[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 60 (Tuesday, May 4, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H2523-H2524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       MISTAKES OF THE PRESIDENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee ) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me first thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Brown) for organizing tonight's series of statements about the 
consequences of the Bush administration's tragic and terrible 
decisions.
  Now, last month, the President stated that he could not really think 
of a single particular mistake that he had made in office, though he 
conceded that he must have made some. Even worse, the President was 
either unable or unwilling to say what lessons he had learned from the 
process.
  Now, tonight some of us are here to talk about the administration's 
decisions because, quite frankly, ``mistake'' is far too soft a word. 
It almost makes it sound like an accident. We are also here to talk 
about the consequences and the lessons that the entire world is 
learning from this administration.
  Now, in the newspapers and on television in the past week we have all 
seen the horrifying pictures of American soldiers torturing, tormenting 
and humiliating Iraqi prisoners. We all know that this does not 
characterize the tens of thousands of brave men and women serving in 
Iraq, but we do note that it endangers their lives.
  These pictures are horrifying, both because of the callous disregard 
for human rights that they show by individual American soldiers but 
also for the far more fundamental failures at the highest levels of 
leadership, failures that began with an administration that led the 
Nation to war under false pretenses.
  The pictures are also horrifying for their consequences. What will 
happen to the next American soldiers or civilian captured? If we, the 
world's most powerful military country and greatest democracy, will not 
abide by the Geneva Convention and international law, then who will?
  What will happen to our already devastated international reputation?
  The Washington Post today reports that the State Department's 
Intelligence and Research Department is deeply concerned about a 
cascade of international criticism that could seriously affect our 
broader foreign goals.
  Leaked portions of a 53-page report by Major General Antonio Taguba 
completed in February conclude that there were numerous, numerous 
instances of ``sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses at Abu 
Ghraib'' prison.
  I hope that this is not just the tip of the iceberg.
  Individuals involved have stated that they were encouraged by 
military intelligence to engage in this abuse. Now, as one who has a 
background in psychology and mental health, I worry for our young men 
and women in uniform who are being dehumanized, dehumanized by a war 
that allows them to cross this threshold.

[[Page H2524]]

  Now, many of the men and women and teenagers held in this prison, 
actually, the infamous prison which was known as a torture center for 
Saddam Hussein, they were picked up in random sweeps and at highway 
checkpoints.
  People were held for months on little or no evidence, with no 
charges, no change at appeal, and now, it seems, in addition to that 
potentially widespread injustice, they may have been abused or even 
tortured.
  The Department of Defense is investigating these charges, but he 
oversight quite frankly must be broader and the questions that are 
asked must be more sweeping. Congress absolutely has to exercise its 
oversight authority though a full scale investigation, a Congressional 
investigation.
  Part of this examination also has to look at private contractors, 
some of whom will are running these prisons and some of whom are 
allegedly involved in these terrible acts. Human Rights Watch and other 
organizations have widely asked about the role of private contractors 
who seem to be operating entirely outside the boundaries of authority 
in a complete legal vacuum. They are exempt from prosecution by Iraqi 
courts. They are beyond the military chain of command and its court-
martial authority, and they are outside the range of the United States 
courts.
  This is one more consequence of turning over so much power and so 
much money to private contractors. This is one more example of a 
foreign policy and a military policy gone wrong. The United States has 
turned this prison especially, Abu Ghraib into a house of horrors. That 
failure is a metaphor for a foreign policy that has gone absolutely and 
tragically wrong. Our Nation is perceived in many circles as waging war 
on Islam. The pictures in the world's newspapers will only compound and 
confirm that perception. Those photographs build on an image of a 
Nation that ignores the United Nations, when it chooses to, of course, 
and turns to it when it gets in trouble.
  They add to a portrait of a country that preaches about human rights 
but fails to uphold them. The pictures are just one more piece of 
evidence that this administration led our Nation to war without really 
a plan for its aftermath. And that utter failure, as I said, 
``mistake'' is far too soft a word.
  This policy has contributed to more than 500 American deaths since, 
mind you, since President Bush landed on that aircraft carrier and 
stood underneath that banner proclaiming ``Mission accomplished.''
  Exactly what mission have we accomplished? We have not found any 
weapons of mass destruction, but we have seriously damaged our 
international credibility. We have not established any semblance of 
stability or safety in Iraq, although the deadline for the supposed 
Iraqi takeover of authority is just a month away.
  We have not promoted the cause of democracy in the Middle East or 
anywhere else, but we have undermined the rule of international law.

                              {time}  2000

  We have not built a strong network of friends and allies to advance 
our joint goals, but we have squandered the enormous goodwill that the 
world stretched out to us in 2001. Ultimately, we have not made the 
world or ourselves safer. The policies of the Bush administration have 
made the world a far more dangerous place.
  Tomorrow, the State Department issues its annual report on U.S. 
efforts to support human rights and democracy across the globe. Just 
what is this report going to say about the Bush administration's 
failures in Iraq and its efforts to overthrow democracy in Haiti? Just 
what is this report going to say about the abuse of individuals and 
organizations?

                          ____________________