[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 79 (Thursday, May 21, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H5985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1815
                     A PEACE PLAN FOR MEMORIAL DAY

  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, next Monday is Memorial Day, when we 
honor the sacrifices of the men and women who have died in our Nation's 
wars. The American people will remember our fallen heroes in many, many 
ways. We will pay tribute in our houses, in our houses of worship, in 
our community centers, in our veterans' buildings, and in our 
cemeteries. There will be family gatherings. There will be parades. 
Veterans will hold memorials across this Nation, and countless 
Americans will simply bow their heads and say a silent prayer of 
thanks.
  Sadly, there are more fallen heroes to remember this year. Since 
Memorial Day last year, 394 of our brave troops have died in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, and by this time next year, I fear there will be more 
brave dead to remember and more military families who will be grieving; 
but Memorial Day should be more than a time to remember the bitter 
harvest of war. It should be a time for our Nation to seek peaceful 
alternatives to war so that no more of our brave troops will die. 
That's the best way to honor those who have given their lives for their 
country.
  To accomplish this, however, we must make the military option the 
very last option that we would choose when we develop our national 
security policies. We've tried the military option. Where has it gotten 
us? We're still bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our foreign 
adventures have cost us over $1 trillion so far, and they have 
contributed to the economic meltdown that we're experiencing now. In 
Afghanistan, anti-American feeling is spreading, and it has become a 
major recruiting tool for those who would harm our country.
  I know that these problems were dumped into President Obama's lap 
when he came into office, and I know that he is a peacemaker. On 
Monday, in his meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, he 
called for talks with Iran, and he called for a two-state solution to 
the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. I applaud him 
for both of those positions, but I voted against the supplemental 
funding bill for Iraq and Afghanistan because it will only continue the 
policies of occupation, the policies of war that have failed us.
  Instead, I urge my colleagues to support a different approach, an 
approach that will give us a real chance to succeed. I call this 
approach ``Smart Security Platform for the 21st Century.''
  The Smart Security Platform would help to eliminate the root causes 
of violence in the world by increasing economic development aid and 
debt relief to the poorest countries. It would further address the root 
causes of violence by supporting conflict resolution, human rights, and 
democracy-building.
  It calls for the United States to work with the international 
community to promote diplomacy and to strengthen international law.
  It calls for reducing weapons of mass destruction, and it calls for 
reducing conventional weapons by supporting the Comprehensive Test Ban 
Treaty, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and the Biological and 
Chemical Weapons Conventions. It calls for adequately funding the 
Cooperative Threat Reduction Program to secure nuclear materials in 
Russia and in other countries and to reduce nuclear stockpiles.
  It would invest in renewable energy to end our addiction to oil and 
to stop the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars to irresponsible 
regimes.
  It includes strategies to strengthen international intelligence and 
law enforcement to capture individuals involved in violence, while 
respecting at the same time their human and civil rights.
  Madam Speaker, Smart Security will show the world that America stands 
for peace once again. It will help protect the lives of our brave 
troops, and it will keep our country safe and free. That is the best 
way to honor the memory of our fallen heroes on Memorial Day.

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