[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 102 (Wednesday, July 24, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1332-E1333]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ENVISIONING A NEW AMERICA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 23, 2002

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, on July 6th when I began the trip from 
Cleveland, I caught a glimpse of a misty rainbow, evanescent in a 
nearly cloudless western sky. It is one of nature's paradoxes that you 
do not need rain to have a rainbow. A many colored, broad spectrum 
reality can be perceived at any time if we train ourselves to look for 
that light. When a storm does occur, the rainbow is nature's gift. How 
brilliant is a rainbow against a very dark sky.
  Hope informs us to look for light in all situations, under all 
conditions, in all persons, in all nations. How important it is at this 
time in our nation's history that we attempt to comprehend the light 
which shines in the darkness. How important it is that we grasp how a 
shaft of light can spring from the luminous nature of our own hearts 
and light a new path for ourselves, our loved ones, the nation we love 
and a world so in need of love.
  Today, even as we celebrate the red, white and blue, our nation is 
bathed in the off colors of threat levels of conjured attacks. We are 
cautioned to be ever on the alert, to beware the stranger, to travel 
warily, to watch the crowds, to watch the skies. We are offered the 
strange solace of nuclear weapons we should never wish to use, missile 
systems which do not work, metal detectors, bomb sniffing dogs, war 
planes patrolling our major cities, the FBI marching parade routes and 
attending religious services. And we are told to have a nice day.
  The projections of a menacing external environment breeds fear which 
percolates paranoia which becomes withdrawal and isolation.
  Americans know intuitively fear is not our home. Indomitability 
fostered Independence. Courage created a Constitution. Fearlessness 
birthed freedom. Francis Scott Key's Star Spangled Banner gave insight 
into the American character when, in the closing lines he asked: ``Oh 
say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave, o'er the land of the Free 
and the home of the Brave.'' Key made a connection between freedom and 
bravery. At Gettysburg, Lincoln declaimed we were ``conceived in 
Liberty'' and asked whether a nation so conceived could endure a Civil 
War.
  It is worth asking today if a nation conceived in Liberty can long 
endure. A war on terrorism, where fear and democracy are at odds. It is 
worth contemplating the cost to liberty in the face of assertions that 
the only way we can protect our freedoms is to become more dependent on 
the armed power of government, or to give up some of our constitutional 
rights.
  It is only courage which can meet the thief at the door or the 
terrorist in the crowd. It is only courage which gives us the ability 
to recite resolutely Lincoln's prayer that a ``government of the 
people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish''. It is 
only courage which can enable us to see with our heart the 
possibilities which still exist for America as the nation of our 
dreams, as a beacon of hope for the world.
  So today let us begin the work of summoning all the love and courage 
we have in our hearts and send it out as a stream of brilliant light to 
lift the darkness which has dropped like a shroud over the 
consciousness of some of our countrymen and women.
  Today let us envision a new role for America in the world. Let that 
vision be informed by the immortal intimations of our founders. Let 
that vision spring from our spiritual intuition. Let that vision be 
expressed in our every word. Let that vision leap from the golden 
chalice of our hearts. Let that vision be incarnated through our hands. 
Let us fashion a new nation through a new vision, filled with new hope 
from which new possibilities arise.
  Let America begin anew in Afghanistan. Stop the bombing. We have no 
quarrel with the Afghan people. The Taliban are overthrown. Al Queda 
has fled. Bin Laden has vanished. And yet the bombs still drop, 
indiscriminately. Is there any American who has not been shaken at the 
mere thought of the horror of U.S. warplanes bombing a wedding 
celebration in the village of Kakrak, killing dozens of innocent 
civilians?
  Whatever moral authority our nation had at the beginning of the 
conflict is rapidly being lost. This act does not represent America. 
Democracy does not wed terror. This act must not be cloaked in the 
irresponsible and inhuman euphemism of ``collateral damage''. Stop the 
