“A majority of the Congress have made clear their desire to change course in Iraq. I supported the provisions to transition the mission in Iraq contained in the supplemental spending bill vetoed by the President,” said Casey. “Yet, unless we achieve more bipartisan consensus in the Congress that a change is necessary, an impasse will continue. It is for that reason that I believe the Iraq Study Group’s prescribed course of action represents our best hope for a new way forward in Iraq.”
Senator Casey joined Senators Ken Salazar (D-CO), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Bob Bennett (R-UT), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Judd Gregg (R-NH), John Sununu (R-NH) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), in introducing the ‘Iraq Study Group (ISG) Recommendations Implementation Act of 2007.’
The Iraq Study Group recommendations were the basis for the March 2008 target date set forth in the Reid legislation cosponsored by Senator Casey and included in the Supplemental spending bill vetoed by President Bush.
Former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III and former Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Lee H. Hamilton co-chaired the December report that seeks to bring a responsible conclusion to the Iraq War. Both Mr. Baker and Mr. Hamilton have confirmed that the legislation accurately reflects the recommendations of the ISG report.
The ISG bill sets a ‘new way forward’ by establishing as United States policy:
· A new diplomatic offensive in the region that includes the creation of the Iraq International Support Group;
· Giving the highest priority to training, equipping and advising the Iraqi military and security forces;
· Assessing the full budgetary and personnel impact of the war in Iraq on the U. S. military;
· Accelerating and increasing oil production and accountability, including equitable distribution of oil revenues in Iraq;
· Implementing and conducting oversight of economic reconstruction programs in Iraq with the creation of a new Senior Advisor for Economic Reconstruction;
· Ensuring that the President includes the cost of the war in his annual budget request; and
· Setting conditions that could lead to redeployment of U.S. combat brigades not needed for force protection as early as the first quarter of 2008 if diplomatic, infrastructure and security benchmarks are met.
In the House, a companion bill will be introduced by Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO) and co-sponsored by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), Mike McCaul (R-TX) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL).
President Bush, while speaking at the Associated General Contractors of America Convention in May, said the United States should, “seriously consider the recommendations of the ISG.”
