[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 23593]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            SMART SECURITY AND PRESIDENT BUSH'S SECOND TERM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, George W. Bush will lead the United States, 
and the free world, for another 4 years. With the weight of the 
Presidential contest behind him, it is my sincere hope that he will 
take this opportunity to shun the aggressive, unyielding, and 
unilateral approach to world affairs that has bedeviled his first term 
and ostracized the United States from our allies. Instead, Mr. Speaker, 
the President must lead the country in a new, stronger and safer 
direction, one that makes use of aggressive diplomacy and the rule of 
law to accomplish what needs to be done. The point has never been 
clearer that, in the vast majority of situations, negotiations work; 
and the recent developments in Iran are a perfect example. The Bush 
administration's approach to Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons has 
consisted of little more than saber-rattling and aggressive posturing. 
While the U.S. has attempted unsuccessfully to flex its muscles, three 
European countries have banded together to achieve real results. The 
United Kingdom, France, and Germany announced earlier this week that 
they had reached a deal to prevent the development of Iran's nuclear 
program for the purpose of creating nuclear weapons. In exchange, the 
three European powers promised that Iran would not face U.N. Security 
Council sanctions. The promise will be upheld because France and the 
U.K. are both permanent members of the Security Council and can veto 
any sanctions against a fully compliant Iran. To be sure, it will take 
months, if not years, to assure that Iran does not pose a nuclear 
threat to the rest of the world, but the consequences of these 
negotiations are significant.
  By engaging Iran in direct talks, instead of a political wrestling 
match, three European powers were able to achieve tangible results. 
Negotiations worked, while U.S. aggression has not.
  There has to be a better way to respond to the threats America faces, 
a better way than the chest-thumping aggression that was adopted by the 
first-term Bush administration. 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. It controls 
the spread of weapons of mass destruction with uncompromising 
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.
  Mr. Speaker, President Bush should view the example of Iran as a 
lesson in how to engage so-called ``rogue nations'' over the next 4 
years. He no longer has a reelection campaign to worry about, and there 
is nothing to stop him from using smarter alternatives when conducting 
America's foreign policy.
  What kind of world will the President leave when he steps off the 
global stage in the year 2008? A world at war for the foreseeable 
future, or a world at peace, guided by the smart choices of diplomacy 
and engagement? The choice is in his hands.

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