[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 67 (Thursday, May 13, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5389-S5390]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES

  Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, since the war in Iraq, I have been 
coming to the floor to pay tribute to fallen soldiers, heroes from my 
State. Today, I do that. Unfortunately, there are well over a hundred 
gone in our State. Today, I want to pay tribute to the 10 young 
Americans killed since April 26. All of them are either from California 
or based in California.
  SSG Abraham D. Penamedina, age 32, died April 27 when his patrol came 
under sniper fire in Baghdad. He was from Los Angeles.
  LCpl Aaron Austin, age 21, died April 26, due to hostile fire in Al 
Anbar Province. He was assigned to Camp Pendleton.
  SGT Adam Estep, age 23, died April 21, when a rocket-propelled 
grenade hit his patrol in Baghdad. He was from Campbell, CA.
  SPC James Beckstrand, age 27, was from Escondido, CA. He died in 
Baghdad while part of a dismounted improvised explosive device sweep 
patrol when a vehicle approached his unit and the driver detonated a 
bomb.
  SPC Trevor Wine, age 22, died May 1, from injuries sustained on April 
30, when his convoy vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in 
Tikrit. He was from Orange, CA.
  SPC Ramon Ojeda, age 22, died May 1, when his convoy was attacked in 
Al Amarah. He was from Ramona, CA.
  PFC Lyndon Marcus, Jr., age 21, was from Long Beach, CA. He died May 
3, in Balad, Iraq, when his military vehicle rolled over into a canal.
  SGT Marvin Sprayberry III, age 21, died May 3, in Balad, Iraq, when 
his military vehicle rolled over into a canal. He was from Tehachapi, 
CA.
  Cpl Jeffrey Green, age 20, was assigned to Camp Pendleton, CA. He was 
found deceased on May 5, in the Euphrates River in Al Anbar Province. 
The cause of his death is under investigation.
  Cpl Dustin Schrage, age 20, was found deceased on May 6, in Al Anbar 
Province. The cause of his death is under investigation. He was from 
Camp Pendleton, CA.
  Madam President, 172 soldiers, who were either from California or 
based in California, have been killed by serving their country in Iraq. 
I pray for these young Americans. I pray for their families. I pray for 
their friends.
  My heart goes out to all of our soldiers, to all of them. It is 
because of

[[Page S5390]]

my love for them and the country's love for them as they face danger at 
every turn that I call on this administration to finally get a doable, 
believable, well-thought-out plan and exit strategy for our troops.
  From day 1, we really scorned the international community. The 
coalition the President talks about, when we really look at the 
numbers, we are still carrying the burden of well over 90 percent, 
probably 95 percent, both in the number of troops there and in the cost 
to our taxpayers, which is ever increasing.
  Our troops were told they would be liberators, not occupiers. It has 
not gone the way they were promised. Even their stays in Iraq have been 
extended and extended. They are exhausted.
  I was pleased that my amendment to repay counties and cities that are 
paying the full salaries of guardsmen and reservists--at least 
reimburse them for 50 percent of the cost--was adopted.
  Because, in my opinion, this administration never had a plan from day 
1, except for a brilliant military strategy which worked very well in 
the invasion part of this war, I believe our troops are in grave 
danger. Because nothing was expected to happen to them that has 
happened to them, they did not even have the equipment, they did not 
even have the training they needed. They are underequipped, they are 
ill trained, and that leads me to the prison scandal.
  I saw those photos yesterday, and I still cannot get them out of my 
mind. I did not see them all because I physically and mentally could 
not see any more of them, about 15 minutes' worth of the photos.

