[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 23935-23936]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    2,000 U.S. SOLDIERS DEAD IN IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, yesterday we reached a tragic milestone. 
Staff Sergeant George T. Alexander, Jr., of Texas, died from wounds he 
sustained while serving in Iraq. His death brought the U.S. death toll 
in Iraq to 2,000 soldiers. In addition to that, over 15,000 soldiers 
have been wounded, and over 400 are now amputees. My thoughts and 
prayers are with Staff Sergeant Alexander's family, and with all the 
families that have lost a loved one in Iraq.
  However, I hope the administration will use this milestone as an 
opportunity to be honest, to square with the American people about why 
we are fighting in Iraq, and to develop a stronger plan that will 
secure Iraq and conclude our involvement the war.
  Mr. Speaker, it is often said that to govern is to make choices. When 
it comes to the Iraq War, President Bush has made the wrong choices. 
Instead of putting the entire resources of the United States behind the 
efforts to find those responsible for the September 11th terrorist 
attacks, the President chose to use those tragic events as an excuse to 
go to war in Iraq.
  Where is Osama bin Laden? Have we stopped looking for him? We have 
invaded Iraq. We have the shock and awe campaign. Thousands of Iraqis 
are dead, and now 2,000 of our soldiers are dead. We have left Iraq, 
and Baghdad in particular, in shambles. We have appropriated money for 
the reconstruction of Iraq, and we told the American people that we 
would basically pay for the major reconstruction with the proceeds from 
the oil that we would pump in Iraq. None of this is true; no weapons of 
mass destruction, no money coming from the oil fields in Iraq, no 
rehabilitation having been done. The insurgents not only are bombing 
all of the different sites in Iraq, they are killing schoolteachers.
  We have created a breeding ground for terrorists. Oh, we claim they 
are coming from Syria. We claim that Iran has a hand in it. What is 
interesting now is Condoleezza Rice is telling us that we are going to 
get Iran to help us with Iraq. At the same time, Iran is developing and 
making more sophisticated its nuclear ability, but now we are going to 
try and join in with them to help us with Iraq? With this business of 
trying to make the American people believe that all of the insurgents 
are coming from Syria, we have created a new bogeyman for the people to 
focus on.
  But that is not all about this terrorism, in this fight against 
terrorism. It seems to me that the President of the United States finds 
occasions by which he comes to the American public and he tells us that 
we have to be worried about a new terrorist threat. Every now and then 
he reminds us that the terrorists are still out there, and somehow we 
have to stay in Iraq. If we do not, we are going to be vulnerable to 
all of these terrorists. But if we stay the course, not only is he 
going to help keep us safe, no matter how many sacrifices we have to 
make, the right thing to do is to stay the course.
  Mr. Speaker, that is easy to talk about and say when you are talking 
about somebody else's children. The President chose to go to war based 
on false and misleading intelligence. Look where it has gotten us. Look 
at the scandals surrounding the White House today because we tried to 
make the intelligence fit the decision that had already been made to go 
to war.
  We are finding, and I guess we will know soon, once the indictments 
come down, who leaked the information about Valerie Plame and outed her 
because they were so mad at her husband, who had been sent to Niger to 
help put the story together that somehow Saddam Hussein had been 
seeking yellowcake in Niger. When Mr. Wilson came back and said it was 
not true, then they went after Mr. Wilson. Somehow the Vice President's 
office knows all about this.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time to bring our soldiers home. It is time for 
Republicans and Democrats alike to understand that we do not need to 
lose another American soldier in Iraq.
  He chose to go to war without international support or heed the 
warnings of those in Congress that urged him to slow the march to war.
  The President chose to send our soldiers to war without the body 
armor and armored vehicles necessary to keep our soldiers safe.
  And, he chose to go to war without an adequate number of troops or a 
clear plan for how to succeed in Iraq.
  For those decisions, American soldiers are paying the price--and for 
2,000 soldiers they have paid the ultimate price.
  It is time that the President recognizes the dangers of ``staying the 
course'' and develops a plan that accomplishes our mission in Iraq and 
allows all our soldiers to return to their families.
  Madam Speaker, over the past several weeks, members of the Republican 
Caucus have been trying to cut the Federal budget by $50 billion. They 
claim that it is to help pay for the rebuilding efforts in the wake of 
Hurricane Katrina and Rita.
  Perhaps most shocking, the Republicans are trying to cut hundreds of 
millions of dollars from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
  If the Republicans are successful in their efforts to cut 
discretionary funding by 2 percent, the VA's budget will be cut by more 
than $600 million which translates to nearly 100,000 fewer veterans 
receiving health care this year.
  It is heartless and cruel to cut the VA's budget in order to make 
room for more tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans, while 159,000 
U.S. soldiers are fighting in Iraq and tens of thousands more are 
deployed throughout the world.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose these cuts and urge the American 
people to call their representatives and tell them to oppose these 
cuts.
  Our soldiers and their families have sacrificed too much for us to 
turn our backs on them when they return home.

[[Page 23936]]

  Madam Speaker, I close by thanking our soldiers for their service and 
pray for their safe return.

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