GOP Leader Discusses Afghanistan, Requiring 72 Hour Review of All Bills and Health Care at Weekly Press Briefing

BOEHNER CALLS ON PRESIDENT OBAMA TO CLARIFY AFGHANISTAN STRATEGY, ALLOW GENERAL MCCHRYSTAL TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS:

"I now feel more strongly than ever that the administration must allow General McChrystal to testify before the Congress on how best to implement the President's stated strategy for achieving our goals in Afghanistan. The goal's been clear: to deny Al Qaida and the Taliban a safe haven from which to plan, execute and organize more attacks on Americans. President Obama has reinforced this plan many times, including in March when he endorsed his counterinsurgency proposal to achieve this goal.  General McChrystal's assessment makes clear that we need more troops for an effective counterinsurgency strategy to secure Afghanistan from -- against a radical terrorist threat.

"But now the President is reportedly questioning his own strategy and may actually change the mission and simply focus on rooting out Al Qaida in Pakistan.  Make no mistake: Allowing Afghanistan to become a safe haven for the Taliban is the quickest way to make sure that Al Qaida returns to that country. And I don't think we can allow that to happen.  It's time for the President to clarify where he stands, because the longer we wait, the more we put our troops in risk that are there today.  Republicans want to work with the President.  And I know this is a tough issue, I know it's complicated, and I know it's hard.  But we're here to do the right thing on behalf of our country and the right thing on behalf of our troops.  And if General McChrystal believes that without timely reinforcements our efforts may end in failure, then I think we need to give him the resources he needs to achieve his goals.  If we abandon Afghanistan, it will return to a safe haven for the Taliban and Al Qaida to plan and execute more attacks on Americans.  And my question is: If the President won't make this case, who will?"

BOEHNER PRESSES SPEAKER PELOSI TO LET THE AMERICAN PEOPLE READ BILLS BEFORE CONGRESS VOTES:

"The American people have never been more engaged in public policy than they are right now, and they understand what's happening here in Washington.  And they know that this majority, especially on major bills this year, haven't given lawmakers any -- much, if any time to actually read the bill. We saw it in the stimulus bill. We saw it in the budget. And we saw it with our national energy tax.  And each time that this happens, the trust the American people have in their Congress gets undermined, and that's why I've signed a bipartisan discharge petition supporting a mandatory 72-hour public review period before bills are brought to the floor for a vote.  I've encouraged my Republican colleagues to sign this discharge petition, and I'm hopeful that the Democrats will, as well.

"It's time for Speaker Pelosi to allow this resolution to be brought to the floor and allow members to vote their conscience.  We need 218 votes to force this vote onto the floor if the speaker won't relent. And only House Democrats stand between us and the American people on this common-sense reform."

BOEHNER SAYS "LESSONS OF AUGUST" LOST ON DEMOCRATS, CITING SPEAKER PELOSI'S PUSH FOR EVEN MORE LIBERAL HEALTH CARE BILL:

"It appears that the lessons of August have been lost on Democrat leaders here in Washington.  Speaker Pelosi is now working on crafting a final bill here in the House that protects their massive tax increases, drastic cuts in Medicare, and the big government-run public option. In other words, it's just more of the same: job-killing, big government approach that the American people have made very clear that they're opposed to.  They've become fearful, I think, and even paranoid about American people learning more about what their proposal actually does. Washington bureaucrats have gone so far as to impose gag orders to keep seniors in the dark about the $500 billion in Medicare cuts that are being proposed.  Republicans are going to continue to stand on principle and give the American people the truth about what's in these bills."