[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 45 (Monday, March 16, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H3416]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   AMERICA DOES BEST WHEN WE STICK TO OUR BASIC VALUES OF PEACE AND 
                                JUSTICE

  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, for many years I have been calling upon our 
Nation's leaders to reject war as an instrument of foreign policy and 
to emphasize diplomacy. Today I rise to praise the Obama administration 
for opening a new page in our relations with the world by showing that 
it is ready to talk with friends and foes alike.
  In just a short time, the administration has taken a number of 
important steps. It has sent an envoy to Syria, a nation which must be 
part of a comprehensive solution to the conflicts in the Middle East. 
The administration has announced its willingness to work with China on 
such critical issues as the global economy, on energy, and the 
environment. President Obama is trying to get Russia's help in 
convincing the Iranians to give up their ambitions of nuclear weapons, 
and they are encouraging our NATO partners to resume high-level 
relations with Russia. These relations, as we remember, were suspended 
after Russia's military operation against Georgia 6 months ago.
  In the State Department, Secretary of State Clinton said that the 
United States will hold a high-level conference in Afghanistan, a 
conference to bring together the nations of the region and members of 
the international community for serious talks. Most importantly, 
Secretary Clinton has said that Iran is likely to be invited to this 
conference because, Mr. Speaker, we must talk to Iran if we're going to 
reduce tensions between our two countries.
  President Obama promised to reach out to Iran during the presidential 
campaign even though he took a lot of political heat during that time. 
Now the President is making good on his pledge, and I, for one, applaud 
him for that. Of course, there are some who oppose these diplomatic 
overtures.
  America's 6-year occupation of Iraq, Mr. Speaker, has weakened the 
ability of our Armed Forces to respond to real threats elsewhere in the 
world, and our occupation of Afghanistan hasn't defeated the Taliban. 
So now we must protect against sinking even deeper into an endless 
conflict in that part of the world.
  Those who think that diplomacy won't work should read the article in 
today's Washington Post by Fareed Zakaria. He says the following: ``The 
Washington establishment treats compromise as treason and negotiations 
as appeasement. It believes that the only way to deal with other 
countries is by issuing a series of demands. This is not foreign 
policy,'' he says. ``It's imperial policy. And it isn't likely to work 
in today's world.''
  Mr. Speaker, I agree with him on that because I think it's exactly 
right. If we are going to achieve our foreign policy goals, we must use 
all the tools of soft power, which really should be called ``smart 
power,'' because these tools include diplomacy, humanitarian 
assistance, and conflict resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, America does best when we stick to our basic values of 
peace and justice. These values are the real source of our strength, 
and they are the values that will help us build a world that's peaceful 
and safe.

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