this year than at this time in 2006. [icasualties.org]

From the Judiciary Committee:

House Judiciary Committee to Hold FISA Hearings

(Washington, DC)- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) announced that the committee will hold a hearing next week titled, "Warrantless Surveillance and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA): The Role of Checks and Balances in Protecting Americans' Privacy Rights." The hearing will be held on Wednesday, September 5, at 10:15 am in room 2141 of Rayburn House Office Building.

At House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) request, Conyers and Intelligence Committee Chairman Sylvestre Reyes (D-TX) vowed to revisit the issue upon Congress' return.

WHO: House Judiciary Committee

In observance of the two year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Congressman James E. Clyburn, House Majority Whip and Chair of the House Democratic Task Force on Hurricane Katrina, released the following statement: