August 2, 2007
Granger Statement on Troop Readiness Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth), Vice Chair of the Republican Conference, today released the following statement after voting against H.R. 3159, the Tauscher Troop Readiness Bill.
“All Americans are eternally grateful for the tremendous and noble sacrifices that our military service members and their families have made and continue to make as we fight the Global War on Terror. However, today the Democrats in Congress introduced a bill that attempts to politicize this issue rather than provide the serious and sensible consideration that this issue demands.
“The Democrat’s bill attempts to legislate mandatory rest periods for our troops deploying to Iraq, but fails in two critical areas. First, it ties the hands of our military commanders by blocking their ability to capitalize on the successes we’ve already made. Second, it completely ignores the brave and noble efforts of our troops who are engaged in a tough fight in Afghanistan.
“Our nation has a long standing and effective tradition of allowing our commanders in the field to make the decisions necessary to fight and win against our enemies. Applying arbitrary restrictions on military decisions from the halls of Congress hasn’t made sense since 1776 and it doesn’t make sense now.
“We are seeing promising gains in Iraq. Now is not the time for increased rhetoric, but for true bi-partisan problem-solving. It’s time to end the rhetoric on this issue and work together toward a strategy to protect our country from the threat of terrorists.”