[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 139 (Wednesday, September 19, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H10602-H10603]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CONGRESSIONAL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS AND THE OUT OF IRAQ CAUCUS

  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 Congressional Progressive Caucus and 
the Out of Iraq Caucus sponsored a very important meeting this morning 
to review the dire situation in Iraq and to explore ways to end the 
occupation. At this event, we heard from Dr. William Polk, one of 
America's leading experts on the Middle East.
  Dr. Polk taught Middle Eastern history, politics, and Arabic at 
Harvard before joining the U.S. State Department's Policy Planning 
Council responsible for the Middle East and responsible for North 
Africa. Later, he became professor of history and founding director of 
the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago.
  Dr. Polk is the author of many books, including the recently 
published book entitled, ``Violent Politics, a History of Insurgency, 
Terrorism, and Guerilla Warfare from the American Revolution to Iraq.'' 
To write the book, Dr. Polk studied insurgent movements throughout 
world history. He found that they were motivated by many different 
causes, including race, religion, culture, economics, and language, but 
he found that they all had one thing in common, an opposition to 
foreign occupation.
  Dr. Polk's research has clear implications for our policy in Iraq. It 
tells us that the American occupation of Iraq can never solve the 
country's problems. Only the Iraqis can solve Iraqi problems. And it 
tells us that the only policy that now makes sense is to withdraw our 
troops in an orderly but rapid way, and couple that action with a 
carefully constructed program that will help the Iraqis to pick up the 
pieces and to rebuild their country with the help of the regional 
international community.
  The lesson of history is clear, Mr. Speaker; yet, our leaders in the 
White House continue to follow a disastrous course of foreign 
occupation. Their blindness has put our Nation on a very dangerous 
course. The administration has called for an enduring relationship with 
Iraq, meaning many years, perhaps even decades, of American military 
involvement.
  If the administration has its way, babies now in diapers will grow up 
and march off to Baghdad while the neo-cons who crafted our Iraq policy 
play golf in their retirement communities.

[[Page H10603]]

  The administration's policy of endless occupation will cost us 
trillions of dollars and countless casualties. It will lead to the 
deaths of countless Iraqi civilians and surely force millions more to 
become refugees. Meanwhile, al Qaeda will continue to hatch its plots 
against the United States in their safe havens far from Iraq.
  It is clear that Iraq will never stabilize and find peace while we 
are present. Our occupation of Iraq prevents Iraqis from finding 
solutions to their own problems, and it prevents the regional and 
international diplomacy that is absolutely needed to help them 
reconcile and to rebuild.
  The timely withdrawal of American troops is the essential first step 
in solving the Iraqi problem. So long as our troops and military 
contractors are there, the situation can only and will only get worse.
  In the days ahead, I and others will urge Congress to move to end the 
occupation. Congress has the power of the purse. We must pass a bill 
requiring that all spending related to Iraq be used for only one 
purpose, and that is to fully fund the safe, orderly, and responsible 
withdrawal of all American troops and military contractors.
  If we fail to do this, we will have failed the American people, who 
sent us to Congress last November with a clear message: End the 
occupation of Iraq. And we will have failed our country morally, we 
will have failed our country politically, and certainly we will have 
failed it economically.
  It is time, Mr. Speaker, to do what we know is right and what is best 
for our country: bring our troops home.

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