Congress Approves Kerry Legislation Urging Summit of Iraq and Its Neighbors to End Civil War, Build Political Solution

The U.S. Congress approved Sen. John Kerry's legislation calling for a summit of Iraq and its neighbors to arrive at a political solution to the growing civil war in Iraq – part of Kerry’s plan to force Iraqis to stand up for Iraq and bring American troops home.

The Kerry summit language was passed as part of the Defense Authorization bill, and calls for an intense, Dayton Accords-like summit that brings together Iraq and its neighbors and others with a stake in Iraq’s future to hammer out issues from oil revenues and power sharing to a regional security arrangment.

“Anyone who is in touch with reality knows we desperately need to change course in Iraq, and that requires a deadline to make Iraqis stand up for Iraq,” said Senator John Kerry, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“It also desperately requires something else this administration disdains: diplomacy. Real diplomacy -- a Dayton-like summit of Iraq and the countries bordering it, the Arab League, NATO, and the Permanent Members of the United Nations Security Council. Our own generals have said Iraq can not be solved militarily. Only through negotiation and diplomacy can you stem the growing civil war, and only by setting a deadline to get out can we force Iraq and its neighbors to take diplomacy seriously. Congress has now spoken unequivocally about the need for a summit and real diplomacy, long overdue. Now we must continue to press the case to set a deadline and to do it now.”



Below is the text of the amendment passed by Congress:


SEC. 1229. SENSE OF CONGRESS CALLING FOR CONVENING OF A SUMMIT FOR A COMPREHENSIVE POLITICAL AGREEMENT FOR IRAQ.


IN GENERAL.—It is the sense of Congress that the President should continue working with the Government of Iraq and the United Nations to convene a summit as soon as possible after the enactment of this Act for the purpose of reaching a comprehensive political agreement for Iraq—

(1) that promotes the Government of Iraq’s National Reconciliation and Dialogue Plan of June 25,2006, which is designed to focus on many of the fundamental questions dividing Iraqis; and

(2) that address the issues of—

(A) federalism;

(B) the equitable distribution of oil revenues;:\TEMP\CONFRPT.XML HOLCPC

(C) the demobilization and reintegration of armed militias

(D) the inducement of the armed opposition to lay down their arms and join the political process, and

(E) the building of a renewed international partnership with Iraq aimed at encouraging the economic recovery and reconstruction of Iraq

(b) SUMMIT PARTICIPANTS.—A summit convened for the purpose stated in subsection (a) should include the following participants (as well as other appropriate participants):

(1) Representatives of Iraq’s neighbors.

(2) Representatives of the Arab League.

(3) The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

(4) Representatives of the European Union.

(5) Leaders of the governments of each permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

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http://mmdnewswire.com/content/view/609/5 /

JOHN KERRY VOTED MOST TRUSTED SENATOR OF 2006

On-line Newsletter Announces Poll Results

Blue Bell, PA, September 15, 2006: Senator John Kerry (D-MA) was voted “America's Most Trusted Senator” by the readers of the new on-line newsletter, the newpoliticalreview.com.

According to the newsletter's publisher, Anthony Mirabile, the purpose of the poll is to encourage ongoing involvement in the political process.

“Voting in elections is great,” he says, “but there's more to democracy than casting a vote every few years. Newpoliticalreview.com is about opening the lines of communication – between politicians and between voters and their elected representatives. We hope the poll is another tool to take the pulse of the nation.”

...

“The Kerry people are quite pleased,” says Mirabile. “This award is a real validation.”

Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts ignited us at the Take Back America conference by admitting that his 2002 vote for the resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq was wrong. “It is essential to acknowledge that the war itself was a mistake,” Kerry said, adding, “I was wrong to vote for that war resolution.” He received sustained applause and some cheers.

Contrast that with the comments of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has become famous for her assiduous courtship of the center — and at times, even the right — as well as her coy courtship with a 2008 presidential bid. While she criticized the Bush administration’s prosecution of the war and its “open-ended commitment,” she added that she believed it was wrong to “set a date certain” for withdrawal. She received a scattering of applause and a number of boos.

.....

In direct contrast to Clinton’s refusal to back a firm deadline for troop withdrawal, Kerry said, “We need a hard and fast deadline” and a policy that demands that Iraqis take responsibility for their own security. He said that every movement in Iraq toward the establishment of a permament consensus government has been prompted by deadlines set by the Bush administration and coalition partners.

Kerry also offered a set of principles he said progressives should stand for:

• Tell the truth to the American people.

• “Fire the incompetents” and hold government accountable.

• Make America secure by making America energy independent.

• “Value work, not wealth.”

• Export products, not jobs.

• Provide affordable health care for all Americans.

• Address global warming and the pollution of our air and water.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/06/1...

U.S. Senator John Kerry and Journalist Gwen Ifill to Speak at May 15 Emerson College Commencement Ceremonies
04/20/06

Politics and world affairs will take center stage at Emerson College’s 126th annual Commencement exercises on Monday, May 15, with addresses by U.S. Senator John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and journalist Gwen Ifill. Kerry, who has served in the Senate since 1984 and was the Democratic nominee for president in 2004, will speak during undergraduate ceremonies, which begin at 11 a.m. at the Wang Center for the Performing Arts, 270 Tremont St. in Boston.


http://www.emerson.edu/news/index.cfm#4427

Dear Mr. President
Come take a walk with me
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep
What do you feel when you look in the mirror
Are you proud

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye
How do you walk with your head held high
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why

Dear Mr. President
Were you a lonely boy
Are you a lonely boy
Are you a lonely boy
How can you say
No child is left behind
We're not dumb and we're not blind
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pay the road to hell

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye
How do you walk with your head held high
Can you even look me in the eye

Let me tell you bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don't know nothing bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

How do you sleep at night
How do you walk with your head held high
Dear Mr. President
You'd never take a walk with me
Would you

Senator John Kerry made a slashing attack on the Bush administration yesterday, comparing it to the faltering government in Iraq and equating its war strategy with its planning for Hurricane Katrina, while also invoking Jesus as he criticized federal Medicaid policy.

Mr. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and his party's nominee for president in 2004, has been on a political and media blitz as he considers running for the White House again in 2008. In an Op-Ed article in The New York Times on Wednesday, Mr. Kerry proposed telling Iraqi leaders to form a unity government by May 15 or the United States military would withdraw.

He spoke by telephone yesterday to a political conference in New York City that was organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton, his friend from when they both ran for president in 2004.

Mr. Kerry, who was sometimes criticized as stiff and dour during the 2004 campaign, got several laughs, Mr. Sharpton said. At one point, Mr. Kerry, who has had his verbose moments, offered "a little 10-point plan" in response to complaints that neither Democrats nor Republicans have an agenda for the nation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/08/washingt...

"When it comes to issues of war and peace and young Americans dying, nobody spins me," Kerry announced early into a long and forceful rebuttal. "Period."

Kerry continued his argument that Iraq would respond to the deadline and form a government, allowing the U.S. to exit faster. This time, he directed his remarks squarely at Allard. "Let me ask the Senator from Colorado: Is it okay that young Americans are dying right now while politicians in Baghdad are frittering away the time and squandering the opportunity that our soldiers fought to give them?"

Kerry went on to cite observations made by the top U.S. General in Iraq, polls from U.S. troops, and Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi that seemed to contradict Allard's assessment that a plan was already in place to handle the situation, repeatedly asking if the Senator thinks he "knows better" than they.

Kerry's language became even more direct as he went on to blast Allard's assurances that the administration was credible on the topic of the war.