Senate Proceeding on Sep 20th, 2007 :: 8:33:25 to 8:42:33
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8:33:06 to 8:33:25( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: in opposition after senator kennedy, that senator would then come immediately after senator kennedy and before senator nelson. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. sessions: mr. president,

8:33:25 to 8:33:37( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: i ask that i be added as a speaker at that point, before senator nelson, but if senator lott wishes to speak, i will yield my time to him. mr. levin: with that amendment, i offer that u.c. the presiding

8:33:25 to 8:42:33( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Gordon Smith

8:33:37 to 8:33:51( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: officer: is there objection to that amendment? hearing none, so ordered. mr. smith: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. smith: mr. president, i rise today as the lead

8:33:51 to 8:34:07( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: republican on the levin-reed amendment. i'm proud to cosponsor this amendment because it calls for what i have been stating all year. it sets up a timetable, a timetable we all know is inevitable, to

8:34:07 to 8:34:28( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: draw down our troops. last week general petraeus' testimony highlighted what i consider to be the -l remaining primary functioning of american troops in iraq. to defeat al qaeda, our mortal enemy. the organization

8:34:28 to 8:34:43( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: which attacked us on 9/11 is being hounded from its refuge in anbar, fleeing from a lethal mix of american forces and their own destructive ideology. american troops should by all means continue this assault

8:34:43 to 8:34:59( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: on al qaeda. but the anbar province is not all of iraq. in past years, supporters of the war have pointed to areas other than anbar, such as the shia and kurdish provinces, to show that things are

8:34:59 to 8:35:12( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: not going as badly as they were in fallujah and ramadi. toda they point to anbar to show that things are not going as badly as the violence in baghdad. mr. president, when i have visited iraq on

8:35:12 to 8:35:30( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: numerous times, wherever i am with our troops, i'm inspired by them, and i become increasingly conscious of the fact that i am in the eye of a hurricane. relative peace wherever our troops are. but

8:35:30 to 8:35:45( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: outside of us is swirling the winds of hatred and violence, such as which -- such of which the american people can scarcely imagine or envision. this amendment explicitly defines the role of the u.s.

8:35:45 to 8:36:01( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: military in iraq as threefold. an appropriate amount of troops will remain to protect our diplomats. our military installations, our infrastructure. we'll continue to train, equip, and provide logistical

8:36:01 to 8:36:15( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: and intelligence support to the iraqi security forces. sharing intelligence with them. then, thirdly and most important, we will be there to turn over every rock, every crevice and seek out every al qaeda

8:36:15 to 8:36:35( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: killer who wishes to harm americans. as i have spoken out pleading for a new course in iraq, there's been a great cacophony of noise about how to go forward. some of my colleagues have said just to

8:36:35 to 8:36:50( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: cut off the funding. in fact, we just voted that plan down resoundingly. such a course, in my view, would be more thanth dishonorable. it would be dangerous. some, however, say let's just stay the course.

8:36:50 to 8:37:00( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: i find that troubling as well. what "stay the course" means is we will continue to spend $12 billion a month. we will lose roughly three american soldiers a day, some of them no doubt oregonians.

8:37:00 to 8:37:12( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: tphoeugs that, there will be countless wounded and maimed for -- in addition to that, there will be countless wounded and maimed for life, for which i cannot find a number. underpinning the current

8:37:12 to 8:37:27( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: course and the argument of many of my colleagues on my side of the aisle is the hope -- the hope -- the predicate that at the end of the road there will be an iraqi government that will govern effectively

8:37:27 to 8:37:44( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: and democratically. i believe president bush's formation that we will stand down when they can stand up has it backwards. i have come to the reluctant conclusion that based on my numerous trips

8:37:44 to 8:37:56( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: to iraq they will not stand up politically until we begin standing down militarily. like many of my colleagues, i have been to iraq repeatedly to be with the troops, again, is to be inspired, to be

8:37:56 to 8:38:10( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: humbled in their presence because of the remarkable work that they are doing and the cause for which they're fighting. as inspiring as that is, it is equally depressing to meet with iraqi political

8:38:10 to 8:38:29( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: leaders, democratically elected, whom we think ought to be focused on reconciliation. what i have found is they are focused on revenge. in iraq, there is an ancient sectarian strife which has produced

8:38:29 to 8:38:47( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: a low-grade civil war that is not ours to win and is not one that we can win. it is theirs to win. we have won the war. iraqis must win the peace. civil wars end in one of two ways. one side wins

8:38:47 to 8:39:00( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: and the other loses. or they fight it out until they figure it out. my belief is that the delay -- is that we delay the day for them figuring it out with our current posture. i would love to be proven

8:39:00 to 8:39:19( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: wrong. i pray that president bush is right, but i believe it is our obligation to have this debate to help change the course and the policy of the united states government. but more importantly,

8:39:19 to 8:39:33( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: to help change the course and policy of the iraqi government. i intend to use all my leverage as a u.s. senator to change that course in iraq, to get their government to govern. my fear is that what

8:39:33 to 8:39:50( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: our presence and current posture are doing is simply keeping their civil war at a low-grade level, a no-win situation for american troops in iraq. there is no good option for how we come home, but

8:39:50 to 8:40:08( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: it does seem to me that this amendment best exesses my own conclusions. that is why i cosponsored the amendment, to recognize al qaeda as our mortal foe. but we must take them on wherever we can, even now

8:40:08 to 8:40:25( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: in iraq. but ultimately we have to get capable and effective iraqi political leaders too to do the most basic kinds of governing, de-baathification, setting up local elections, allowing the processes of democracy

8:40:25 to 8:40:41( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: to work, establishing the rule of law, a rule that gives people confidence, spending their oil revenue money for the restructuring and the rebuilding of their own country. we cannot want functioning

8:40:41 to 8:40:57( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: democracy for iraqis more than they want it for themselves. and what they seem bent on now is ethnic cleansing of their neighborhoods and religious division. ultimately those are their decisions, not

8:40:57 to 8:41:14( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: ours. as long as we say we'll take the bullet, we'll take it first, they will let us. the reed-levin amendment provides a different way forward with a responsible division of labor. let the iraqi

8:41:14 to 8:41:25( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: forces that we have trained and equipped handle their security in baghdad and in other communities. let us help them and ourselves by taking on al qaeda as we find it in iraq. this should not be

8:41:25 to 8:41:42( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: a republican-democrat debate. i do not want to sling mud around this chambernd point fingers at which parties and which voters and which government branch got us where we are. that should not be

8:41:42 to 8:41:58( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: the focus of our discussion today. but for the sake of the american people, we should be discussing the way forward, a way that includes a united states victory over al qaeda. therefore, i rise as a republican

8:41:58 to 8:42:17( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: from oregon to support the amendment. i believe that this legislation strikes the right balance between a responsible change in policy versus a panicked flight to the exit. do we have the moral and strategic

8:42:17 to 8:42:33( Edit History Discussion )

Gordon Smith: interests in iraq? of course we do. will we have those interests in the future? of course we will. should we ignore those interests? of course not. this language addresses those concerns, the language

8:42:33 to 8:42:44( Edit History Discussion )

Jon Kyl: of the reed-levin amendment. i believe that this legislation is the best, most effective, most responsible way forward. and i urge the amendment's adoption. i yield the floor. the presiding officer:

8:42:33 to 8:52:37( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Jon Kyl