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Since 1987, Nancy Pelosi has represented California's Eighth District in the House of Representatives. The Eighth District includes most of the City of San Francisco including Golden Gate Park, Fisherman's[…]

Yes, on many occasions, Pelosi says.

Question: Have you done enough to help get our troops out of Iraq?

Nancy Pelosi: Yes I do think that I, as Speaker of the House, I have done everything in my power to get our troops out of Iraq. On many occasions, more than five, we have sent legislation to the Senate with either a time certain for honoring their request, a goal for when our troops should come home.

Most recently, in this appropriations season for the supplemental when we said that the re-deployment should begin 30 days after enactment of the law--that's all that we can do in the House of Representatives. Because of the 60-vote requirement in the Senate, we have not been able to get legislation to the President's desk because the 60 votes requires Republican cooperation.

And so I believe that as soon as we have a new President, we will have better opportunity. On the other hand, not just strictly speaking about the withdrawal of troops, which is essential to our national security and to the stability of the region, we have also in the House made congressional oversight a priority, to hold this administration accountable, to not let stand statements that they make about what is happening in Iraq, to give the American people the ground truth of what is happening on the ground in Iraq and trying to impress upon the President [George W. Bush] the fact that the American people have left him long ago on this war.

We've been there two years longer than we were in World War II. It's long overdue time for us to bring our troops home safely, honorably, responsibly and soon. We should never have been there in the first place.

 

Recorded on: June 24, 2008

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