[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 66 (Wednesday, May 18, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H3545-H3546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             SMART SECURITY

  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, the time has come for a new national 
security strategy because our current path will only lead to future 
acts of terrorism and an increasingly insecure United States of 
America.
  Most Americans understand that the best way to protect our country is 
through smarter policies right here at home, not through aggressive 
military combat abroad. In fact, a poll released today indicates that 
support for the war in Iraq is at its lowest level yet. Maybe that is 
because most Americans know that Iraq never possessed weapons of mass 
destruction, never had a connection to al Qaeda, and never played a 
role in the terrorist attacks of September 11.
  Yet the Bush administration claimed each of these examples as fact in 
order to justify going to a war in Iraq and just over 2 years ago the 
U.S. invaded Iraq. Since then, more than 1,600 American soldiers, at 
least 24,000 noninsurgents Iraqi civilians, have paid for this false 
war with their lives, and over 12,000 American soldiers have been 
wounded forever.
  Clearly the Presidential national security platform is not just 
immoral, it is incompetent. There has to be a better way, a better way 
than this. Fortunately, there is. Earlier tonight I reintroduced the 
SMART Security resolution for the 21st century. SMART security clearly 
has increasing support among Members of Congress because at the end of 
the 108th Congress we had 50 cosponsors to the SMART security bill. 
This year alone, SMART already has 49 original cosponsors, and myself, 
and it was just introduced today. SMART, which is Sensible Multilateral 
American Response to Terrorism, has five major components.
  First, we must prevent future acts of terrorism by strengthening 
international institutions and the rule of law. For the past 4 years, 
the Bush administration has worked to discourage international 
cooperation. Most recently, his example of hostility toward diplomacy 
is the nomination of the hard-line unilateralist John Bolton to 
represent our country to the United Nations. Unilaterialism is not the 
answer because terrorism is not just America's problem.
  We can reinvigorate our international relationships by encouraging 
our United Nations and NATO partners to help us root out terrorist 
networks and put a stop to financing international terrorist groups.
  Second, we must stop the proliferation and spread of weapons of mass 
destruction. In the past, President Bush has indicated this is the 
greatest threat America faces. Yet he has both aggressively pursued new 
nuclear weapons like the bunker buster bomb, and he does not support 
international treaties that seek to end the spread of chemical and 
biological weapons.

                              {time}  1945

  Not only does SMART security promote compliance with America's 
commitments to existing treaties, it also calls for the United States 
to set an example for the rest of the world by renouncing the 
development and testing of new nuclear weapons.
  Third, we must address the root causes of terrorism. The first front 
line in the war on terror has to be confronting the despair and 
deprivation that foster it. There is a demonstrated link between an 
educated citizenry and a decrease in support for terrorism which is why 
SMART security wholly encourages democracy-building; human rights 
education; sustainable development; and education, particularly for 
women and girls in these nations. These are the programs we need to 
pursue in Iraq, not continued military operations.
  Fourth, we must shift America's budget priorities to more effectively 
meet our security needs. We need stronger investments in peacekeeping, 
in reconstruction, and humanitarian and developmental aid. We simply 
cannot afford to spend billions each year on outdated or unproven 
weapons systems like the missile defense shield which has yet to be 
proven successful.
  Fifth, the U.S. must pursue to the fullest extent alternatives to 
war. War needs to be the very last resort, to be considered only after 
every single possible diplomatic solution has been exhausted.

[[Page H3546]]

  Mr. Speaker, the security of the American people is perhaps the most 
important issue we must address in the post-September 11 world, but we 
must address it in a smart way. As the world's largest democracy, we 
have a responsibility to utilize all diplomatic possibilities before 
resorting to force.

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