[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 6 (Thursday, January 11, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H412]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              OUT OF IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, it is good to see you in the Chair, and 
I thank the gentleman for allowing me to do this.
  I am a proud member of the Out of Iraq Caucus, and my office has been 
flooded with letters and calls from constituents who want the President 
to start bringing the troops home from Iraq. According to all the 
polls, an overwhelming number of Americans are opposed to any 
escalation.
  Instead of a plan to begin redeployment, Americans heard a giant 
sucking sound from President Bush last night, pulling our troops 
further into the civil war that has already taken the lives of so many 
of our brave sons and daughters.
  The President is dealing with an Iraq that exists only in his 
imagination. I challenge the President to answer the questions: Who are 
our allies? Who are our enemies? What does winning mean? How long will 
American troops be there? How many lives are you willing to sacrifice?
  Escalation presumes a military solution is still possible. The 
catastrophe facing Iraq is political, and yet there is no evidence of a 
political process that has any hope of achieving any kind of 
reconciliation or success.
  The President has virtually fired General John Abizaid, our top 
commander for Iraq in the region, who consulted with all of the 
divisional commanders and asked them in their professional opinion, if 
we were to bring in more troops would it add considerably to our 
ability to achieve success in Iraq. They all said no, but the President 
has not listened.
  The British have announced that rather than escalating their 
participation in this war, they are going to bring 3,000 troops out of 
Iraq in May.

                              {time}  1800

  We are not receiving support from any allies. So it seems to me, as 
now a sponsor of the Markey-Kennedy bill, H.R. 353, that Congress has 
to step in, has to state its belief that this escalation is misguided. 
And according to the Markey-Kennedy bill, it would prevent the 
President from spending another taxpayer dollar to increase troop 
levels in Iraq without the consent of Congress. And after 4 years, it 
is time for President Bush to wake up and realize that his policy in 
Iraq has failed. Most of the country has already come to that 
conclusion.
  Now, we must renew our military, work to restore our diplomatic 
credibility and, above all, begin redeploying our troops out of Iraq.
  And I would like to yield the remaining time to my colleague from 
California, Lynn Woolsey.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. First, I would like to thank the Congresswoman from 
California for her leadership tonight with this special order and also 
her leadership of the Out of Iraq Caucus.
  I will echo, to save time, every single word that has come out of the 
mouths of my colleagues this evening. But there is one thing we have 
not talked about that, every single time I am interviewed, somebody 
says: But Congresswoman, what will happen to the Iraqi people if the 
United States leaves?
  My answer is asking them a question right back: Have you not paid 
attention to what is happening to the Iraqi people right now with our 
very presence?
  It is my opinion, and my belief, and I know that I am right, when the 
United States Army military leaves Iraq, the insurgency will calm down. 
The United States then is responsible to work internationally to help 
Iraq rebuild its country, invest in its infrastructure, invest in its 
economy, invest in its education and help their people with getting 
their feet back on the ground.
  And I will end by just saying this. The United States is not going to 
determine the fate of Iraq. Only the Iraqis will determine their fate.

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