Congressman Dent's Written Views Concerning Iraq

"The war was authorized before I arrived in Congress. I have always voted to fund the troops, just as both McCain and Obama did. Bennett opposes funding our troops who are in harm's way just to please dailykos and moveon.

"Time horizons should be negotiated as part of SOFA. They should be flexible and conditions based. It is a good sign that the Iraqis are confident enough about the security and political situation to engage in this important discussion.

"Inflexible, rigid Timelines should not be legislated by Congress. Bennett's timeline would have legislated defeat.

"There has not been a vote in Congress to deal with a broad comprehensive policy in Iraq. Just narrow measures — anti-surge, timelines, operational controls like the one Bennett would have imposed that would have had the effect of extending troop deployments of troops currently serving in Iraq and established different rules for troops serving in Iraq vs. Afghanistan. I and a few others presented the ISG as a serious bipartisan strategy to deal with Iraq. The Democrat controlled leadership refused to allow for consideration of this proposal on 2 separate occasions. I support a responsible drawdown of our combatant forces on a schedule that is conditioned based, honors the sacrifice of those who served, and leads to a successful outcome."