[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 123 (Wednesday, September 28, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1976-E1977]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CINDY SHEEHAN: PEACE MOM AND PATRIOT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 28, 2005

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Cindy Sheehan the 
``Peace Mom'' from Vacaville, California, whose 24 year-old son Casey 
was killed in Sadr City, Iraq on April 4, 2004. Referred to by some as, 
the ``Rosa Parks'' of the peace and justice movement, she was arrested 
today in front of the White House while calling on President Bush to 
end the War in Iraq.
  Cindy had traveled to Washington from Crawford, Texas where, intent 
on a face-to-face meeting with President Bush, she gained national 
attention by camping outside the Texas White House during the 
President's summer vacation. The site was called Camp Casey in honor of 
her son.
  Cindy Sheehan wanted to ask President Bush: What is the ``noble 
cause'' that my son Casey died for?
  Like millions of people in this country, Cindy Sheehan knew there 
were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the citizens in the United 
States had never been in ``imminent danger'' from Saddam Hussein and 
Iraq had no connection to 9/11 as the President had claimed. As a 
mother she felt she had the right to ask the President to meet with her 
to explain why her son had been sent on a fraudulent mission. After 
all, he had the time for a bicycle ride with Lance Armstrong. She felt 
he should make the time to meet with her.
  The President refused to meet with Cindy, but sent two high level 
White House officials in his place. Explaining this substitution, 
President Bush stated that he had to go on with his ``normal life'' and 
that the American people wanted him to do that. Cindy announced she 
would not leave Crawford until Mr. Bush met with her or left for 
Washington DC.
  As Cindy Sheehan waited in the broiling Texas sun, people began to 
come to Crawford to be with her. They wanted to support her and to send 
a message to the President that they, too, wanted an explanation for 
the war. Thousands came from across the country; some stayed a few 
hours, others, a few days.

  When authorities ordered her to move Camp Casey, a local landowner 
gave her space on his ranch for an even larger encampment. White 
crosses with the names of the soldiers killed were planted in the 
ground. The boots Casey was wearing when he died were placed with his 
cross as were the boots of other soldiers whose crosses were at Camp 
Casey.
  After President Bush finally left his ranch a few days short of his 
planned five week vacation, four groups of Cindy's supporters--Gold 
Star Families for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Vets Against 
the War and Veterans for Peace--left Camp Casey on a ``Bring Them Home 
Tour'' from Crawford, TX to Washington, DC.
  The Veterans for Peace sent a bus to Covington, KY, to deliver 
supplies to victims of

[[Page E1977]]

Hurricane Katrina. Three other buses filled with representatives of 
each group toured the central, southern and northern States and met in 
Washington on September 22nd to prepare for the peace march on 
September 24, 2005.
  An estimated 300,000 people participated in the demonstration. Cindy 
spoke to the crowd who welcomed her as a hero. I called Cindy the 
``Rosa Parks'' of this peace movement. Like the woman who sparked the 
civil rights movement, Cindy is the one person who has come forth to 
inspire others to do more than they believed themselves capable of 
doing. On that day when our grandchildren ask what we were doing during 
the Iraq War, we will be able to say: We spoke out and stood up in 
support of Cindy Sheehan.

                          ____________________