[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 22, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H1508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             ONE OF AMERICA'S WORST FOREIGN POLICY MISTAKES

  (Mr. POLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in solemn observance today of the 13th 
anniversary of the week that one of the worst foreign policy mistakes 
of the 21st century was made, the invasion of Iraq, March 20, 2003.
  The human cost of the invasion: 4,491 U.S. servicemembers who gave 
their lives and countless more who were injured or who came back with 
difficulties facing the challenges of everyday life.
  Iraqi deaths were between 151,000 and 500,000, including many 
innocent women and children, and millions more were driven from their 
homes.
  The economic cost of the war in Iraq: $1.7 trillion are the estimates 
of that cost, money that was taken out of the hands of U.S. taxpayers, 
away from our roads, bridges, infrastructure, and schools to send to 
Iraq. And the national security cost of that colossal mistake: namely, 
the creation of ISIS and, in fact, arming ISIS with weapons that were 
paid for by American taxpayers, supplied to the failed Iraqi military.
  ``When will we ever learn?'', in the words of the late, great Pete 
Seeger.

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