[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 28305]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       PEACE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I simply want to talk about 
the issue of peace for a very brief moment.
  Just a few minutes ago, this House passed the defense authorization 
bill. As a strong opponent of the initial entry into Iraq of our troops 
in 2002 when the resolution was on the floor, my opposition stems from 
the fact that there was a question as to whether or not there were 
weapons of mass destruction and whether we were under imminent attack. 
I rise today to say that there is a very important role that our troops 
around the world can play. The United States has always had the high 
moral ground on the question of peace.
  I would like to turn our attention in this Nation and this 
administration to the idea beginning to formulate plans for 
peacekeeping. That is not what is occurring in Iraq today. Primarily as 
we see the loss of life accelerate, we need to begin to work 
steadfastly to draw out collaborators and allies around the question of 
peace.
  We were successful in Kosovo and Bosnia because we had the NATO 
allies. We were successful in Liberia because we had the work of 
President Obasajno of Nigeria and his peacekeeping efforts. It is 
imperative that this Nation begins to formulate a strategy for peace 
and utilize our troops to lift up peace in this world.

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