[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13940]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              SMART SECURITY AND THE NEED FOR AN IRAQ PLAN

  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, it is time for Congress to take a good hard 
look at the role the United States is playing in Iraq and whether it is 
in our national interests to maintain a military presence there.
  We need to acknowledge the fact that Iraq's insurgency is growing in 
strength, not diminishing. It is the very presence of our 150,000-or-so 
American troops in Iraq that unites the growing collection of insurgent 
forces.
  Since our military presence encourages further fighting, this war 
will continue as long as the United States troops remain in Iraq, 
appearing to be occupiers of their country. That is why Congress must 
accept that we cannot possibly be successful through military means 
alone.
  During consideration of the defense authorization bill on May 25 for 
fiscal year 2006, I offered an amendment urging the President to 
develop a plan for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Surprisingly, 
this is the first time the House formally debated the possibility of 
withdrawal from Iraq, and that was over a 2-year period. While my 
amendment was defeated, it is clear that Congress is starting to get 
serious about the need to end the war in Iraq. 128 Members, including 
five Republicans, voted for this important amendment, but there is much 
more work to be done.
  The Iraq war has now raged on for more than 2 years, and we are no 
closer to winning this conflict than we were when President Bush 
declared an end to major combat operations under an arrogant banner 
declaring ``Mission Accomplished.''
  Despite this lack of progress, the war has exacted a deeply troubling 
human and financial toll. In just over 2 years of war, almost 1,800 
American soldiers and an estimated 25,000 innocent Iraqi bystanders 
have been killed. The Pentagon lists the number of Americans wounded as 
over 12,000; but that does not take into consideration the invisible 
wounds many of our soldiers have brought home, the painful mental 
trauma they have contracted from months and years of fighting, watching 
their friends being killed or wounded by the insurgents, and killing 
and wounding others themselves, a lot to live with when they finally 
come home.

                              {time}  1800

  When accounting for these psychological injuries, the number of 
wounded jumps to more than 40,000 soldiers. Given what is at stake 
here, do the American people not deserve a plan? Do our brave men and 
women who are selflessly sacrificing their time and energy, not to 
mention their arms, legs and lives for this war, not deserve a plan? 
And it would be helpful for their families to know what the plan is in 
Iraq.
  We have asked the President to address Iraq's lack of security. We 
have asked him to come up with a plan for ending the war. He has not; 
so we will.
  After we bring the troops home, we do have a plan. There is a plan. 
It is a plan that would secure America for the future, the SMART 
Security resolution, which I recently reintroduced with the support of 
50 of my House colleagues. SMART is Sensible Multilateral American 
Response to Terrorism for the 21st Century, and it will help address 
the threats we face as a Nation. SMART Security will ensure America's 
security by reaching out and engaging the Iraqi people.
  Instead of rushing off to war for the wrong reasons, SMART Security 
encourages the United States to work with other nations to address the 
most pressing global problems. Because not every international problem 
has a military answer, SMART Security will prevent terrorism by 
addressing the very conditions that give rise to terrorism in the very 
first place: poverty, despair, resource scarcity and lack of proper 
education, as an example.
  SMART Security also encourages democracy building, human rights 
education, conflict resolution through nonmilitary means, educational 
opportunities, and strengthening civil programs in the developing 
world. These are the best ways to encourage democracy in countries like 
Iraq, not through wars that cost thousands of unnecessary deaths and 
cost billions of dollars. The SMART approach is the best way to reach 
out to Iraq. It is time we stopped putting all of our eggs in the 
military basket and started getting smart about our national security.

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