The Hill, DC
Oct 14 2007

Pelosi: I would not give Congress high marks on ending the war

By Klaus Marre
October 14, 2007

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday that she would not
give Congress high marks with regard to ending the war in Iraq,
adding that she understands voter dissatisfaction on the issue that
has sent the congressional approval rating tumbling.

Pelosi said Democrats are `doing all we can to change the debate’ but
stressed that they do not have the kind of power that the White House
has.

The speaker, in an interview aired on ABC’s `This Week with George
Stephanopoulos,’ stated it was ironic that, as an outspoken opponent
to the Iraq campaign, anti-war activists are targeting her now.
However, Pelosi added that she understands and respects the
frustrations of the Democratic base.

`We will continue to pass legislation to make that point [that the
war should end],’ she said. `And we happen to be blocked by a 60-vote
hurdle in the Senate, but the public doesn’t want — care about that.
They just want us to end the war.’

Pelosi also said that she would not bring up to a vote language that
designates Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist
organization. The measure had passed in the Senate earlier this year.

She restated, however, that the House would take up a resolution
labeling the mass killings by Armenians early last century `genocide’
over the strong objections from the administration and the Turkish
government.

Pelosi said that President Bush had never raised the issue with her
in person to make his case against the resolution. The administration
is concerned that passing the language would have negative effects on
the mission in Iraq, pointing to the importance of Turkey as an ally
in the campaign.

Pelosi said now is the time to take up action on the Armenian issue
because the last of the survivors are dying.

`Some of the things that are harmful to our troops relate to values
— Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, torture. All of those [are] issues about
who we are as a country,’ Pelosi said. `And I think that our troops
are well-served when we declare who we are as a country and increase
the respect that people have for us as a nation.’

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