Dear Friends,
Recently, I've been thinking a lot about some numbers:
- 1,400 empty-handed weapons inspectors.
- Almost 2,000 American lives lost.
- Almost $200 billion spent.
- 150,000 soldiers still in Iraq.
- 0 plans to bring an end to it all.
The war in Iraq is costing this country and Minnesota in lives, treasure, and opportunity, and we can no longer afford to continue down the path we're on.
Today I am calling for the Administration to end our involvement in Iraq by Thanksgiving 2006 and prepare for the return of our brave men and women by launching a new generation of programs to honor their service.
I haven't come to this conclusion easily, but with Saddam Hussein removed from power and an Iraqi government now in place, it is time to return our focus to making America stronger and safer.
Let me be clear: from today until the last American has left Iraqi soil, we must spend every dollar necessary to arm, support, and protect our troops. But the time has come to bring them home. This is not a call to abandon our troops or their mission. It is a call to honor them, a call to respect them, and a call to bring them home.
We're spending too much money on the wrong priorities. Removing our troops by next Thanksgiving ensures that by the time the next Senate begins its session, we will be debating how to spend this money on health care, job creation, education, rebuilding our own Gulf in the wake of Katrina, and keeping America safe.
The next session of the United States Senate should not be asked to pay any more for this war.
The $200 billion allocated to fight the war in Iraq could pay for over 26 million children to attend a year of Head Start, provide health insurance for over 118 million children, or pay the salaries of 3.4 million public school teachers for one year.
These are real dollars that could be better spent on real solutions for the challenges we face as a state and as a nation.
And the war in Iraq is placing a real cost on our families. The number of our soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice is quickly approaching 2,000. Thousands of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters spend their days and nights worrying about the loss of a loved one. Families are being torn apart by the economic challenges of seeing the family breadwinner repeatedly sent overseas. We must do better by those who serve.
In June, over half the U.S. Army troops serving in Iraq were National Guardsmen and Reservists. This war is being waged on the jobs and families of these citizen-soldiers. When guardsmen and reservists are called to active duty, they are forced to give up their civilian salary and benefits in exchange for military ones, which often results in a significant pay cut and financial hardship for the members and their families.
As a country, we cannot allow this to continue. If we can spend billions of dollars to rebuild Iraq, we can find the money to protect the lives and livelihoods of the brave men and women we send to do it. Any man or woman willing to put their lives on the line in service of their country should never have to worry about losing their pay, losing their health insurance, or losing their home.
We sometimes overlook that this war is creating a new generation of veterans, a younger generation wanting to return home to the jobs and families that will move our nation forward. We must prepare for the return of this new generation of veterans. Today, I am also calling for legislation establishing the next generation of programs to honor their service and ease their transition home, we need:
- Fully funded VA hospitals;
- An updated GI Bill for the 21st century, improving benefits by establishing an enhanced educational assistance program and increasing the amount of basic educational assistance;
- Compensation for soldiers that have suffered a pay cut while serving,;
- Increased penalties on companies that refuse to protect military families from foreclosure and eviction;
- Protection for their health insurance, passing legislation to protect reservists and National Guard members who sign up for the military health care system before they enter active duty, and legislation that blocks increases to health insurance premiums for reservists and members of the National Guard who return from war and reinstate their old policies.
If these laws for our soldiers and veterans are not passed now, they will be my first order of business upon arriving in Washington.
This administration has faced two disasters, one natural and one of its own creation, and it has mismanaged both. As we come together as a nation to rebuild after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, it's time for us to come together and give the new Iraqi nation the independence and sovereignty it needs to combat the insurgency.
Next Thanksgiving, I want us out of Iraq.
Next Thanksgiving, I want Minnesota's soldiers home with their families.
Next Thanksgiving, I want a new generation of programs to honor their service.
And when the next Senate is called into session, I will be there to make sure the focus is on the right priorities, making us stronger and moving us forward as a nation.
Sincerely,
Patty Wetterling