UNANIMOUS CONSENT: VICTORY WITH HONOR

"You give me your shield of victory,
And your right hand sustains me;
You stoop down to make me great."
                                                -Psalm 18

 

"Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They were wrong."

-Ronald Reagan

Today, as every day, I thank our veterans and active duty and reserve service members. No just war is entered into casually or without gut-wrenching deliberation given to the certain peril of our nation's sons & daughters, fathers & mothers, brothers & sisters. The entry into the Pacific theater that followed the bombing at Pearl Harbor and the horrific bombing of that September 11th both necessitated that our nation do "what we had to do."  Vietnam, Korea, Bosnia, Somalia and the first Gulf War were no less challenging. America always leads when called to action.

When our last Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces sent my brother, sister and brother-in-law to fight the War on Terror, along with hundreds of thousands of our brave service members, I believed (and still believe) that his decision was guided by wise counsel from above, sincere counsel from military leaders, and studied counsel from civilian leaders. Partisanship does not and cannot enter into the decision to deploy troops to safeguard the security of our Great Nation and its global security interests. Thus, I will likewise support the decision of the leaders who will redeploy my sister next year. I do not allow partisanship to enter into an arena where consensus is required to save lives.

War is expensive, but defeat is far more expensive. Peace is preferred, but passivity in the face of terrorism weakens a nation. We will eventually depart militarily from Afghanistan and Iraq, and our Nation will do so victoriously with Honor.

Thus, I move for unanimous consent...on the issue of the successful, fully-funded, fully-resourced prosecution of the War on Terror and full aftercare for our brave veterans upon their return. We are not a nation of warmongers, so we must trust our military leadership when they lead our troops toward victory. Save the partisan put-downs for debates over pork barrell projects!

There is no time for filibusters, holds, and delay on decisions that provide adequate reinforcements, armor, provisions, vehicles, artillery, and veterans benefits. We all can appreciate meaningful debate and the yearning for peace sooner than later, but God help the member of Congress whose partisan delay tactic allows one more soldier, sailor or marine to lay dying on the foreign battlefield for want of armor, ammunition, or reinforcements. That brave service member did NOT volunteer to become a partisan pawn in a cable news sound bite --he/she volunteered to protect our nation and bring home Victory with Honor.

TODAY'S QUESTION: Can we put aside petty partisanship on matters of successfully prosecuting and provisioning the War on Terror until the victory has been concluded and our troops have safely returned?