House Dems Triumph With Iraq Bill

Great quotes from Democrats on the House floor:

“Rather than sending more troops into the chaos that is the Iraqi civil war, we must be focused on bringing the war to an end. We can do that by passing this bill that transforms the performance benchmarks that have already been endorsed by President Bush and the Iraqi government, into requirements…Benchmarks without deadlines are just words. Four years of this war, words are not enough.” - Speaker Pelosi

“To those on the other side of the aisle who are opposed, I want to ask you the same questions that my gunner asked me when I was leading a convoy up and down Ambush Alley one day. He said, ‘Sir, what are we doing over here? What’s our mission? When are these Iraqis going to come off the sidelines and fight for their own country?’ So to my colleagues across the aisle - - - your taunts about supporting our troops ring hollow if you are still unable to answer those questions now four years later.” – Rep. Patrick Murphy, Iraq war veteran

“When you talk to these families, they need a year at home before they’re redeployed. Is there anybody who thinks we should send these folks back before they have a year at home? Is there anybody who thinks we should extend them when they ha’ve had 13 months in country? Is there anybody who thinks we should send troops into combat who aren’t trained and ready? Is there anybody here?“ – Rep. Jack Murtha

Video excerpts are here.

Other interesting facts - All Democrats of the Texas Congressional Delegation and all freshmen elected last November voted for the bill.