[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 73 (Friday, May 4, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5614-S5615]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IRAQ
Mr. REID. Mr. President, this week a historic discussion began
between Congress and the White House about the way forward in Iraq. On
Wednesday, a meeting occurred between the President and congressional
leadership following the President's veto of a spending bill that would
have made America more secure, fully funded the troops, and changed the
course in Iraq. It has taken almost 4\1/2\ years, but it appears the
President finally is willing to consider what most Americans and
Members of Congress have long known, that we must change course in Iraq
and move toward a strategy that will make our country more secure.
It took 6 years and 3 months for the President to accept Congress as
a coequal branch of Government. Prior to last Wednesday, the President
basically had ignored the constitutionally framed equal branch of
Government, the legislative branch. From that perspective, it was a
positive step forward.
During the first 6 years of this congressional term, the President
basically ignored us. There was a big rubber stamp. Anything the
Republican Congress thought the President wanted, they gave him. But
yesterday, the minority leader and I met with the President's Chief of
Staff Josh Bolton to further that discussion that started Wednesday in
the White House. I thought the meeting was constructive, comfortable.
It is clear, at this early point in the negotiations, that nothing is
off the table. We agreed to meet again early next week. Meanwhile, I
will be talking with members of my caucus, Senator McConnell, and with
our experts, and we will continue to work on ideas for a way forward in
the quagmire in Iraq.
I know many of my Republican friends in the Senate believe strongly
that a change of course in Iraq strategy is needed, one that holds the
administration and the Iraqis accountable for real results. I know many
of my Republican friends intend to be part of that solution on the way
forward. I look forward to working with them, as I have the last few
weeks. Work is now in progress, and we will work to reach agreement on
a bill that fully funds the troops while providing a responsible new
course that makes America more secure and leads to an early end to
America's involvement in the Iraq civil war.
Events on the ground give this challenge great urgency. The month of
April saw an American death toll of more than 100, making it the
deadliest month of the year for our troops in Iraq and one of the
deadliest in the 51 months of this war.
The President's own Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction
released his quarterly report last weekend which painted a dispiriting
picture of waste, ineffectiveness, and failure to achieve even
minimally satisfactory results. Despite burning through most of the 20
billion American dollars planned for reconstruction, most Iraqis are
without basic necessities such as electricity and clean drinking water.
Only a third of Iraq's children are regularly attending school, and 70
percent are suffering from symptoms of trauma that will likely paralyze
an entire generation on which we are counting to harvest the seeds of
democracy.
Iraqi Prime Minister al-Malaki, a Shia, is accused of sabotaging
efforts for peace and stability by firing some of the country's top law
enforcement officials for doing too good a job of combating violent
Shia militias. President Bush speaks of pressuring the Iraqi people to
take responsibility for their own future. Yet while American troops are
fighting and dying to secure the country, the Iraqi Government is
planning a 2-month summer vacation.
We throw around a lot of numbers and statistics to highlight the
failures and high stakes of the war. We must also remember that behind
each of these numbers--104 deaths during the month of April--is a
personal story.
Yesterday, a Las Vegas newspaper published an article about a 26-
year-old Nevadan named John Shoup. After surviving 7 months in Iraq,
John returned home to Nevada without apparent physical injury. Many of
his friends were not so fortunate, he said. At home, though, almost
immediately, John's wife Lori knew he was not well. She said:
I noticed in the first week he wasn't sleeping . . . he
started to get a little snappy . . . he started crying and
started throwing things.
John told his wife about the four roadside bomb attacks he survived.
The article goes on to say, among other things:
But the worst, [his wife] said, were the times he was
called to bag up body parts of dead soldiers who had been
blown up by improvised explosive devices on patrols ahead of
his platoon . . .
With her husband displaying the same classic symptoms of
PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, she checked him into
a privately owned psychiatric hospital where he was treated
for major depression related to [post-traumatic stress
disorder].
He was given anti-depressants and while he was there, she
said, his first sergeant called to inform him he would be
listed as absent without leave and his paycheck for May would
be canceled if he didn't report back to his squadron in Iraq,
one of the many regular Army units whose tours had been
extended.
Lori Shoup said her husband told the first sergeant about
his battle with PTSD. The sergeant's response to him, she
said, was: ``How's that different from the way you normally
act?'' [She said] that really upset him. It was if they
didn't care.
With his mental problems persisting, John Shoup met with
doctors at O'Callaghan Federal Hospital at Nellis Air Force
Base. Doctors there tried to help him, but on April 16, the
day before he was supposed to report to Fort Drum, his
condition took a turn for the worse. While at home, he took
too many drugs, described as a suicide attempt, and Lori had
to rush him back to Nellis hospital. His stomach was pumped
and he was put in supervised care.
He continues to struggle with his illness and now awaits another
transfer from the hospital at Nellis Air Force Base near his home in
Nevada to Walter Reed here in Washington.
We all know that war comes with casualties. I have talked about John
Shoup. I have read quotes from Lori Shoup, his wife. She is also a
casualty. She had to be hospitalized. She had a nervous breakdown.
Our soldiers have always shouldered the burden when the mission is to
protect America's security. John Shoup did that.
What is our mission today? When he was asked that question, he
replied:
All we do is drive around and wait to get blown up.
