14th Congressional Democratic Candidate Bill Foster has credibility on the Iraq issue, having worked to elect Army Captain, Iraq War veteran and now Congressman Patrick Murphy who has advocated American troop withdrawal legislation along with Senator Barack Obama.
From the Bill Foster Campaign:
IL-14 Democrat Bill Foster Statement on Webb Amendment Failure
Businessman, Scientist and Democratic candidate Bill Foster released the following statement on yesterday’s Senate rejection of the Webb Amendment.
“As I’ve traveled throughout the 14th District, I’ve heard loud and clear that voters want a change of course in Washington, especially on the issue of the war in Iraq. Yet, yesterday Republicans stood with President Bush and voted for more of the same.
“I am disappointed we missed an opportunity to start bringing our troops home. I cannot understand why Republicans believe voters want them to block change and to stay the course.
” We can’t let this setback be the end of our efforts. Congress should keep trying, but in the end it looks like it will take more successes at the ballot box here at home before we get the kind of change we need in Iraq.
“This election season will prove once and for all how important it is to the American people to end this war in Iraq. This is a defining issue of our time period. As a businessman and scientist, I’ve always tried to bring a reasoned, practical approach to problem solving. Yesterday, that would have meant voting to bring the troops home.”
Comments 3
Sorry, Bill, but you’re wrong.
The existing Democratic majority in Congress is quite capable of ending the war. All it has to do is decide that no further funding for the war will be provided except for the purpose of bringing the troops home. It takes far fewer votes to not pass legislation than it does to pass legislation.
Posted 21 Sep 2007 at 7:22 am ¶Hi Gary,
Thanks for the comment!
I agree that Democrats could (and should) block war funding, and provide only funding for bringing the troops home, something that both Senator Durbin and Senator Obama now support. However, I fail to see how your comment follows from Bill’s press release. The Webb Amendment, while admittedly not as direct (or effective) as de-funding the war, nonetheless would have started bringing more troops home. It’s also true that Republicans blocked the Webb Amendment - thus continuing the Iraq War and requiring our soldiers to serve even more time (and more tours of combat) than our soldiers did in Vietnam. The Webb Amendment wasn’t perfect by a long shot - but it was better than the status quo of overworking our troops and staying in Iraq indefinitely. That’s what the GOP voted for - and only a few Democrats supported them. Like Bill said, a bigger Democratic majority would have gotten that amendment through. I suspect with more Democrats in congress we’d have the votes to fund only withdrawal too.
Posted 24 Sep 2007 at 7:50 pm ¶What about the war coming here or a possible world war in the making? Remember, this is the same mixure that started World War I! Don’t fool yourselfs!!!
Posted 30 Sep 2007 at 1:35 am ¶Post a Comment