McConnell on CNN "Late Edition"
May 13, 2007
House Democrats have gone from micromanaging the war to now trying to microfund the war, McConnell says
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell appeared on CNN’s “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer” this morning. The following are excerpts from the program:
On Iran:
“Well, the Vice President indicated as long as the discussions are about the Iraq security issue, the administration was comfortable with it. I don't see anything wrong with that. I think the Iranians are part of the problem in Iraq. To the extent that they want to discuss discontinuing that kind of mischievous behavior, I think that would be helpful.”
“The nuclear issue, the Iran nuclear issue, is really not negotiable. The world is united in opposition to the Iranians developing nuclear weapon capability. The British, the French, the Germans, ourselves. There's widespread opposition to that, and that kind of unity I think will continue. And hopefully, we will be able to get the kind of multilateral sanctions against the Iranians that would actually deter them from going in that direction.”
On benchmarks for progress in Iraq:
“The President himself mentioned benchmarks back in January. We had a proposal that ended up not being voted on by Senator McCain and Senator Lieberman and Senator Lindsey Graham, who you're going to have on later in the program, related to benchmarks for the Iraqi government earlier this year.”
“I think benchmarks will be a part of the final package that we get to the President for signature on the troop funding bill.”
On the Iraq funding bill:
“Well, you know, the House Democrats have gone from micromanaging the war to now trying to microfund the war. Splitting up the funding. The good news is that there's a bipartisan majority in opposition to that in the Senate, including the majority leader of the Senate and the chairman, the Democratic chairman of the Armed Service Committee, Senator Levin, both of whom think that splitting up the funding is a bad idea.
“The majority leader and I are working to get a quick passage into conference with the House, and a bill signed by the President of the United States before Memorial Day. It's clear that benchmarks should be and will be a part of that process. Exactly how you craft beyond that is still to be worked out… We are working toward getting a bill that the President can sign before Memorial Day.”
On the Democrat majority in Congress and 2008:
“There's another interesting poll out this week that has a rating of the Congress down as low as the President. People are beginning to figure out that the new Democratic majority has not been able to pass anything. Not a single one of their "Six in '06" agenda items has made it to the President's desk. The American people are beginning to figure out that the Democrats are so preoccupied with this one issue that they are not accomplishing anything else.
“And so, I want to assure you, Wolf, that the election next year will not just be about Iraq, it will also be about the new Congress. What did they do? Did they produce anything for the American people? The day I was elected Republican leader, I said divided government sometimes presents a great opportunity do important things. And I mentioned immigration. Maybe we'll get there. And Social Security is two extremely important things that we ought to accomplish for the American people. So far, the new majority hasn't gotten anything done.”
On leaving Iraq prematurely:
“And we have to continue to ask ourselves, if we go in a different direction, what is it? What is the option? Do we want to allow Iraq to be a failed state? Do we want to embolden al Qaeda and really almost invite them to come back here again?”
On the Iraqi government:
“Well, the Iraqi government is a huge disappointment. Republicans overwhelmingly feel disappointed about the Iraqi government. I read just this week that a significant number of the Iraqi parliament want to vote to ask us to leave. I want to assure you, Wolf, if they vote to ask us to leave, we'll be glad to comply with their request.”
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