[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 14 (Tuesday, January 29, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H540-H541]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               WHERE'S W?

  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, last night this House was host to the 
President for his final State of the Union address. Like all past 
Presidential speeches in this Chamber, it was historic. But this time 
it may have been historic because of what it did not achieve and what 
it left unfinished.
  Forget all of the unfulfilled commitments on education, health care, 
environmental conservation, employment, energy efficiency, worker 
protections and immigration. Let's just look at the record on foreign 
policy. The state of that union? Dismal.
  Upon taking office in 2001, this administration promised a new kind 
of international engagement, one based on partnerships and regional 
alliances.
  We didn't exactly get what we bargained for, unfortunately. And the 
recent administration tour through the Middle East just about summed it 
up.
  Remember those children's books, ``Where's Waldo?'' We had a case of 
``Where's W?'' Let's start our tour in Israel and the Palestinian-
controlled lands.
  After nearly two terms of ignoring the real crisis in the region, the 
administration tried to make a last-ditch effort at a peace agreement: 
first by hosting a summit, one that wasn't expected to achieve 
anything, and then by a visit to the region. No ideals were outlined, 
no real road map was sketched out. To be generous, it was a half-
hearted effort. It greatly saddens me, Mr. Speaker, that such an 
important opportunity was squandered. The Israeli and Palestinian 
people deserve more. They deserve a chance to at least hope for peace.
  Next stop on the Where's W? trip, Kuwait and Bahrain. In Bahrain, the 
political opposition faces arrest, torturers are granted immunity, and 
a woman must go before family, not civil courts, family to fight back 
against violence and abuse.

[[Page H541]]

  In Kuwait, the world saw how Kuwaiti justice is carried out when al-
Azmi was hanged inside the Interior Ministry complex in Kuwait City on 
December 21.
  Next stop, the United Arab Emirates. This is the land where 
noncitizens are a subclass of people. They have very few rights. They 
face huge obstacles and discrimination.
  Oh, and another thing, women can't pass on citizenship to their 
children unless their husband is a citizen. What does that mean? It 
often means insurmountable barriers to education and employment.
  Now we are on the home stretch. Where in the world is W?

                              {time}  1915

  Saudi Arabia. The country with the choke hold on international energy 
markets, the homeland of the majority of the 9/11 terrorists, the land 
where women cannot legally drive a car yet. Sure, there is a proposal 
on the table to give women this right, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
  How did the United States President clearly demand the rights of all 
Saudi people? By walking hand in hand with members of the Saudi royal 
family. That sounds like a strange negotiating tactic to me.
  And the final stop on this regional tour, Egypt. Let's just look at 
what Amnesty International has to say about Egypt. We have longstanding 
concerns on systematic torture, deaths of prisoners in custody, unfair 
trials, arrests of prisoners of conscience for their political and 
religious beliefs or for their sexual orientation, wide use of 
administrative detention and long-term detention without trial, and use 
of the death penalty.
  This, Mr. Speaker, was a tour of wasted opportunity and flagrant 
disregard for the most basic human rights.
  So what will the President's legacy be in the Middle East? What is 
the state of that union? Not good. Not good at all.
  We have a seemingly endless occupation of Iraq destabilizing the 
region. Osama bin Laden is still missing. We have the rise of the 
Taliban in Afghanistan.
  Opportunity after opportunity for regional stability has been 
squandered and our standing in the region is embarrassingly low. But 
know this: This Congress will continue to demand an end to the 
occupation of Iraq and a return to sensible and sustainable policies in 
the Middle East. We will not stand by while the clock runs out on this 
administration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  (Mr. ROHRABACHER addressed the House. His remarks will appear 
hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.)

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