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Hoyer Honors Sacrifices of US Troops as War Enters 6th Year
WASHINGTON, DC (March 19, 2008) – Congressman Steny Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today honoring the sacrifice and patriotism of our men and women in uniform serving in Iraq and noting the beginning of the sixth year of war in that nation:
“As the war in Iraq enters its sixth year on Wednesday, two things are abundantly clear. First, our brave men and women in uniform have done everything that our nation has asked of them, and they have performed their mission with courage, skill and honor. Nearly 4,000 American soldiers have given the ultimate measure of sacrifice in this war, and 30,000 have been injured. This day and every day, we honor the memory of those who have been lost, and pray for the recovery of those who have been injured, as well as the safe return home of our troops who are still deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Today – the fifth anniversary of the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom – also is a time to acknowledge that the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform has not been matched with a strategy for success by the Bush Administration, which has made egregious misjudgments throughout this war – from the decision to deploy too few troops at the outset, to the costs that would be borne by the American taxpayer, to the willingness of Iraqi officials to make the hard decisions that are critical to their nation’s future.
“Just last week, for example, General Petraeus acknowledged that Iraqi leaders have failed to make adequate progress toward resolving their political differences or in the provision of basic public services. In the meantime, our troops – and our nation – are being forced to pay a steep price for Iraqi inaction and the President’s failing stay-the-course policy.
“The American people support and our national security interests demand a new direction in Iraq – a war that has cost our nation dearly, degraded our military readiness, diverted resources from the global fight against terrorism, and harmed our reputation in the world. Democrats are committed to a responsible, phased redeployment of our troops from Iraq. We believe it is long past time that the Iraqi government begin to take responsibility for the stability and security of its own country.”
Hoyer says when Bush acts to reduce troops in Iraq and re-deploy
them to Afghanistan, Congress will cut funding for Iraq War
Congressman Steny Hoyer in a race car at Budd's Creek. ST. MARY'S TODAY photo
CHARLOTTE HALL --- House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D. Md. 5th), a resident of St. Mary’s County, told ST. MARY’S TODAY on Sunday that he and the Congress are telling the Bush Administration that this nation cannot afford the debt caused by the war and the wreck it has made out of the economy, in answer to the question as to the why the Congress continues to fund the war.
“I am not going to cut off funds to the 130,000 American troops who are overseas in a war,” said Hoyer. “When the Administration pulls them out, we will then stop the funds, we are not going to abandon our troops, they should be taken out, and a good number reassigned to fight Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.”
Hoyer said that Iraqi leaders need to come together to bring about peace, that American troops have done their job to give them the time, now they need to act.
Hoyer said he was gravely concerned about the damage the trillion dollar cost of the war has done to the economy and pointed to the bailout of the New York banker Bear Stearns on Friday, a venerable institution which was bought by J P Morgan today for $2 a share.
"This is the first large bank to have been bailed by the federal government since the Depression," said Hoyer.
Hoyer noted that when the Bush Administration took office, the economy was flourishing, unemployment was down and the budget was balanced.
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