[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 103 (Thursday, July 22, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H6686-H6687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  SMART SECURITY AND WASTED RESOURCES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Government Accountability 
Office issued a report stating that the Pentagon will need an estimated 
$12.3 billion to pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan 
through September.
  The extraordinary amount of money needed to pay for our major 
military operations is not surprising. What greatly troubles me, once 
again, is the sheer unwillingness of the Bush administration to 
adequately plan and prepare for those military operations. The 
additional $12.3 billion is triple, triple the amount that General 
Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of

[[Page H6687]]

Staff, projected in April would be needed to make it through September. 
President Bush and the top brass at the Pentagon have, once again, 
underestimated the resources needed to sustain our military halfway 
across the world.
  The sad part is that many of us have actually come to expect 
President Bush to shortchange our troops. Military operations are 
costing more than the Pentagon estimated, in part because top officials 
expected that Iraq would be a peaceful democracy by now and we could 
start bringing our troops home. But it does not take a genius to 
realize that rebuilding a country from the ground up, an entire country 
that has been decimated by a brutal dictator, takes years, possibly 
decades.
  The costs of these failures are adding up, Mr. Speaker, both in human 
and in financial terms. Two days ago the United States reached another 
disheartening milestone when the 900th American soldier was killed in 
Iraq. Moreover, due to a shortage of qualified soldiers, the Pentagon 
has shamefully reenlisted the Ready Reserve, a group of retired 
soldiers who have moved on to civilian life.
  Congress has already appropriated nearly $200 billion in supplemental 
funds to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That number could 
easily reach $1 trillion before the end of this decade. We cannot 
possibly fund the war in Iraq at the rate we are going, especially if 
we want to truly address the threat of terrorism, that threat which, by 
the way, was never in Iraq, where weapons of mass destruction have yet 
to be found. Instead of rooting out terrorist networks in Afghanistan, 
the Bush administration chose to focus on Saddam Hussein, who had no 
connection to al-Qaeda.
  In the process, we have not only failed to adequately address the 
growing terrorist threat; we have actually added to that threat by 
incurring the wrath of thousands of Muslims who think we are fighting a 
war against Islam.
  We need to be much smarter about how we address America's national 
security, Mr. Speaker. That is why I have introduced H. Con. Res. 392, 
legislation to create a SMART security platform for the 21st century. 
SMART stands for Sensible Multilateral American Response to Terrorism. 
In crafting this legislation, my staff and I received the help and 
support of the Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Friends 
Committee on National Legislation, and Women's Action for New 
Directions. Without the counsel of these organizations, SMART security 
would not have happened as it did.
  SMART security is more vigilant than President Bush claims to be in 
fighting terror. Instead of emphasizing military force, SMART focuses 
on multilateral partnerships and stronger intelligence capabilities to 
track and detain terrorists, and it does so while respecting human and 
civil rights.
  Terrorism is an international problem, and so it makes sense that the 
fight against terrorism should involve the international community. 
That is why SMART security calls for working closely with the U.N. and 
with NATO to achieve our goals. Only by actively involving other 
nations in this fight can we hope to prevent future acts of terrorism.
  It is time America got smart about its national security. I urge all 
of my colleagues to cosponsor this vitally important resolution, H. 
Con. Res. 392, because SMART security is tough, pragmatic, and 
patriotic, and it will keep America safe.

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