[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 3, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H2909]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 50,000 RESIDUAL TROOPS IS UNACCEPTABLE

  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, last Friday President Obama declared that 
he has ``begun the work of ending'' our Nation's occupation of Iraq. 
The American people have waited a long, long time to hear those words. 
I welcome the President's announcement that he will keep his promise to 
bring our troops home. The President also pledged to pursue sustained 
diplomacy with all nations of the Middle East, including Iran and 
Syria, and he promised to help resettle the millions of Iraqis who have 
been displaced by the conflict. I welcome these important steps as 
well.
  But I am deeply troubled by other parts of the administration's 
withdrawal plan. It calls for an end to our combat mission in 19 
months, but up to 50,000 troops will remain in Iraq after that time 
until the end of 2011, 3 more years from now, in fact. The 
administration is calling these troops a ``transitional force.'' Well, 
you can call it what you want, but such a large number of troops can 
only be viewed by the Iraqi people as an enduring occupation force.
  Madam Speaker, leaving 50,000 residual troops is simply unacceptable. 
So long as the United States is viewed as an occupier, the Iraqi people 
will not be able to reclaim their full sovereignty and they will not be 
able to achieve the reconciliation and unification necessary for long-
term stability and for democracy in their country.
  That's why I believe the best approach is to bring all troops out of 
Iraq by 2010 and coordinate the removal with investments in 
reconciliation and reconstruction efforts. The faster we promote 
unification of the Iraqi people and help them to rebuild their country, 
the sooner we will be able to bring all of our troops home.
  I'm also troubled with the administration's plan for several other 
reasons. First, although the residual force of 50,000 troops may not 
have a combat mission, they will still be in harm's way. Over 35,000 
American troops, Madam Speaker, have already been killed or wounded in 
Iraq. We do not need to add to the casualty list.
  Second, the President said that there will surely be difficult 
periods and tactical adjustments during the withdrawal of combat 
troops. I worry that this means the withdrawal could be delayed. It 
might even mean that the administration might ultimately seek to 
renegotiate the Status of Forces Agreement and keep troops in Iraq 
beyond 2011. That would lead to the worst possible result, an endless 
occupation of Iraq.
  Third, the administration has abandoned its plan to withdraw a 
brigade a month, with only 10,000 troops withdrawn this year. The great 
majority of the troops will be withdrawn toward the end of the 19-month 
period. This means that the troop level will remain essentially the 
same for well over a year.
  Fourth, the administration has not called for the withdrawal of 
American military contractors in Iraq. They must be withdrawn as well 
because the Iraqi people see them as part of the occupying force.
  And, fifth, keeping a large force in Iraq will continue to drain our 
Treasury. We cannot continue to pour unnecessary billions of dollars 
into the occupation of Iraq when we need the money here at home to 
fight our recession.
  Madam Speaker, the President has taken an important step toward 
developing a plan to leave Iraq, but the American people have waited 
long enough for our troops and military contractors to come home to 
their families. I urge the administration to produce a new plan, a plan 
that will end the occupation once and for all. That means withdrawing 
our troops and military contractors in 19 months, or even sooner if 
that could happen, without residual forces and without private 
contractors left behind.

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