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... [A] big challenge our country faces is to re-build a number of our cities and at least three of our states after Hurricane Katrina. We cannot do this as long as we continue to make Iraq the 51st state! It is time we looked after our own backyard. We are spending more money in Iraq than rebuilding New Orleans, Biloxi, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. It is time to bring our troops home — especially the National Guard that was created to guard America and to deal with disasters in our own country rather than being sent to die in the deserts in Iraq. It is time to put America first.

-- Former Sen. and ex-Veterans Affairs Secretary Max Cleland