Statement by John Edwards Urging Senators To Support Reid-Feingold Iraq Bill

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Senator John Edwards released the following statement today urging Senators to support the Reid-Feingold Iraq bill.

"It is time to end this war. The only real power Congress has to end the war is their funding power, which is why I and others have been calling on them to use it for some time.

"I would actually go further than Reid-Feingold and use the funding authority, not just to set an ultimate deadline, but to force an immediate withdrawal of 40-50,000 troops, followed by a complete withdrawal in about a year. But using the funding authority to bring this war to an end is exactly the right thing to do. Every Senator who believes this war is wrong and wants to end it should support Reid-Feingold.

"And nobody should buy into the president's false charge that cutting off funds for his failed war isn't supporting the troops. The best way to support the troops is to end this war and bring them home. That's what Congress did last month, and that's what they should keep doing until the president accepts the will of the American people and ends the war."

Edwards supports the Reid-Feingold bill, but thinks it should go further. Edwards has called for Congress to use its funding authority to stop the surge and end the war. His plan would cap funding for the troops in Iraq at 100,000 troops to stop the surge and implement an immediate drawdown of 40-50,000 combat troops, followed by an orderly withdrawal in about a year. Reid-Feingold uses funding to start withdrawing troops in four months and complete it by March 31, 2008.