Washington – Colorado’s delegation in the House split along party lines Thursday in votes to pull all combat troops out of Iraq by April 1.
Democratic Reps. Diana DeGette of Denver, Ed Perlmutter of Golden, John Salazar of Manassa and Mark Udall of Eldorado Springs voted yes. Republican Reps. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs and Marilyn Musgrave of Fort Morgan voted no. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Littleton missed the vote. He was giving a speech in Detroit.
The Democrats issued these statements:
“We cannot continue to stay the course of a failed policy,” Salazar said. “It is time for the Iraqis to begin taking responsibility for their own security and the future of their country.”
Udall said reports of a resurgent al-Qaeda cast doubt on President Bush’s claim that the war in Iraq is helping the U.S. win the war on terror.
“We also face the military reality that our armed forces cannot continue a sustained deployment in the middle of a civil war,” he said.
Bush’s plan is “not working, and the evidence of failure is mounting,” said DeGette.
“President Bush announced his troop ‘surge’ six months ago. During that time about 600 troops have been killed, 3,000 have been wounded, and $60 billion has been spent,” she said.
“This administration needs to know how determined the House is to end this misadventure of the Bush administration, and start redeploying our troops safely and responsibly home and to nearby bases in the region by the spring of 2008,” Perlmutter said.
Lamborn’s spokesman, Chris Harvin, said, “With such an importance to national security and the lives of our men and women in uniform who represent our great country, it is regrettable some politicians want to politicize this issue by voting for something that doesn’t stand a chance of passing and is not in the best interest of our troops.”
Musgrave did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
