[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 58 (Tuesday, May 3, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H2941]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  POST-BIN LADEN: A MOMENT TO RE-THINK OUR NATIONAL SECURITY APPROACH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Woolsey) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Yes, indeed, just to follow up on the gentleman from 
Oregon, we are, in our efforts to reauthorize elementary and secondary 
education, expanding to the whole child, we hope, including civics and 
art and music.
  Mr. Speaker, my first thought when watching the news last Sunday 
night was about the many people, the many people, who have a hole in 
their hearts and in their homes because of the senseless, brutal 
violence perpetrated by Osama bin Laden. There was 9/11, of course, but 
also the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the Embassy bombings in East 
Africa, the attack on the USS Cole. Bin Laden is responsible for so 
much evil, and I hope that the families of his victims can now find 
some measure of peace and hopefully some closure.
  He is dead, but the terrorism threat he represents remains alive and 
well. The network he created continues to thrive. And I believe, Mr. 
Speaker, that al Qaeda will remain strong as long as we, the United 
States of America, continue our policy of aggressive militarism in the 
Middle East.

                              {time}  1040

  The war in Afghanistan remains an epic failure that is bankrupting us 
morally and fiscally. Our nearly 10-year occupation has emboldened 
those who hate America instead of defeating them. It has created more 
terrorists than it has killed. It is undermining our national security 
interests, not advancing them. It is making us less safe, not more.
  None of that changes with the news of Osama bin Laden's death. Just 
last week, a retired Army lieutenant colonel from my district just 
north of the Golden Gate Bridge, James McLaughlin, Jr., of Santa Rosa, 
California, was killed while working as a contractor training military 
pilots in Afghanistan. He died along with eight others when an Afghan 
pilot turned on his allies and went on a shooting spree during a 
meeting at the Kabul airport. Bin Laden's death won't bring Jim 
McLaughlin back, nor will it bring back the 1,500-plus Americans who 
have lost their lives in Afghanistan. The horror of this war continues 
unabated.
  So with Osama bin Laden's death, I believe that it is past time for 
somber reflection--reflection about the policies of the last 10 years 
and about where we might go from here. It is time to rethink our entire 
approach to national security.
  We can save so much in lives, in money, in global credibility, and in 
moral authority with a smart security platform that puts diplomacy and 
development aid before guns and tanks: a platform that uses American 
power for humanitarian ends, a platform that empowers and invests in 
the people of Afghanistan instead of invading and occupying their 
country.
  We have a chance now to change course. The trauma of 9/11 was 
profound, but it also led to some disastrous choices, from the war in 
Iraq, to roving wiretaps, to waterboarding, to the surge in 
Afghanistan. Now that the 9/11 mastermind is gone, it is time to turn a 
new page.
  It has to begin with a swift move toward military redeployment out of 
Afghanistan. We cannot continue down this road of permanent warfare. 
The costs are too great. I've never ever felt more strongly, Mr. 
Speaker, that it is time to bring our troops home.

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