[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9549-9550]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   SMART SECURITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

  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, the administration's war in Iraq has 
failed. It has failed to make the world safer from terrorism. And, 
actually, it has made the world less safe and more susceptible to acts 
of terror. Who should be held accountable for this mess?
  The war is not going well. Over 740 brave American soldiers have 
already lost their lives as a result of this deadly conflict, not to 
mention the innocent Iraqi civilians who have been killed and the 
thousands of troops injured.
  The Pentagon just released a report that 18,000 American troops have 
been evacuated from Iraq for medical reasons. That is 18,000, or one-
seventh of the number currently stationed in Iraq. This speaks to a 
systematic failure of leadership, Mr. Speaker. And, sadly, examples of 
this failure are widespread and easily recalled: the failure to secure 
Iraq's borders; the failure to prevent postwar looting; and the failure 
to provide the security necessary for reconstruction.
  In fact, the recent abuse of POWs at the Abu Ghraib Prison is yet 
another example of failed leadership by the Bush administration. But 
one of the most shameful aspects of our involvement in Iraq, our 
greatest failure of all, I believe, is the failure to adequately 
provide our soldiers with the equipment, the guidance, and the 
leadership they need to ensure their survival and their success in 
Iraq.
  We failed to immediately provide our soldiers with the essential 
survivor tools, body armor capable of stopping bullets, armor for tanks 
that would help prevent the destruction of U.S. military convoys, and 
the necessary water equipment to keep them hydrated in the desert heat. 
This issue is one that should have been accounted for during the 
planning phases of the war, not as an afterthought when our troops were 
in harm's way, already halfway around the world.
  In fact, this protective equipment has not been fully provided yet, 
after Congress approved $155 billion in supplemental spending bills 
last year. I ask again, who should be held accountable for this mess? 
Should it be Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,

[[Page 9550]]

who President Bush claimed was doing a superb job, and who Vice 
President Cheney, in a recent statement, called the best Secretary of 
Defense in our Nation's history? If Donald Rumsfeld is doing a superb 
job, then I really want to know what is a bad job.
  For his consistent failure to adequately plan for the war in Iraq and 
the postwar phase, during which the lives of far more American soldiers 
have been lost than during the war effort itself, Donald Rumsfeld 
should resign his post with the best interest of this Nation in mind.
  We must also take heed of the quote made famous by President Harry S. 
Truman: ``The buck stops here.'' President Bush would be well served to 
embrace this policy, a policy which served President Truman and our 
Nation well during an earlier war.
  To prevent a similar situation, I have introduced legislation to 
create a SMART security platform for the 21st century, H. Con. Res. 
392. SMART stands for Sensible Multilateral American Response to 
Terrorism. SMART 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 a renewed 
commitment to nonproliferation, and it aggressively invests in the 
development of impoverished nations, with an emphasis on women's health 
and education.

                              {time}  1800

  The Bush doctrine of unilateralism has been tried and it has failed. 
It is time for a new national security strategy based on America's 
commitment to peace and freedom, our compassion for the people of the 
world, and our capacity for multilateral leadership. Let us be smart 
about our future. SMART security is tough, SMART security is pragmatic 
and patriotic, and it will keep America safe.

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