Jon Tester for U.S. Senate

“I support the war in Afghanistan, I support the War on Terror, and I fully support our troops in Iraq and everywhere they serve. However, President Bush was too quick to declare victory in Iraq, and he was unprepared for the insurgency that followed.

“It is time for the President to articulate a clear exit strategy for American troops from Iraq. An open-ended occupation is not in the best interests of the United States, the Iraqi people, or the Middle East. The time has come to support our troops by laying out a plan to bring them home.�

-Jon Tester

Background

On October 11, 2002, the U.S. Senate voted to authorize war with Iraq. That vote was based on evidence provided by the Bush Administration that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. We now know that the Administration’s evidence was not accurate.

The war in Iraq has diverted the United States from necessary missions in Afghanistan and against terror networks around the globe, drawing resources from these crucial fronts.

Our President and his advisers were too quick to declare victory and too slow to put together a successful strategy for containing the insurgency that followed. I believe it is improper and imprudent to enter a war without any idea of how to leave. But that is now the situation this Administration finds itself in in Iraq.

Our continued presence in Iraq is undermining National Security in four ways, creating a security gap here at home:

1. By relying heavily on Reserve and National Guard units, the President has depleted our supply of first responders here at home, heavily undermining our ability to respond quickly and appropriately to domestic catastrophes. This problem was only highlighted by the all-too-slow response to Hurricane Katrina.

2. By failing to provide a timeline for withdrawal in Iraq, the Administration has allowed insurgents in Iraq to portray the American presence there as an open-ended occupation. Providing an exit strategy will undermine the recruitment of terrorist networks in Iraq as well as place clear pressure on Iraqi leaders to take responsibility for governing their own nation.

3. The continued cost of the war in Iraq, at $60 billion a year, is drawing resources away from Homeland Security, the War on Terror, and is exploding our deficit, undermining our economic security here at home.

4. In addition to taking military and economic resources away from larger threats to American security, Iraq has distracted America’s attention from important threats, including terrorist networks like al Qaeda and nuclear proliferation in North Korea and Iran. The sooner we have a successful strategy in Iraq, the sooner we can turn our attention to these pressing dangers.

Some of our best retired generals who understand the situation in Iraq have argued that an exit strategy for American troops from Iraq by the end of 2006 is feasible and in the best interests of America.

The President and the U.S. Congress need to put a successful exit strategy in place to bring our troops home. Additionally, we need to consider redeploying some of these troops to Afghanistan and other critical fronts in the War on Terror.

The time has simply come for us to have a plan in Iraq so that our nation can turn its attention, and its economic and military resources, toward pressing economic and homeland security needs.

[Jon sent the following email to members of the campaign earlier this morning.]

Over the last five years, radical activists have been waging a stealth campaign targeting reproductive freedom???and the choice they are targeting is whether Americans should be able to plan their families.

We??re not talking about access to abortion. We??re talking about access to contraception.

Contraception shouldn??t be a controversial issue. It prevents unintended pregnancies and prevents abortions.

Indeed, it??s the very medical breakthrough that has made widespread responsible family planning possible.

It wasn??t until the mid-1960s that women had legal access to contraception. Now women and families need to have access to contraception in health coverage.

Yet today there is a quiet war being waged regarding access to contraception. And here in Montana, most insurance plans don??t cover birth control, even when they cover Viagra.

I don??t think that??s right.

I have requested a legal opinion from the Attorney General of Montana to clarify whether insurance companies that provide prescription drug coverage must also, by law, cover contraception.

I think we have a good case and that we??ll prevail on this issue. The law is on our side. That??s good.

This is an issue of fairness and basic health for Montanans. It also gets to the heart of Montana values ??? freedom, choice, and responsibility. This is about making sure women and families have access to health coverage and Montanans can make their own decisions.

That means that soon, in Montana, women and families will have the insurance coverage they need and deserve.

That??s the sort of thing we should all be able to agree on.

Sincerely,

Jon Tester

PS Help us bring Montana values to Washington by forwarding this email to your friends and family, and asking them to join the campaign at http://www.testerforsenate.com/join/. Or make a financial contribution at: http://www.testerforsenate.com/contribute/.

The Billings Gazette editorial page this morning nails it on Country of Origin Labeling. They note that virtually everything except meat has a nice label explaining where it came from, but what we do for tortilla companies, we can’t do for American ranchers for some reason.

But the problem isn’t necessarily the commitment of Montana or Wyoming Republicans. It’s that their party leadership in Washington is so beholden to special interests that they won’t even pay attention to members of their own caucus:

Wyoming’s U.S. senators, Mike Enzi and Craig Thomas, both Republicans, jointly called for conferees to block efforts to delay COOL. The Wyoming duo has introduced legislation to move up labeling implementation to January 2006. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., also has been a vocal proponent of COOL. Likewise, U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns last week said he is “furious” with the latest delay. But these Montana and Wyoming Republicans have been unable to sway their party.

In Montana, state Sen. Jon Tester, D-Big Sandy, a candidate for the Senate seat Burns now holds, was the chief sponsor of Montana COOL legislation that was signed into law to take effect next year, if the federal law doesn’t.

When Democrats took back the reins of power here in Montana, it took the leadership of Jon Tester, Brian Schweitzer, and Bob Bergren one session to deliver on COOL. We’ve been waiting 4 years at the federal level. It looks like it might be time for change in Washington.