Senator Biden Statement on Supplemental War Funding Bill

May 22, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE), issued the following statement on the Senate’s failure to change course in Iraq.

“I am disappointed that the Senate voted down key provisions in the supplemental war funding bill that would begin to end the war in Iraq. I have been particularly outspoken on two of its provisions: the prohibition on permanent American military bases in Iraq and a restriction on a long-term security agreement with Iraq unless authorized by the U.S. Senate.

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“Rejecting these provisions fuels exactly the kind of dangerous conspiracy theories about America’s intentions throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds that aid radical recruitment and that we should be working to dispel. That’s why I have repeatedly written legislation barring permanent bases in Iraq and why Senators Webb, Casey and I wrote into the emergency budget a requirement that Congress approve any long term security agreements this administration negotiates with Iraq.

“The American people have signaled loudly and clearly that the status quo in Iraq is unacceptable and unsustainable. Yet the status quo is exactly what my Republican colleagues voted for today.”

Source: Senator Joe Biden