  What has made our country great has been our constant and consistent 
support for human rights. What has made our country great has been our 
respect for humanity. We have been a beacon of hope, not a beacon of 
fear, in the world. People have always looked up to America. We have 
been mighty, we have been strong, and we have been firm. Nobody is as 
strong as we are. No one can touch us militarily. That is clear.
  We have never, ever had a scandal like this where our people who say 
they were under direct orders did such despicable, brutal, terrifying 
acts against other human beings. People say there are despicable acts 
happening on so many sides, and they are so right. There are acts that 
are beyond description, such as what happened to young Mr. Berg and 
Danny Pearl. Does it make us any stronger, any more a leader to turn 
our backs on years of human rights, years of Geneva Conventions? Does 
it make us better? Does it make us stronger? Or does it make us more 
like them, those who have no respect for humanity?
  This is America. When I was a little girl, my parents said: We are 
different than everyone else. If someone hurts us, we will fight back, 
but we will do it within the context of humanity.
  Those acts that I saw against other human beings--some women, some 
who were never even charged with anything but were just being 
detained--the most horrendous sexual humiliation and, in some cases, 
attacks, I can tell you, most of us would have fainted if it was done 
to us, fainted rather than be conscious, rather than be knowing, rather 
than be debased. Most of us would want to be dead.
  Our President must take responsibility. He is the Commander in Chief. 
President Truman did not say, ``The buck stops anywhere else.'' It 
stops at the desk of the President. He is the head of the military.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has used 10 minutes.
  Mrs. BOXER. I ask for an additional 5 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, landing on a carrier in good times is 
understandable. Many Presidents have done that. Unfortunately, for this 
one, he had a sign that said ``Mission Accomplished,'' and that was not 
to be. I understand wanting to land on a carrier in dress in good 
times.
  By the way, that was a moment when the whole world was with us, and 
he could have again engaged the international community, but he said 
no. They did not support us in the invasion, and they were not going to 
have any of the contracts. It was going to be kept for the people in 
this country, the Halliburtons, essentially. No, we could not share the 
glory of the moment--a horrific mistake, I think, when history is 
written.
  I do not fault a President for landing on a carrier in good times. I 
do not fault a President--all of them have done it--for marching in 
parades with the heroes, the people who chose to fight for their 
country. Every one of us loves to stand for them, every one of us feels 
stronger, every one of us feels taller, every one of us feels proud. I 
do not fault the President for wanting to stand next to heroes, many of 
whom signed up. I do not blame him. But when things go wrong, that is 
the time when a real leader steps forward. A real leader would stop his 
ordinary schedule. A real leader would not be climbing into a campaign 
bus. This is my opinion, and this is my country, and this is what I 
think. A real leader, when faced with a crisis such as this, would stop 
everything.
  We do not know how far up this goes. Today I read Secretary Rumsfeld 
told the committee he felt the rules of the prison were fine. After I 
came out of seeing those photographs, I said to myself and then I 
verbalized it to some of my colleagues, I do not want those photos seen 
by anyone in this country who has a pulse and a heart, but I have 
changed my mind.
  If Secretary Rumsfeld says he thought the rules in the prison were 
fine, then I want the people of America to see what happened under the 
rules of those prisons. We cannot baby the people. We must allow them 
to see what has happened.
  It is a sad day in America when I am in a car with my 9-year-old 
grandson and I have to turn the radio off of even a music station 
because I fear they might have a news break and he is going to hear 
something that is going to make him frightened.
  It is a hard time for our country, but we have had these hard times 
before. We have had the hard times domestically. We have had the hard 
times during war. After 9/11, I think the heart of this country was 
broken. We are facing a new enemy. It is going to be a long-term 
battle. I gave the President full authority to go get those people, the 
al-Qaida. Instead of doing that, he made a u-turn and went into Iraq 
with no plan, and we are paying a price.
  Those young people who are saying they were not trained, we will find 
out if that is a fact, but these are tough times. The thing that keeps 
me going is the greatness of the American people, the wisdom of the 
American people, the strength of our Constitution and our ability to 
face these things head on. That is where I will close today.
  The American people need to see the truth. They are told by Secretary 
Rumsfeld that what went on in that prison, that the rules of engagement 
in that prison, were fine with him.
  I want to clarify that. He did not say what went on in the prison was 
fine with him. He said the rules that governed the prison were fine 
with him. What I am saying is those rules that allowed this behavior, 
one prisoner being pulled by a belt over and over again, his head 
slammed against a steel door, his hands behind his back, others being 
forced into positions that I will not describe, being harmed in the 
most vulnerable ways imaginable. No, I did not want people to see it, 
but now I fear they must see it.
  All the talk about the privacy of the people, absolutely if they see 
it they cannot see faces. That is for sure.
  I did not expect to be here today even talking about this. I came to 
talk about another subject, but when I heard the Secretary of Defense 
defend the rules of that prison I felt I had to come and tell the 
people of this country, and the good people of my State who have sent 
me here twice, I think they need to see it for themselves.
  Do not take my word for it. Do not take the word of another Senator 
who says, oh, God, they are making such a fuss over this; what is all 
the outrage about. That is another reason they should see the pictures. 
Do not believe me. Do not believe that other Senator. Believe your 
eyes, believe what you see.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.




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