Our troops are interjected between warring factions, kicking down
doors, trying to sort Shia from Sunni or friend from foe. Meanwhile,
Afghanistan is deteriorating. Osama bin Laden remains at large, and al-
Qaida is rebuilding its strength. Our current strategy is not a
strategy for success. It is a recipe for more death and destruction,
overburdening our military and leaving America less secure.
Today's USA Today newspaper talked about a lot of John Shoups. In
fact, they said there are 150,000 brain injuries caused by what has
happened in Iraq to our troops; 15,000 is what USA Today reports.
We approach these discussions with the White House with an open mind
and sincere desire to move forward. But John and Lori Shoup and all
Americans deserve to know what our resolve to change course in Iraq
will be. Our course cannot be one to waiver from doing everything we
can to get the President to change the mission, to transition the
mission in Iraq. Fifty-one months of what has happened in Iraq has not
been good for the country, certainly not good for the world.
I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the article
from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From reviewjournal.com, May 2, 2007]
Iraq Deployment Changed Soldier: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Delays
Return
(By Keith Rogers)
When Army Spc. John Shoup came home on leave two months ago
after serving seven months in Iraq, he wasn't the same man
his wife, Lori, had known since they married four years ago.
``We noticed he was very different,'' Lori Shoup said Monday,
sitting on the porch of their Las Vegas condominium not far
from where fighter jets take off from Nellis Air Force Base.
I noticed in the first week he wasn't sleeping,'' she said.
``He started to get a little snappy and stuff. . . . He told
me he didn't want to talk about it.''
Before his two-week leave was over, the nightmares and the
horrifying memories of the so-called Triangle of Death in
south
[[Page S5615]]
Baghdad had set in. ``He started crying and started throwing
things,'' she said about her 26-year-old husband from
Frackville, Pa.
Little by little, though, the things he didn't want to talk
about came to light. Among them were the four roadside bomb
attacks that he survived but left some of his buddies
wounded. But the worst, she said, were the times he was
called to bag up body parts of dead soldiers who had been
blown up by improvised explosive devices on patrols ahead of
his platoon, a mortar troop of the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry
Regiment from the 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum,
N.Y.
With her husband displaying the classic symptoms of PTSD,
or post-traumatic stress disorder, she checked him into a
privately owned psychiatric hospital where he was treated for
major depression related to PTSD. He was given anti-
depressants and while he was there, she said, his first
sergeant called to inform him he would be listed as absent
without leave and his paycheck for May would be canceled if
he didn't report back to his squadron in Iraq, one of many
regular Army units whose tours had been extended.
Lori Shoup said her husband told the first sergeant about
his bout with PTSD. The sergeant's response to him, she said,
was: `How's that different from the way you normally act?'
That really upset him. It was as if they didn't care.''
With his mental problems persisting, John Shoup met with
doctors at O'Callaghan Federal Hospital at Nellis Air Force
Base. Doctors there tried to help him, but on April 16, the
day before he was supposed to return to Fort Drum, his
condition took a turn for the worse. While at home, he took
too many drugs described as a suicide attempt, and Lori had
to rush him back to the Nellis hospital. His stomach was
pumped and he was put in supervised care.
In the meantime, Lori has been struggling to make ends meet
by continuing to work as a bartender at a cantina on the
Strip while caring for their 3-year-old son, Levan, and her
8-year-old daughter, Emily, from a previous marriage. ``I'm
at wit's end,'' she said. ``There's no way I can do it all by
myself.''
Her father, Joseph Godlewski, a retired Army staff
sergeant, has been trying to help with babysitting. He is
also helping his daughter understand what John is trying to
endure. ``The poor kid has seen so much death,'' he said.
``Once the smell of death is in your nose it never goes
away.''
For Lori, the gravity of the situation became too much last
week, when she experienced a nervous breakdown that resulted
in a trip to the Nellis hospital emergency room. Now back at
home, she was feeling better Monday even though she learned
that John's status with his overseas unit had officially
changed to AWOL while he's still at the federal hospital. His
paycheck had not been deposited. ``I couldn't believe it. My
heart went right down into my stomach,'' she said.
In a telephone interview from his hospital room, John Shoup
said he had served his four-year obligation but his orders
had been extended. He said his first sergeant had called him
to say he had ``better hurry up and stop fooling around and
get back to Iraq.'' ``All we do is drive around and wait to
get blown up,'' he said. ``I just want to get back to the
Army and get out and get back to my family.''
On Tuesday, a spokesman at Fort Drum acknowledged that John
Shoup had called the fort to say he needed mental help. They
directed him to the Nellis hospital to continue PTSD
treatment until he was well enough to return to Fort Drum.
``Then they would make a determination if his future is best
not serving in the Army,'' Fort Drum spokesman Ben Abel said.
Given the current circumstances, Abel said he could not
foresee the Army sending him back to Iraq. As for stopping
his pay, that was a misunderstanding that stemmed from his
overseas unit, Abel said, noting, ``It's on its way to being
cleared up.''
Lori Shoup said, however, that her husband won't be
returning to Fort Drum immediately. Instead, he will be
transferred today from the Nellis hospital to Walter Reed
Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
In the meantime, she wants to see ``all of our boys come
home'' from Iraq. ``I believe our job is done there. . . . I
believe that our troops are doing a lot of good there. I back
our soldiers 100 percent. I've heard it referred to as a
modern-day Vietnam. ``It's getting uglier and uglier. It's
really unfortunate because our society is going to suffer
from it because there's a lot of fathers and sons and
brothers who will never return. And some will never return
the same people they were when they left.''
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