[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7831-7832]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            SMART SECURITY AND THE NOMINATION OF JOHN BOLTON

  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, when Senator John Danforth stepped down as 
the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations earlier this year, President 
Bush had an option. He could nominate a new Ambassador who would work 
with the nations of the world to address the growing threat of 
terrorism and resource scarcity, or he could nominate one of the usual 
suspects, someone who would maintain the administration's unilateral 
thinking. By nominating John Bolton, President Bush chose the latter.
  As Under Secretary of State for Arms Control, John Bolton 
demonstrated his poor leadership skills by bullying his colleagues. He 
demonstrated disdain for international diplomacy by refusing to meet 
with certain foreign leaders, and he openly criticized the very 
institution, the United Nations, to which he now has been nominated to 
represent the United States. This behavior is not going to win the 
United States many friends on the international stage.
  Without a reelection campaign to worry about, President Bush could 
have utilized the U.N. ambassadorship as a means of helping America 
regain its lost credibility as the most important democratic Nation in 
the world.

[[Page 7832]]

He could have helped America begin its recovery from the mistakes he 
made in the run-up to the Iraq war and the international alliances that 
were shattered as a result. But when it comes to addressing America's 
lost credibility around the world, it remains business as usual for the 
White House. It seems that the Bush administration has more important 
matters to take care of, like the shameful way it is working to end the 
decades-old tradition of the filibuster in the Senate.
  The nomination of John Bolton epitomizes the Bush administration's 
not-so-subtle pattern of disregard for multilateral institutions. 
Whenever possible, President Bush and his administration continue to 
sway from the international consensus, not towards it.
  But the fight against international terrorism does not belong to a 
single country, particularly in this era of globalization. When the 
Internet connects people thousands of miles apart at the mere click of 
a button, we need to recognize that we are all in it together, because 
acts of terrorism, abusive regimes, and resource scarcity affect 
everyone, everyone on the globe. That is why it is more important than 
ever to work with other nations and the multilateral institutions that 
guide them, like the United Nations and the international criminal 
court.
  Mr. Speaker, next week, I will reintroduce the SMART Security 
resolution legislation that does take into consideration the need for 
international cooperation in the post-September 11 world. In order to 
effectively address the threat of terrorism, SMART Security works to 
strengthen international institutions and respect for the rule of law. 
We cannot possibly strengthen the United Nations if our own U.N. 
Ambassador has contempt for the institution he is trying to serve.
  Instead of continuing to emphasize our differences with other 
nations, the United States needs to break its current cycle of shameful 
unilateralism. We need to court the institutions that used to celebrate 
America's participation, and our efforts must not stop there. If the 
U.S. expects other countries to relinquish pursuit of nuclear weapons, 
then we had better honor our international commitments to the Nuclear 
Nonproliferation Treaty, to the Biological Weapons Convention, to the 
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

                              {time}  2015

  The United States is at its strongest when we lead the rest of the 
world towards peaceful resolution of conflicts by working with the rest 
of the world. This is the way we need to address the growing crisis in 
Iran and North Korea and the way to ensure that members of 
international terrorist groups like al Qaeda are caught and brought to 
justice. The ambassadors that serve the United States abroad reflect 
our values here at home. The nomination of John Bolton as U.S. 
Ambassador to the United Nations is not consistent with America's best 
values, our commitment to peace and freedom, our compassion for the 
people of the world, and our capacity for multilateral leadership. It 
is time the Bush administration started working with the nations of the 
world. That world needs to begin here at home.

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