Eshoo rates Iraq as ‘blunder,’ defends refusal to impeach Bush

Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, admits extreme frustration with the administration’s handling of the war in Iraq.

“I think this is going to go down as the worst public policy blunder the country has every made,” Eshoo said in Scotts Valley Saturday, Oct. 13, pointing out the $10 billion the United States spends on the war every month.

But, despite his handling of the war, she won’t vote to impeach President George Bush, she said.

Eshoo wants a timeline for removing U.S. troops and has voted against funding the war. “We’re far from cutting our troops short,” she told the 80-member Town Hall audience. “There is enough money in the pipeline to last well through spring and possibly into next June.”

Some, including three men who stood up and asked loudly, inquired about why she isn’t pushing to impeach the president since she opposes the war policy.

“I’m not willing to bring everything to a halt,” Eshoo said. She experienced the process when President Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998. “It tears the country apart.”

Eshoo said she is unwilling to halt progress that Congress has made in the 30 weeks since Democrats came to majority power because of their accomplishments, she said.

The congresswoman voiced pride that Congress raised the federal minimum wage for the first time in 10 years and made the largest investment in student aid since the G.I. bill passed during World War II. Congress cut interest rates on federal student loans in half to help students pay for college without facing daunting debts after they graduate, she noted.

Eshoo is fighting unwarranted surveillance by the administration.

“Some people will give up their freedoms for security,” Eshoo said. “We don’t need to. I can tell you, we don’t need to. We cannot tolerate the warrantless surveillance of Americans.”

Eshoo reported on the Blackwater contractor scandal in Iraq, saying that it would haunt the U.S. for a long time, but Congress is taking the proper steps to find out the facts and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

As for Resolution 106 that labeled Armenian deaths during the time of the Ottoman Empire as “genocide,” Eshoo did not find the bill menacing as the Turks have claimed.

“I seriously doubt that the relationship (between the United States and Turkey) is seriously damaged because of something that happened 100 years ago.”    

Congress also passed new lobbying and ethics guidelines and Eshoo is pushing for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover an additional 5 million uninsured children, despite a presidential veto earlier this year. 

Eshoo voted for new veteran’s benefits bill, the largest so far, and pay-as-you-go rules that force Congress to identify funding sources for a bill before it can pass.

The congresswoman voted for a hate crimes prevention bill that passed and the Genetic Information Privacy Act which will protect the results of tests from insurers who might use genetic predisposition against applicants when setting their rates.

Eshoo, whose 14th District covers much of Silicon Valley and reaches into Scotts Valley, San Lorenzo Valley and Bonny Doon, said she was pleased to see a large crowd, comparing the scene to a Norman Rockwell painting.

“It means a great deal to have constituents that come out and care,” she said with a smile.

Contact Rep. Eshoo:

Phone: (202) 225-8104 . Fax: (202) 225-8890