The Speaker pro tempore (Ms. Clarke): Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Price of Georgia: Madam Speaker, this is a sobering and sad day for America and for the House of Representatives. The Iraq supplemental war bill came to the floor this evening. It is a bill where the President had requested the resources of the American people to support American men and women in harm's way nearly 11 weeks ago. The bill that came to the floor tonight had that amount of resources, and then some. It had over $20 billion in extra money, Madam Speaker, money that nobody could honestly say with a straight face was appropriate in an emergency supplemental bill.
In addition to that, it also had all sorts of timelines and arbitrary benchmarks that make it so that the Speaker of the House and every single Member of this House is in fact a commander-in-chief.
There was celebration on the other side of the aisle when this bill passed, muted. I would suggest, Madam Speaker, it was a little embarrassed, because they understand in their heart what they have done. What they have done is a shameful action, Madam Speaker.
General Petraeus came to visit the Congress today. General Petraeus is the Commander of Coalition Forces in Iraq. General Petraeus and his men and women are putting their lives on the line, day in and day out.
He came to the House today. He came to Congress today to ask for clarification of what Congress had intended. He asked for the opportunity to inform the House of Representatives, the Members of the House. And from what I heard this evening, Madam Speaker, the majority party didn't listen and they didn't learn. All they have done, apparently, is to work on legislation that will ensure defeat.
Madam Speaker, this majority party is vested in failure. Vested in failure. Their actions do a disservice to our troops. They say to our troops, we have got no faith in you. We don't believe in your mission. We don't believe in you. That is what this majority party says.
They send the wrong message to our allies. What they say to our allies is that you can't trust America. America's word is not good, given this majority party.
And they send the wrong message to our enemies. What they say to our enemies is, all you have to do is wait.
Madam Speaker, this is a sad and a shameful day. The majority leader in the United States Senate has said that this war is lost. "This war is lost."
I stood with parents of a constituent of mine this weekend, Madam Speaker, this past weekend, who was on his way to Iraq that very day. They asked me, what am I supposed to say to my son? It is a heart- wrenching question, Madam Speaker, when you have the majority leader in the United States Senate saying that the war is lost. It is in headlines across this Nation that the majority leader says this war is lost.
Madam Speaker, I think it is incumbent, given that kind of statement by the majority leader in the United States Senate, for the House Democrat leaders to come down to this floor and say what they believe. Do they believe the war is lost? Do they agree with Senator Reid?
Madam Speaker, their silence is deafening. Do you hear them? What do they say? Are they here tonight? Are they here to say what they believe about our troops? Are they here to say that they believe in the men and women who are protecting our freedom and working as hard as they can to protect themselves?
Madam Speaker, this Democrat silence is deafening. What a shame. What a terrible shame.
Madam Speaker, it pains me and it saddens me to say what appears to be leading these new Democrats is the same as the old, and that that it is all politics all the time. What a shame.
