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Skriven 2007-04-14 23:32:04 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (070414) for Sat, 2007 Apr 14
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President's Radio Address
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary April 14, 2007

President's Radio Address

˙˙President's Radio Address
˙˙Audio ˙˙En Espa¤ol

˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Defense

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week I extended an invitation to
congressional leaders of both parties to come to the White House so we can
discuss the emergency war funding our troops are waiting for. When we meet
on Wednesday, I look forward to hearing how Members of Congress plan to
meet their responsibilities and provide our troops with the funding they
need.

Supporting our troops is a solemn responsibility of all elected officials
in Washington, D.C. So 68 days ago, I sent Congress an emergency war
spending bill that would provide the vital funds needed for our troops on
the front lines. But instead of approving this funding, Democrats in
Congress have spent the past 68 days pushing legislation that would
undercut our troops. They passed bills that would impose restrictions on
our military commanders and set an arbitrary date for withdrawal from Iraq,
giving our enemies the victory they desperately want.

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Radio Address: 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001

Radio Interviews: 2006 2005 2004 The Democrats' bills also spend billions
of dollars on domestic projects that have nothing to do with the war, such
as funding for tours of the United States Capitol and for peanut storage.
And after passing these unacceptable bills in the House and Senate,
Democratic leaders then chose to leave town without sending any legislation
to my desk.

The Senate came back to Washington earlier this week, but the House is
still on its Easter recess. Meanwhile, our troops are waiting for the
funds. And to cover the shortfall, our military may be forced to consider
what Army General Pete Schoomaker has called "increasingly draconian
measures."

In the next few days, our military leaders will notify Congress that they
will be forced to transfer $1.6 billion from other military accounts to
make up for the gaps caused by Congress' failure to fund our troops in the
field. That means our military will have to take money from personnel
accounts so they can continue to fund U.S. Army operations in Iraq and
elsewhere.

This $1.6 billion in transfer comes on top of another $1.7 billion in
transfers that our military leaders notified Congress about last month. In
March, Congress was told that the military would need to take money from
personnel accounts, weapons and communications systems, so we can continue
to fund programs that protect our troops from improvised explosive devices
and send hundreds of mine-resistant vehicles to the front lines. These
actions are only the beginning, and the longer Congress delays the worse
the impact on the men and women of the Armed Forces will be.

I recognize that Republicans and Democrats in Washington have differences
over the best course in Iraq, and we should vigorously debate those
differences. But our troops should not be trapped in the middle. They have
been waiting for this money long enough. Congress must now work quickly and
pass a clean bill that funds our troops, without artificial time lines for
withdrawal, without handcuffing our generals on the ground, and without
extraneous domestic spending.

When you live in Washington, it's easy to get caught up in the complexities
of legislative procedure. But for the American people, this is not a
complicated debate. When Americans went to the polls last November, they
did not vote for politicians to substitute their judgment for the judgment
of our commanders on the ground. And they certainly did not vote to make
peanut storage projects part of the funding for our troops.

The American people voted for change in Iraq, and that is exactly what our
new commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, is working to achieve. And
they expect their elected leaders to support our men and women on the front
lines, so they have every resource they need to complete their mission.

We owe it to the American people and to our troops and their families to
deliver our full support. I will continue working with Republicans and
responsible Democrats to do just that. I call on Members of Congress to put
partisanship on hold, resolve their differences, and send me a clean bill
that gets our troops the funds they need.

Thank you for listening.
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