[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 24, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H3786]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ADMINISTRATION DESERVES PRAISE FOR NEW IRAN AND STOP-LOSS POLICIES

  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, I rise to call the House's attention to two 
very positive developments in the administration's handling of foreign 
policy and military affairs.
  First, the administration offered Iran a new beginning in relations 
between our two countries. He did that on Friday. It was part of his 
message to the Iranian people and to their leaders on the occasion of 
the Persian new year.
  The President said, ``My administration is now committed to diplomacy 
that addresses the full range of issues before us, and Iran, and to 
pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran, and the 
international community. This process will not be advanced by threats. 
We seek, instead, engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual 
respect.''
  Mr. Speaker, President Obama is determined to settle differences with 
Iran peacefully. Of course, I don't have any, nor should any of us have 
any, illusions that it will be easy to reduce tensions with Iran. 
That's because they continue to develop a nuclear program which could 
be used to build nuclear weapons.
  But I do believe that diplomacy can produce good results over time. A 
diplomatic effort can begin within the next year, or in the next week 
actually, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attends a conference 
on Afghanistan in The Netherlands. Iran is expected to attend the 
conference, and Secretary Clinton could interact with Iranian 
officials.
  The United States and Iran have cooperated in the past over 
Afghanistan, and this may be one area of common ground. But at the very 
least, the administration has created an environment where peaceful 
progress can be made, and I commend the administration for that.
  The second development that is positive came last Wednesday when 
Secretary of Defense Gates announced that he is moving to end the 
Pentagon's terrible stop-loss policy. Under stop-loss, Mr. Speaker, 
thousands of soldiers have been forced to remain in the military even 
after their enlistments have expired.
  Ending stop-loss is long overdue. It has been essentially a backdoor 
draft, and it's one of the policies that has stretched our military to 
the limit, putting a terrible strain on our soldiers and on their 
families.
  The Army has acknowledged this problem. The Army Vice Chief of Staff 
told a Senate subcommittee last week that forcing soldiers to take 
longer deployments has helped produce a ``stressed and tired force.''
  Prolonged deployments, Mr. Speaker, which have separated soldiers 
from their families for these very long periods of time, have 
contributed to a tragic rise in the number of suicides among military 
personnel. The Army has confirmed that there were 133 suicides last 
year alone, and that's just the Army.
  Another serious problem is that many soldiers who have left the 
military have not had a happy homecoming. The unemployment rate for 
veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan is 11.2 percent, which is higher than 
the rate for nonveterans.
  That is one of the reasons why I support the administration's 
economic recovery plan, which actually is the third policy development 
that we should be talking about today, because this plan will produce 
millions of new jobs. I would have liked to have seen an even bigger 
recovery plan to create even more jobs, but Mr. Speaker, I have to 
disagree with the administration on some policies occasionally, and 
that's stretching beyond where their good intentions are.
  I also have to disagree with the administration on some foreign 
policy issues. But on this occasion, I don't want to go into that. I 
want to applaud the administration for taking three important steps 
that can make the world a more peaceful place and that will lift a very 
heavy burden off our brave troops and their families.

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