When you witness the sacrifices our troops make every single day in Iraq, staying up all night to debate the issue of the Iraq War wasn't a burden - it was an honor.

As you may know, recently there was a very unusual all-night session in the United States Senate. The debate was over an amendment to bring our troops home from Iraq as soon as possible, as safely as possible.

I took to the Senate floor in the early hours of the morning. I’d like to share with you some of what I said: “This administration took its eye off the ball. Instead of capturing or killing Osama bin Laden, we are stuck in the middle of a civil war in Iraq with ever-escalating American casualties. That is why some of us in this Congress believe deep in our minds and in our souls that this carnage must end and we have to fight to bring our troops home from Iraq."

"The American people want Congress to step in and start to bring our troops home in a responsible way. The amendment … would begin to redeploy our troops out of Iraq within 120 days and remove all combat troops by the end of April of next year. Some American forces would remain to perform counterterrorism operations, protect U.S. personnel, and to train Iraqi forces."

"This amendment reflects the will of the American people, and it is a responsible way to phase our troops out of the civil war in Iraq.”

The Iraq war has made us less safe, and is costing too many American lives in the process. It is long past time for President Bush and his Republican followers in Congress to listen to the American people. We must change the course in Iraq and we must bring our troops home.