I share the increasing frustration that millions of Americans feel with our situation in Iraq--the contrived reasons given for invading and the lack of any realistic plan for the aftermath of our invasion, and with the Bush Administration's failure to state clearly what has to happen for our military to come home.

The Administration has said simply that we should stay the course, but has not declared our port of destination. It is hard to believe there is a course, that we are not simply drifting rudderless.

Our military forces have served admirably. Through no fault of our troops, most Iraqis now see them as an occupying army.

Many Iraqis believe that the United States intends to occupy Iraq on a long-term basis and dominate the elected Iraqi government, rather than to respect that government as the legitimate government of a fully sovereign nation.

Iraqis' suspicions about our intentions undermine the legitimacy of the Iraqi government, and fuel the insurgency that continues unabated.

If our presence in Iraq is truly not for Iraq's oil or for a permanent staging area for military operations in that part of the world, we need to say so. We need to state clearly that we do not intend a long-term occupation of Iraq and that Iraqis will decide their own future.

I have sponsored a joint resolution (see below) requiring the President to submit a detailed plan to Congress for ending the occupation of Iraq, including a near-term reduction of United States forces. The resolution calls for more than the platitudes that we "stay the course" or "finish the job."

We demand that the President clearly state the remaining mission of our military in Iraq, and the time period that the President believes will be necessary to accomplish that mission.

To achieve a stable democracy in Iraq, we need to change what Iraqi insurgents are fighting against. Until we say credibly, out loud, that our military is not there to stay, Iraqis will see the insurgents as fighting a foreign occupation, rather than fighting their own elected government.

On October 25, 2005, Brad Miller gave a floor speech about his Iraqi joint resolution, which urges an exit plan from Iraq.
Read a transcript [1] of Brad's speech.

Download House Joint Resolution 70 [2] (12K PDF file)