Mr. BYRD.:...........This is a coequal branch of Government, Mr. Bush. As a coequal branch of Government, as the body in which the Constitution vests the power of the purse, Congress requires the truth from the President, from the executive branch, from the Pentagon, from the Defense Department, from the State Department, from the White House. This is what makes recent allegations in Bob Woodward's new book regarding the redirection of appropriated funds into clandestine appropriations for the war on Iraq so disturbing, and the American people ought to be disturbed. The American people ought to ask questions, and their representatives in this body ought to ask questions. If the President, as alleged in this book, made the decision to wage war against Iraq and secretly spent appropriated funds to prepare for that war without prior consultation with Congress, then the letter of the law, the intent of the law, the spirit of the law, and the constitutional power of the purse have been subverted This would be not only a very grave breach of trust on the part of the executive branch, on the part of the administration, but also a very grave abuse of power.
Mr. President, I hope with all my heart that Iraq will emerge from the current chaos to become a free and democratic nation. I hope with all my heart that the sacrifices that America's military forces have endured in Iraq will be validated by reality, and not justified merely on the basis of wishful thinking. The path forward is not yet clear, but this I know: President Bush led America into a preemptive war that was neither dictated by circumstances nor driven by events. President Bush led America into a war of choice, a war that might well have been avoided with patience and prudence. Would that we could read that ``April is the cruelest month'' without reflecting on the cruel and terrible toll that the war on Iraq has taken on America's men and women in uniform in Iraq during this bloody and sorrowful month of April.
It is said in the King James version of the Holy Bible that of those to whom much is given, much is required. Mr. President, much is required of this administration and this President with regard to Iraq. The American people expect answers, the American people expect a judicious strategy, and the American people expect a well-thought-out military and diplomatic campaign. On all fronts, the American people have been let down. A President who wages war and manages the aftermath of war by the seat of his pants is not what the American people either expect or deserve. I fear that is what they are seeing in Iraq.
This President, having blundered into this war in Iraq, does not have much time left to get the stabilization of Iraq right. We have spent our blood and treasure in Iraq, and it is now time--past time--to aggressively explore ways in which the burden on Americans can be mitigated. It is time to abandon the go-it-alone attitude, the go-it-alone, cocky , arrogant attitude established by this President.
It is time--long past time--for the President to admit to mistakes made, to forsake his divisive either/or rhetoric, and to seek a way out of the deepening morass of Iraq with the full partnership of the United Nations, the region, and the international community.
President Bush needs to drop all pretensions that the war in Iraq and the battle for stability are going according to plan. Only by accepting the fact that a bold new direction is needed to untangle the mess in Iraq can this President extricate the United States from what is fast becoming a quagmire. It is time for the President to set aside his pride and to convene an international summit on the future of Iraq, composed of representatives of the Iraqi people, their Arab neighbors, NATO, and the United Nations. Then and only then will the Iraqi people be in a position to chart their own future with the help of the international community. Then and only then will the United States be able to relinquish ownership of the tiger that it now holds by the tail.
America must alter its course in Iraq to deal with the volatile vacuum left by the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. America must be prepared to fight terrorism wherever it rears its ugly head and not be lulled into the false belief that attacking terrorists overseas will stop them from attacking America on its homefront. Above all, Americans must never be cowed into believing that questions are somehow ``unpatriotic'' or that Presidents, even wartime Presidents, are ever above answering them. And finally, Americans must remember that in this country there are no kings.
Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.