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Edwards Statement On Republicans Blocking Iraq Troop Withdrawal Legislation

July 18, 2007

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Senator John Edwards released the following statement after Republicans in the Senate blocked legislation to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq.

"We need to end the disastrous war in Iraq, and President Bush and Republicans in Congress need to respect the will of the American people, who voted in a new Congress last fall for exactly that purpose. This morning, 52 U.S. Senators voted to end the war in Iraq. Under normal Senate rules, the bill would have passed. Yet the Republican minority has again hidden behind the procedural filibuster rule to prevent changing course on Iraq.

"For the sake of the American people and our brave men and women in the military, Congressional Democrats need to stand up to George Bush and respond to this obstructionist Republican minority by sending them another plan to end the war in Iraq - and they need to do this again and again, as many times as it takes for Republicans to understand that this war must end.

"While I support the general goals of the Levin-Reed amendment that was blocked this morning, I believe it does not move fast enough. I have offered a plan would require an immediate withdrawal of 40-50,000 combat troops to prompt Iraqi groups and regional parties to find a political solution, which is the only way to end the conflict, and that would withdraw all combat troops within the year.

"Looking ahead, the time has come for the few remaining Republicans who support President Bush's gross mismanagement of this war to realize that their failure to lead and change course in Iraq is a betrayal not only to the American people, but to the incredible and brave sacrifices that our military men and women in Iraq make every day."

John Edwards, Edwards Statement On Republicans Blocking Iraq Troop Withdrawal Legislation Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/291534

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