Remarks just delivered on the floor of the Senate by Senator John McCain:

Madame president, I think we ought to understand what this amendment is all about. In the view of the secretary of defense, he says, "as drafted, the amendment would dramatically limit the nation's ability to respond to other national security needs while we remain engaged in Iraq or Afghanistan." He goes on to say that the amendment would impose upon the president an unacceptable choice between accelerating the rate of drawdown significantly beyond what General Petraeus has recommended, which he and other senior military commanders believe would not be prudent and would put at real risk the gains we've made on the ground in Iraq over the past few months, and resorting to force management options that would damage the force and its effectiveness in the field. That's what this amendment is about. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that the president of the United States is deprived of the authority to decide when and where to send troops in time of war. Nowhere--nowhere in the history of this country have such restrictions been imposed or privileges assumed by the Congress of the United States. We have one commander in chief and one only, and to somehow assume that we would begin with Congress--535 commanders in chief--I think would reduce our ability to ever fight another war effectively.

But let me sum up, madame president, by saying clearly the message I'm getting from the troops in the field is not that 'the war is lost,' as the majority leader of the senate stated last April; we are succeeding and we are winning, and with the enactment of this amendment, we will choose to lose. This is setting a formula for surrender, not for victory. And I'm hearing from the troops in the field, madame president, three words. Three words. 'Let us win.' They've sacrificed a great deal, as the majority leader just described very dramatically. Now give them a chance to win. That's what they want. They don't want that sacrifice to be in vain. This amendment would do exactly what the secretary of defense says as well as other interested observers. I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment, allow this new strategy and this great general who the American people had a great opportunity to see last week as he spoke to the Congress and the American people. Madame president, reject this amendment and let us win.

Update: And the Webb Amendment fails.