| Reply from Sen. Feingold |
[Feb. 13th, 2007|02:53 pm] |
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With the House currently debating a meaningless resolution, which is paving the way for a more important future vote on the funding of the war in Iraq, this seems like an appropriate time to share the reply I received from Russ Feingold a few days ago...
Dear Mr. Hartsman,
Thank you for contacting me regarding the war in Iraq. I
appreciate hearing from you about one of the most important issues
facing our country today.
I strongly support our troops who have courageously answered the
call to service, but I remain deeply concerned that the mission in
Iraq is undermining our top national security priority: fighting the
global terrorist networks that attacked our country on September
11, 2001. In October 2002, I voted against the resolution
authorizing the President to use force in Iraq because I questioned
the shifting justifications for this mission and feared that it would
weaken our capacity to combat terrorism.
Since the war began, I have repeatedly pressed the Administration
to provide a clear strategy for success in Iraq and a strategy for
winning the war against the global terrorist networks that threaten
the United States. Unfortunately, the Administration's misguided
and Iraq-centric policies have allowed Iraq to become a haven for
terrorists, and have diverted resources and attention from other
places around the world where terrorist networks that threaten the
U.S. are operating. I am deeply concerned by this
Administration's decision to increase troop levels in Iraq, which
ignores the wishes of the American people and members of both
parties.
On January 31, 2007, I introduced legislation that uses Congress's
power of the purse to force the President to redeploy U.S. forces
from Iraq no later than six months after enactment. This
legislation will allow the President adequate time to redeploy our
troops safely from Iraq, and it will make specific exceptions for a
limited number of U.S. troops who would remain in Iraq to
conduct targeted counter-terrorism and training missions and to
protect U.S. personnel. My bill will not hurt our troops in any way
- they will continue receiving their equipment, training and
salaries. It will simply prevent the President from continuing to
deploy them to Iraq and will provide a hard deadline for bringing
them home. I encourage you to visit my website for a more
detailed account of my work on Iraq at
<http://www.feingold.senate.gov>.
I have worked hard to try to ensure effective oversight and
accountability for reconstruction efforts in Iraq. The economic
costs of this war have been staggering, and I am dismayed that we
are running up debts to pay for this war that the next generation of
Americans will be called upon to pay. I continue to push for
accountability and transparency in the use of taxpayer money in
Iraq. I led efforts to create and then extend the life of the Special
Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), whose office is
charged with making sure that U.S. reconstruction dollars in Iraq
are not subject to waste, fraud or abuse.
As a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Senate
Committee on the Budget, I will continue to work to end our
involvement in this war. Thanks again for contacting me about
this extremely important issue. I look forward to hearing from you
in the future.
Sincerely,
Russell D. Feingold
United States Senator
If you wish to contact me again, please visit
http://feingold.senate.gov/contact.html. |
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