REPUBLICAN MEMBERS OF THE SENATE HOLD A MEDIA AVAILABILITY ON IRAQ TROOP DEPLOYMENTS.

Original Source: Political Transcript Wire

SENATE REPUBLICANS HOLD A MEDIA AVAILABILITY ON IRAQ TROOP DEPLOYMENT

JUNE 21, 2006

SPEAKERS: U.S. SENATOR CHRISTOPHER S. (KIT) BOND (R-MO)

U.S. SENATOR SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R-GA)

U.S. SENATOR JON KYL (R-TX)

U.S. SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY) [*] MCCONNELL: Hello, everyone.

As all of you obviously know, we're in the process of having I think -- or about to have -- one of the better debates that we've had in the Senate in recent years on Iraq policy.

Last week, we had an opportunity to vote on the cut-and-run proposal of Senator Kerry. It only got six votes.

Later, we'll get a chance to vote on Senator Kerry's most recent proposal, which could best be described as a dart board date -- it looks as if he's thrown a dart and picked a new date of next summer -- and Senator Levin's proposal, which is also a withdrawal proposal, but crafted in a slightly different way.

So we've defeated cut-and-run; we're going to vote on dart board date; and then we're going to vote on cut-and-jog.

But the Republicans are largely unified. You will notice that we have not offered an alternative. We feel very confident in having this debate. And it's been interesting to watch the Democrats debate among themselves exactly what position they might have.

I think you will see demonstrated the Republicans are largely unified.

With that, let me turn it over to Senator Bond, who has an interesting angle.

BOND: I think all of us here in Washington know that the release of the recent information captured at the time of the death of Zarqawi indicates that the terrorists feel they're losing and that time is on our side, not their side.

We know that a national unity government has been formed; we know that we are taking out terrorists; and the military in Iraq is in the position where it can assume control some time in the near future of the area. We're still working on training police.

The interesting question is what would a timetable for withdrawal do? Speaking for young men and women who had served in Iraq, their first…