[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 168 (Thursday, November 1, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H12436]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ AND THE ATTACK ON CIVIL LIBERTIES

  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, when the President invaded Iraq in 2003, 
the American people were warned that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction 
posed a great threat to peace. We were told that launching a preemptive 
war would not make life harder for the Iraqi people nor compromise the 
security of the international community. And we were promised that the 
quick war to liberate Iraq would come at no cost to America's prestige 
abroad.
  Five years later, it is painfully clear how very wrong the 
administration was and how dearly we are still paying for its mistakes. 
The administration launched a war of choice based on half truths, 
broken promises, and delusions of a swift and easy victory, but the 
most shameful of the administration's claims was that we were fighting 
abroad to protect our freedoms at home.
  The President argued that sending our Nation's brave servicemen and -
women into an unwinnable occupation was the only way we would safeguard 
our civil liberties. Since then, by repeatedly invoking the possibility 
of threats to our national security right here at home and abroad, the 
administration has justified its unprecedented attack on our 
constitutionally protected freedoms.
  Mr. Speaker, we can no longer allow these attacks to go unchallenged. 
After authorizing the National Security Agency to openly violate 
Federal laws by eavesdropping on Americans, the administration 
successfully worked to legalize warrantless spying on innocent 
Americans. After consistently disregarding laws designed to promote 
public access to information, the administration expanded laws that 
authorized the government to withhold information from Congress and the 
American people.
  After championing the virtues of democratic rule of law, the 
President has openly condoned torture, denied habeas corpus to 
prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, and fought every single attempt to 
hold members and friends of his administration accountable for their 
actions.
  This abuse of power at the expense of the rights and freedoms of the 
American people, often in the name of protecting these very same rights 
and freedoms, is a shocking betrayal of the will of the American 
people.
  Last month, after the House passed legislation ensuring that every 
contractor in Iraq would be accountable under American criminal law, 
the administration granted immunity to Blackwater Security employees 
who were involved in a Baghdad shooting that left 17 civilians dead.
  This administration will never take responsibility for their actions. 
It will never end the occupation of Iraq. Instead, the attack on our 
civil liberties will be the only mission they will have accomplished.
  Mr. Speaker, it is Congress' responsibility to stand up to this 
President. We must end the administration's war of choice. We must 
restore the checks and balances that have been eroded under this 
President. We must fight for peace and the protection of civil 
liberties. We must fully fund the safe and orderly withdrawal of all 
American troops and contractors.
  Mr. Speaker, we must give Iraq back to the Iraqi people and America 
back its integrity.

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