[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 30, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H1025]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       NUMBER 183, BRING OUR TROOPS HOME, THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, let me say you look wonderful up there in 
that chair.
  Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to talk about the forgotten victims of 
this war: the children and the legacy we leave them.
  Today, I placed a pair of baby-sized shoes on my front office door. 
They were presented to me by the pro-peace organization Code Pink. 
These tiny shoes symbolize the passing of one of the tens of thousands 
of Iraqis who have been killed over the past 4 years. Her name is Aisha 
al Tarish, and she was 2 years old.
  But these shoes also symbolize the children here in the United States 
who will grow up without a parent because he or she died while fighting 
so bravely in our Armed Forces.
  What too many are ignoring in this debate is the toll that this 
occupation of Iraq is taking on children here at home, in Iraq, and 
around the world. In fact, my 7-year-old grandson recently asked his 
dad, he said, Daddy, what do the children in Iraq do when bombs are 
going off?
  How do you answer that? My son said, I think you ought to talk that 
over with your grandma, Teddy.
  Why are we ignoring the legacy of fear of death and of insecurity? So 
many children are growing up in a world that has been at war since they 
were born. They can't feel secure. In fact, just going to school for an 
Iraqi child every day is a risk. And that is the risk that Teddy 
pointed out to us.
  I know, as a grandmother, this is not the world I envisioned for my 
grandchildren and for their children to come. It seems like President 
Bush is pushing forth in Iraq absolutely despite opposition from every 
corner because he wants to protect his standing in the world.
  What legacy are we leaving for the world's children? Our presence in 
the region is leaving a legacy of occupation and hate.
  An administration that refuses to negotiate and refuses diplomacy 
gives rise to a legacy of war and the very terrorism we want to defeat, 
and one of the saddest legacies of all, a generation of veterans and 
their families without medical care, without mental health care, 
without jobs and businesses to return to, without homes.
  This is not the legacy this country was built upon. It is not the 
legacy I intend to leave for our children.
  The only answer to this is stop this misguided occupation. If we 
really want to offer a future of hope to the children of America and 
the children of Iraq, we must bring our troops home now. We must help 
the Iraqis. We must help them establish a working infrastructure, and 
we must help them establish a security force. We must fully fund our 
commitment to our veterans.
  This month I introduced H.R. 508, the Bring the Troops Home from Iraq 
and Iraq Sovereignty Restoration Act. This is a real and comprehensive 
plan to accomplish these goals, to provide a safe and secure future for 
the youngest victims of this war.
  I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this bill, to send the message that 
we will stand up for the troops, we will stand up for those victims and 
those voices who have been ignored for too long: the children.

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