Harry Reid:

"It is dark in Washington.  It is dawn in Baghdad.  Six thousand miles from here, 160,000 American troops are awakening to a new day - the 1,582nd day of this war.  One hundred sixty- thousand of our sons, daughters, parents, friends and neighbors, are rising on foreign sand to face another day of violence, chaos and constant danger.

"The high temperature in Baghdad today is 113 degrees.  But our troops will wear their 100 pounds of gear and bravely go about the jobs that they are given.  By nightfall, it is likely that some of them will die.  It is certain that more will be wounded.  The rest will end another day on foreign sand, not knowing when they will come home to American soil.

"Those 160,000 troops are heroes.  Every single one of them.  They are serving with courage despite enormous hardships and without even proper equipment.  They are serving with courage despite a President who took us into war falsely, prematurely and recklessly.  They are serving with courage despite a President who refused to form a coalition of nations to share their awful burden of sacrifice.  They are serving with courage despite a President who has never had a plan for peace.  And they are serving with courage despite Republicans in Congress who are blocking us from passing laws that will bring a responsible end to the war.

"I want everyone here tonight - every American from coast to coast - to know that we won't stop fighting until we end this war.  That is what this night is all about.

"But we all know this debate won't end tonight.  It won't end because for all the encouraging words we've heard from some Republicans these past few weeks, too few of them are willing to vote the right way too.  It won't end because the majority of Republicans continue to ignore the will of the majority of Americans - and continue to protect the President instead of our troops.

"You are holding candles tonight to honor those troops who have made the ultimate sacrifice and all of those who remain in harm's way.  But you are also holding candles to shine a bright light on the Republicans in Congress who continue to stand in the way of progress.  You will keep the pressure on them.  We will keep the pressure on them.  And together, you - and we - will deliver the new direction that our troops and all Americans demand and deserve."

Nancy Pelosi:

   Thank you very much Leader Reid. It's an honor to be with you here tonight and to be with our veterans, our Iraq vets, who bring us their firsthand testimony about the need to end the war in Iraq.

   The presence of our Iraq veterans here tonight affords us the opportunity to thank them and all of our men and women in uniform for their service, the sacrifices they and their families are willing to make, and their patriotism. We are proud of them and express our appreciation for them.

   I also want to thank you, Senator Reid, for giving us the opportunity to thank Americans United and others who are helping to spread the word across the country as to why and what the barriers are to bringing legislation to the Senate floor to end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home.

   We are gathered here tonight in a 'Candlelight Call to Action.' As we stand here with our call to action, on the Senate floor the Republicans are impeding the opportunity for the voices of the American people to be heard by denying a vote against the President's policy in Iraq. That is why we are here - to send a message to the American people that the reason it is impossible to put the legislation on the President's desk over and over again is because over and over again the Republicans in the United States Senate say 'No' to the American people. They will not allow a vote on bringing the troops home.

   Last week in the House of Representatives, we successfully passed the equivalent of the Levin-Reed legislation with a timetable. I salute Senator Levin and Senator Reed for their leadership in putting on the table legislation with a timeline to redeploy the troops and a time certain to bring them home. Thank you Chairman Levin, thank you Senator Reed.

   So I have one question for all of you: Are we united in speaking out against the Republican obstructionism on the floor of the United States Senate? If we are united let us respectfully proceed and listen to our Senators and bear witness to the obstructionism of the Republicans, and bear witness to their just saying 'No' to having a vote on Levin-Reed.

   If we are unified then we will be successful and we will soon have the vote on Levin-Reed to end the war and bring the troops home.