Feingold Leading the Way to End the War

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) is leading the way in the Senate to end the war in Iraq. Last week Sen. Feingold held hearings about Congress's consitutional authority to end the war. Here is Feingold's opening statement from the hearings...



Feingold then introduced legislation calling for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq in six months and prohibiting funds for continued operations after six months. Feingold then issued this strong statement about Congress's power to end the war (emphasis added is mine)...

“By passing my legislation, Congress can respond to the will of the American people and force the President to safely bring our forces out of Iraq,” Feingold said. “With the President set on pursuing his failed policies in Iraq, Congress has the duty to stand up and use its power to stop him. If Congress doesn’t stop this war, it’s not because it doesn’t have the power -- it’s because it doesn’t have the will.”

Also, Feingold, along with Sen. Chris Dodd, called the non-binding Warner/Levin resolution a mistake. Feingold went on to say...

I oppose the weak Warner-Levin resolution as currently written because it misunderstands the situation in Iraq and shortchanges our national security interests. The resolution rejects redeploying U.S. troops and supports moving a misguided military strategy from one part of Iraq to another. The American people have rejected the President’s Iraq strategy and it’s time for Congress to end our military involvement in this war. We must redeploy our troops from Iraq so that we can focus on the global threats that face us.

Feingold was the first Senator to call for a timeline to redeploy troops out of Iraq back in August of 2005. It is just now that other Senators are catching up. Now Feingold is looking ahead and offering a plan, will others follow or stay a step behind Feingold?