[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20118]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    SMART SECURITY AND GLOBAL CHANGE

  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, in the days and weeks after September 11, 
2001, Americans pulled together to restore our country after the worst 
terrorist attack in United States history. For the rest of September 
that year, there were no Democrats, there were no Republicans, there 
were only Americans.
  In those trying times in the fall of the year 2001, I believe that no 
American would have hesitated to make a substantial sacrifice for the 
good of the country, just as Americans have done in other times of 
need, like during World War II and the 1979 energy crisis.
  If President Bush had asked America in the days after September 11 to 
cut down on the use of fossil fuels in order to reduce our dependence 
on Middle East oil, America would have responded. Sadly, the President 
did not ask us to do any such thing.
  Instead of asking Americans to sacrifice, President Bush 
irresponsibly gave the top 1 percent of Americans a huge tax cut, 
leaving our children and their children to pick up the tab for the 
unnecessary war in Iraq, a cost already over $200 billion. Because 
nothing endangers America's security more than our reliance on Mideast 
oil, instead of promoting these reckless tax cuts, the Bush 
administration should have advocated immediate development of 
sustainable and renewable energy alternatives.
  I am not the only one who realizes this. Just ask the good people at 
Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Friends Committee on National 
Legislation, and Women's Action For New Direction. These groups 
understand that our dependence on unsustainable energy sources, like 
Mideast oil, undermines America's security and our health.
  And speaking about health, 50 years from now, our children will ask 
us how we allowed starvation, poverty, and diseases like HIV and AIDS 
and tuberculosis to flourish in other countries while the citizens of 
wealthy nations who have so much were not inflicted as greatly. That is 
why any attempt to fight terrorism must also include providing 
humanitarian aid to the poorest nations. Humanitarian aid in the form 
of food and medical supplies would restore hope to the world's poorest 
people. Nothing breeds terrorism like the hopelessness and despair 
brought about by starvation, disease and poverty.
  For sure, the United States needs to lead the rest of the world when 
it comes to fighting terrorism, but the U.S., the strongest and richest 
country in the world, must lead by example rather than through invading 
other nations and killing thousands of innocent civilians in the 
process.
  Throwing our weight around will not gain the support of other 
nations. Instead, we must meet our obligations under the Nuclear 
Nonproliferation Treaty, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the 
Biological Weapons Convention, and the Chemical Weapons Convention. 
There has to be a better way to respond to the threats America faces. 
That is why I have introduced H. Con. Res. 392, a SMART security 
platform for the 21st century. SMART stands for Sensible Multilateral 
American Response to Terrorism.
  SMART security treats war as an absolute last resort. It fights 
terrorism with stronger intelligence and multilateral partnerships, and 
it controls the spread of weapons of mass destruction with aggressive 
diplomacy, strong regional security arrangements and vigorous 
inspection regimes. SMART security defends America by relying on the 
very best of America, not our nuclear capabilities but our capacity for 
multinational leadership and our commitment to peace and freedom around 
the world.
  Madam Speaker, the true moral test of our government is not how many 
wars we win, it is our compassion, our compassion for those in the 
world who are less fortunate than we are. It is how we treat these 
individuals that determines the true moral quality of America. 
Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Friends Committee on National 
Legislation, Women's Action For New Direction, and many Americans 
understand this.

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