Key Points: Republicans, Democrats, and the overwhelming majority of the American people oppose President Bush's plan to escalate the war in Iraq. Congressional hearings are revealing how flawed the President's plan is. Escalating the war is the wrong direction and does not make our nation more secure.

Iraq

The American people demanded a new direction in Iraq. By escalating the war, President Bush is taking our country in the wrong direction.

President Bush will not get a blank check from Congress. His plan is opposed by Republicans, by Democrats, by military leaders, and by the overwhelming majority of the American people.

Instead of escalating the war, Democrats believe that the way forward includes:

• Shifting the principal mission of our forces from combat to training, logistics, force protection, and activities to counter terrorism;
• Beginning the phased redeployment of our forces in the next four to six months;
• Implementing an aggressive diplomatic strategy, both within the region and beyond, to help the Iraqis achieve a sustainable political settlement, including amending their constitution.

The American people demanded a change of course in Iraq. The Congress intends to press President Bush to provide it.

Ethics Reform

The American people demanded change at home and abroad, and the 110th Congress is ready to respond with the toughest ethics reform in a generation.

Democrats and Republicans have joined together to close the revolving door between K Street and the Capitol, eliminate "dead-of-night" legislating in conference reports, add new rules to restore fiscal discipline, and bring greater transparency to the earmark process.

Democrats have gone even farther, working to ban gifts even from companies that employ lobbyists; to ban travel paid for by companies that employ lobbyists; and to clean up the practice of traveling on private planes.

Ethics reform in the Senate is comprehensive and the most sweeping in a generation. It is what's needed to clean up Washington, and exactly the kind of action Americans demanded when they called for change last November