Congress has acted.

Both the House and Senate have passed a Supplemental Appropriations Bill that fully funds our troops and provides a plan to responsibly end the war.

George Bush has repeatedly threatened to veto this bill. However I know that you and the majority of Americans support our legislation. We only have a few days to get that message through to the President. Tell George Bush:

Listen to the American people - don't veto the Supplemental Appropriations Bill

The President has put our troops in the middle of an endless Iraqi civil war. That's why a majority of Americans, a bipartisan majority in Congress and the Iraq Study Group believe that this war cannot be won militarily and the current path is not sustainable.

George Bush and Dick Cheney know their strategy has failed and they are now desperately grasping at straws, attacking anyone trying to responsibly bring our troops home. Instead of debating policy or working towards consensus, the Bush administration has resorted to name-calling. For example several days ago Dick Cheney came up to Capitol Hill and accused me of "defeatism."

Well I'm not going to get into a name-calling match with somebody who has a 9 percent approval rating. Instead I am going to spend my time working to change course in Iraq. Tell George Bush:

Listen to the American people - don't veto the Supplemental Appropriations Bill

A veto will deny our troops the resources they need, and send exactly the wrong message to Iraq's political leaders. After more than four years of a failed policy, it's time for us to change course.

I wanted to share a speech I delivered today:

We are at a critical point in the Iraq war and in the Iraq debate here at home. I am proud of the role the Senate and the House are playing in this historic debate. It is a constructive - and long overdue - effort to put some spine in our policy.

The very existence of this debate has already helped. The President's own Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, said that debate is essential to progress, that our efforts have been helpful to communicate to the Iraqis that American patience is limited.

Secretary Gates is right: American patience is limited. As the peoples' representatives, our patience is also limited.

Back in December, the Iraq Study Group said that "the situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating." Unfortunately, since then nothing has changed.

And yet the President on Friday used the word "progress" no fewer than ten times when he gave his Iraq update.

He said that while there were still horrific attacks in Baghdad - and I quote - "The direction of the fight is beginning to shift." In describing his escalation of American troops - what he calls a surge - he said, "so far the operation is meeting expectations."

The White House transcript says the President made those remarks in the State of Michigan. I believe he made them in the state of denial.

These are the facts on the ground, the hard truths facing our heroic troops on the front lines:

-- American casualties are increasing, not decreasing. Four coalition troops have been killed each day this month, making it one of the deadliest months in the war in over two years. My home state of Nevada has lost 27 since the war began, and hundreds remain in harm's way, facing some of the most violent days since the war began.

-- Untold thousands of Iraqi civilians have died, while over two million more have fled the country as refugees.

-- The President used to talk a lot about establishing benchmarks for the Iraqi government. Yet despite our surge in troops and spending, they have failed to take meaningful steps toward achieving them.

-- Militias have not been disbanded and continue to cause terror. And now the Iraqi government itself, once the Bush Administration's greatest pride, stands on the brink of chaos.

-- Progress on amending the Constitution in order to ensure minority rights has languished, giving further fuel to the sectarian infighting.

-- Power, clean water and oil production - all of which are critical to establishing any kind of economic stability - are still not meeting minimum targets - leaving millions in despair.

-- 70% of Iraqi children are suffering from trauma like nightmares, bed wetting, stuttering and fear -- that some say could paralyze an entire generation that we had been counting on to harvest the seeds of democracy.

-- And to make up for shortages of combat-ready troops, tours of duty have been extended, recently from 12 to 15 months, with many soldiers now on their third or fourth tour.

Read More