[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 110 (Wednesday, September 15, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H7218-H7219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1345
                             SMART SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kline). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year people from around the 
world saw photographs of the mistreatment, the torture, the sexual 
abuse of Iraqi prisoners that took place at Abu Ghraib. If anti-
American sentiment was not strong enough after the United States 
invaded a country that never had weapons of mass destruction and never 
once threatened us, these callous images of American soldiers torturing 
prisoners sealed the deal. Still, Bush administration officials deny 
any responsibility for the actions of these soldiers.
  Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld shamefully called it the action 
of ``a few bad apples.'' This scandal continues to get worse. It has 
come to light in recent months that prisoners also have been abused in 
Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay and, moreover, evidence was uncovered 
earlier this week indicating American abuse of Iraqi prisoners in the 
northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
  An American inquiry into the prisoner abuse uncovered the existence 
of ghost detainees, prisoners hidden from International Red Cross 
inspectors and kept off the inmate list of each prison, and military 
personnel have indicated that the number of ghost detainees may total 
in the hundreds. Even someone who does not closely follow the quagmire 
in Iraq would readily acknowledge the real possibility that the 
widespread prisoner abuse may not be the unfortunate actions of just a 
few bad apples.
  In fact, the evidence overwhelmingly suggest that prison bias by U.S. 
forces has been coordinated by the Bush administration. The New Yorker 
Magazine recently detailed a high level Pentagon plan to encourage 
physical coercion, otherwise known as torture, of Iraqi prisoners in an 
attempt to produce intelligence about the post-war insurgency in Iraq. 
If abusing prisoners is not quite official U.S. policy, the widespread 
nature of these crimes indicate that they were at least deemed 
acceptable at the highest levels of command. Perhaps the few bad apples 
are located at the Pentagon and in the White House, not serving in 
Iraq.
  Sadly, it has become obvious that while a few soldiers are standing 
trial for the prison abuse, the Bush administration and the Republicans 
in this House have no plans whatsoever to hold any high ranking 
officials accountable for these terrible misdeeds. In fact, the House 
Republican leadership refuses to hold hearings on this subject. The 
House GOP leaders could learn something from the Senate, which has 
readily investigated this widespread scandal, and it does appear from 
their hearings to extend to the highest levels of our government.
  What has President Bush done about this situation? Absolutely 
nothing. The White House continues to deny, dodge

[[Page H7219]]

and deflect any and all rumors that individuals in the administration 
may have been involved at any level in the prison abuse scandal.
  Mr. Speaker, there must be a better way, because the current method 
of hiding prisoners from humanitarian agencies and using vicious attack 
dogs to help conduct so-called prisoner interrogations is further 
hindering the war on terror and encouraging anti-American sentiment 
around the world. That is why I have introduced H. Con. Res. 3792, a 
SMART security platform for the 21st century. My SMART plan will keep 
America safe.
  SMART stands for sensible multi-lateral American response to 
terrorism. SMART means interrogation, not torture. It encourages open 
government, not a secretive government that fails to investigate and 
covers its own back. SMART security encourages negotiations and 
leadership, not aggression and unilateralism. SMART invests in 
developmental and humanitarian aid for the most impoverished nations, 
not an expensive and unproven missile defense system and certainly not 
the inhumane treatment of prisoners.
  The situation in Iraq requires the best America has to offer. SMART 
security, accordingly, relies on the very best of America, our 
commitment to peace and freedom, our compassion for the people of the 
world, and our capacity for multi-lateral leadership. SMART security 
treats war as a last resort to be considered only after every 
diplomatic alternative has been exhausted, and it controls the 
widespread use of weapons of mass destruction with a renewed commitment 
of nonproliferation.

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