bombing. Let an international police force continue in Afghanistan. Let 
the humble people of Afghanistan be spared friendly fire issued from 
skies. Enough of bombing the villages to save the villages! Stop the 
bombing!
  Let America begin anew in Iraq. Stop planning for an invasion. The 
lives of a quarter of a million young American men and women must not 
be placed in jeopardy. Put a renewed emphasis on preventive diplomacy 
instead of pre-emptive strikes. Practice deterrence. Practice 
containment. Do not practice war in Iraq. Practice instead humanitarian 
aid to children who are dying because hospitals lack medical supplies. 
If Saddam Hussein would visit destruction upon his people let us not 
compound their woes.
  Let America begin anew by putting an end to the Bomb as the ultimate 
metaphor. Let us lead the way towards the abolition of nuclear weapons. 
Let us set aside plans for a missile shield. Let us end the manufacture 
of new nuclear weapons. Let us stop the testing of nuclear weapons. Let 
us disavow any right to a nuclear first strike. Let us begin again to 
work toward nonproliferation worldwide and secure the goal of the 
Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty which is a world free of nuclear 
threats. Let us put an end to the bomb as the ultimate metaphor.
   Let America once again confirm its leadership and secure its 
position as a righteous nation among nations by fully participating in 
the global community through treaty-making and upholding international 
law. Let us reinstate the ABM Treaty, so that all nations who possess 
or would possess nuclear weapons can trust the United States will not 
try to gain advantage.
  Let America fulfill a half century commitment to the use of outer 
space for peaceful purposes by setting aside plans to weaponize space 
and leading the way to ban all weapons in space, which is the purpose 
of HR 3616.
  Let America commit to the Kyoto Treaty to protect this planet earth 
and to assure all nations that we recognize our responsibility to limit 
the production of greenhouse gases. In this we demonstrate an 
understanding of the interconnectedness of all life. In this we ensure 
the life of the planet far into the future. In this we show confidence 
in the future. In this we show a love of life.
  Let America spare this planet and its people the scourge of 
biological and chemical weapons by leading the way toward world-wide 
agreement of the Biological and Chemical weapons conventions.
  Let America commit itself to the Landmine Treaty and the Small Arms 
Treaty.
  Let America pledge itself to justice everywhere by supporting the 
International Criminal Court.
  Let us bring a new awareness to America. One which speaks and listens 
compassionately to those with whom we disagree. One whose power derives 
from the morality of our principles, not the armaments of our military.
  Let America lead the way for a world at peace through inclusionary 
governance, upholding human rights, protecting workers' rights 
everywhere, assuring sustainability through enabling renewable energy 
resources to be brought forth.
  Let America replace its principles of perpetual war with new 
organizing principles which protect the natural world, and affirm the 
interconnectedness of all life. Let us make nonviolence an organizing 
principle in our society through the creation of a Department of Peace.
  Let us be the generation which began the work with people of all 
nations which leads to the day when war itself becomes archaic. ``Not 
to believe in the possibility of permanent peace is to disbelieve the 
godliness of human nature'' said Gandhi.
  We can evolve. We can understand that war, violent death, the arms 
race, threats, terror, environmental destruction, adverse global 
climate change, corporate corruption, poverty, ignorance and sickness 
are not our ultimate destiny. Our eternal home is not eternal darkness. 
We are made for something better, a higher purpose, a higher calling 
here and now.

[[Page E1333]]

  The world's ills represent conditions which are not beyond our 
understanding nor beyond our control, but which yield to human 
intelligence, the wisdom of the human heart and the aspirations of the 
human spirit.
  As we face uncertain times, let us call upon our capacity for love. 
Let us call upon our capacity for hope. Let us call upon our capacity 
to believe in ourselves and in each other. Let us call upon our 
capacity to make a difference. Let us call upon our capacity to evolve 
as a nation. Let us call upon our recognition of the power of unity 
which brings us here, and which enables us to envision the America of 
our fondest dreams.

                          ____________________