Pelosi: I would not give Congress high marks on ending the war

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday that she would not give Congress high marks with regard to ending the war in Iraq, adding that she understands voter dissatisfaction on the issue that has sent the congressional approval rating tumbling.

{mosads}Pelosi said Democrats are “doing all we can to change the debate” but stressed that they do not have the kind of power that the White House has.

The speaker, in an interview aired on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” stated it was ironic that, as an outspoken opponent to the Iraq campaign, anti-war activists are targeting her now. However, Pelosi added that she understands and respects the frustrations of the Democratic base.

“We will continue to pass legislation to make that point [that the war should end],” she said. “And we happen to be blocked by a 60-vote hurdle in the Senate, but the public doesn’t want — care about that. They just want us to end the war.”

Pelosi also said that she would not bring up to a vote language that designates Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization. The measure had passed in the Senate earlier this year.

She restated, however, that the House would take up a resolution labeling the mass killings by Armenians early last century “genocide” over the strong objections from the administration and the Turkish government.

Pelosi said that President Bush had never raised the issue with her in person to make his case against the resolution. The administration is concerned that passing the language would have negative effects on the mission in Iraq, pointing to the importance of Turkey as an ally in the campaign.

Pelosi said now is the time to take up action on the Armenian issue because the last of the survivors are dying.

“Some of the things that are harmful to our troops relate to values — Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, torture. All of those [are] issues about who we are as a country,” Pelosi said. “And I think that our troops are well-served when we declare who we are as a country and increase the respect that people have for us as a nation.”

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said on Fox News Sunday that there is “no question that the suffering of the Armenian people some 90 years ago was extreme.” However, he added that those events “ought to be a subject for historians to sort out, not politicians here in Washington.”

“Bringing this bill to the floor may be the most irresponsible thing I’ve seen this new Congress do this year,” Boehner said.