[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 68 (Tuesday, May 5, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H5134-H5135]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           TOO MANY HAVE DIED

  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, a recent report from the Associated Press 
gave us a new and very grim reminder of the human cost of the conflict 
in Iraq.
  According to the A.P., the Iraqi Government has secretly recorded 
over 87,000 killings since the year 2005. The A.P. also added its own 
statistics on the known number of deaths between 2003 and 2005.
  When you add those numbers, you get over 110,000 Iraqi civilian 
deaths since the beginning of the American occupation. But, Mr. 
Speaker, the death toll is even higher than that. The A.P. said that an 
Iraqi official estimated the actual number of deaths to be 10 to 20 
percent higher because of the thousands who are still missing and 
civilians who were buried in the chaos of war without official records.
  Of course, the death toll itself does not measure the full human cost 
of the conflict. It doesn't include the injured. It doesn't include the 
children who have been orphaned. It doesn't include the families that 
have been devastated by the loss of their loved ones and their 
breadwinners. It doesn't include the suffering of the 4 million 
refugees. It doesn't include the countless deaths from indirect causes, 
which includes the lack of health care because hospitals were closed 
and so many doctors were forced to flee. And it doesn't include the 
people who have seen their futures taken away from them because of 
their schools and colleges being closed by the fighting. It is no 
surprise that the A.P. report said almost every person in Iraq has been 
touched by the violence.

[[Page H5135]]

  And of course, Mr. Speaker, here in America we have seen 35,000 of 
our finest and bravest men and women killed or wounded in battle, and 
140,000 of our troops remain in harm's way today.
  Mr. Speaker, war is not a video game. Real people die or are horribly 
wounded and scarred, and they are scarred and wounded for life. Real 
families suffer. We need to remember that when we make momentous 
decisions about war and peace in this House, we have to consider those 
statistics.
  Today, our country is faced with another tough decision about war: 
What to do about the situation in Afghanistan. I oppose the 
supplementary funding request for Iraq and Afghanistan. It will prolong 
our occupation of Iraq through at least the year 2011, and it will 
expand our military presence in Afghanistan indefinitely.
  Instead of attempting to find military solutions to the problems we 
face in Iraq and Afghanistan, the administration must fundamentally 
change our mission in both countries to focus on promoting 
reconciliation, economic development, humanitarian aid, and regional 
diplomatic efforts.
  Diplomacy and economic development are two of the cornerstones of my 
Smart Security Platform for the 21st century. This plan would employ 
the many effective nonmilitary tools that we have to fight terrorism. 
These tools will cost a lot less and be far more effective. They will 
save lives, stop terrorism, and keep us safe at the same time, or at 
least safer than a military option. I invite all of my colleagues to 
consider House Resolution 363, which describes the full plan.
  Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the military option has taken us down 
the wrong road in both Iraq and Afghanistan for the past 7 years. The 
military option hasn't made us more secure. It has cost our Treasury 
over $1 trillion so far, with no end in sight. And the human toll has 
been appalling. It is time to do something that will make our Nation 
safer and save countless lives. The smart security platform for the 
21st century will achieve both of these goals.

                          ____________________