Thursday, April 26, 2007

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Floor Statement on U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, And Iraq Accountability Act, 2007
Remarks as Delivered on the Senate Floor

Mr. President, at the beginning of my remarks, I wish to associate my remarks with the Senator from Connecticut, Mr. Lieberman. I think his point-by-point rebuttals to previous declarations were appropriate and were right on point.

I will not talk long, but I rise to explain precisely why I will vote against this supplemental. In fact, there are a number of reasons I will vote against it--140,000 reasons are the men and women deployed right now on behalf of the United States of America and the civilized world.

It is right for the Senate to debate this war. It is right for us to ask questions. But it is wrong to hold hostage the money that supports those troops. We should separate the money from the debate. We should never hold hostage the money for our troops who are, on order of the President of the United States, defending our country and what we stand for.

There are almost 3,300 reasons I will vote no; that is, the sacrifices that have already been made on behalf of the United States of America, those troops who have fought and those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, troops like Diego Rincon, the first soldier from Georgia to die in Iraq, and LT Noah Harris, a famous Georgian who sacrificed his life as well. I have known those families. I have gone to those services. I understand the sacrifice, and I know how they feel of the pride of their sons who fought on behalf of this noble cause.

There are six additional reasons--my grandchildren. This is the ultimate war between good and evil. This is but one battle in a war that will determine the future security of the world. Make no mistake, there have been mistakes made, but it would be a horrible mistake to not confront terror or the agents of terror, because if we do, they have won.

Unlike any other war ever fought by the United States, we are fighting a group of people who don't want what we have, they don't want us to have what we have: the Bill of Rights; the right for me to express myself and Senator Kennedy to do the same without fear or without cowering; the right for the press to call it as they see it; the right to worship as you see fit; the right to bear arms. The 10 basic rights of the Bill of Rights are precisely what they want to take away, not only from us but from the rest of the world.

Terrorists want us to cower in fear and want to run the world based on that principle. To pass a supplemental appropriations bill that couches the support of our troops based on arbitrary deadlines that only serve to benefit the very people we fight is just plain wrong.

I relish debate of this war every day on the floor and hope we will continue. The way you avoid making mistakes in the future is debating those things which have happened in the past. But it would be the worst of mistakes to withhold funding from our troops or condition it upon arbitrary deadlines and circumstances in another country, at another time, at another place.

Mr. President, I end my remarks by thanking those brave men and women who have sacrificed and those who are sacrificing now and the families of those troops, many of them families who live in my State of Georgia. I will vote for the supplemental appropriations of our troops unconditionally and separate our debate of other issues to another document. But I will not support holding hostage our troops or their money.