Washington, D.C. Today, Representative Jane Harman (D-Venice) issued the following statement after her vote against the Iraq Supplemental Appropriations bill:

“Last weekend, I made my fourth visit to Iraq.  Each time, despite the extraordinary dedication and effort of US and Iraqi soldiers, the country has seemed less secure.  I stayed overnight inside Baghdad’s Green Zone in one of the trailer pods used by most Americans there.  A day later I learned that a nearby pod had been totally destroyed by an RPG launched into the Zone in broad daylight.

“In Ramadi in Anbar Province commanders on the ground described real security improvements, but our group still needed full body armor to walk down the main shopping street, and I remain unpersuaded that our combat mission can succeed.  The time has come for it to end.  We must redeploy out of Iraq.

“Today’s vote offers two unsatisfactory choices. 

“A ‘yes’ vote affirms funding for the troops and benchmarks, but fails to impose a responsible end to the combat mission.

“A ‘no’ vote will be manipulated to tell the troops I flew with on a C-130 just days ago that we are not sending the new anti-IED vehicles (MRAPs) and other support they so desperately need.  Rubbish.  Today’s vote is not about that.  General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will make certain that essential equipment arrives.

“Today’s vote must be seen as a referendum on this President’s refusal to listen to a majority of Americans and a majority of Congress, who want him to end the combat mission and implement the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations on training, counter-insurgency, and enhanced diplomatic and economic efforts in the region.

“I support our troops and I refuse to be manipulated.  My ‘no’ vote on the Iraq Supplemental is a vote to move past the fractured politics on Iraq and restore some sanity and bipartisanship as Congress confronts the serious threats of the 21st century.”