Barack Obama Statement on the Passage of the Omnibus Spending Package

December 18, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement after the passage of the Omnibus Appropriations bill (H.R. 2764), which includes funding for the Iraq war without a timetable for bringing our troops home:

“We should not keep giving President Bush a blank check to continue a misguided war. This omnibus bill funds a strategy that is failing to resolve Iraq’s civil war, overstretching our military, and costing America nearly $8 billion a month and the lives of heroic men and women who have done all that we have asked of them.

“To support our troops, we need a new direction in Iraq – not funding for a war without end. That is why I will not support any funding for this war that does not immediately begin the responsible removal of our troops from Iraq, with a clear timeline and end-date for this drawdown. That’s what the American people want, that’s what our security demands, and that’s what I will continue to fight for in the months ahead. It’s past time to stand up to this President, and to end this war.”

Source: Senator Barack Obama