[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 8818]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      SOUTH MOUNTAIN PEACE ACTION

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise today to praise a group of my 
constituents working toward the noble goal of peace. This group is 
called South Mountain Peace Action, and its members are active in 
Maplewood and South Orange, NJ. Peace Action members have circulated a 
petition in their community about the war in Iraq. The petition was 
signed by more than 1,200 concerned New Jerseyans, so I think it is 
important for Congress to take note of their actions.
  The Peace Action petition discusses the staggering costs of the Iraq 
War, both in terms of American lives and taxpayer dollars. As of today, 
more than 1,600 American troops have died and nearly 12,000 have been 
wounded in action. We have now lost over 50 people with ties to New 
Jersey. I have attended several funerals for New Jersey's fallen 
soldiers, and each funeral is a difficult, emotional experience. I have 
also been to Walter Reed Army Hospital and I have seen firsthand the 
debilitating injuries suffered by our troops.
  The taxpayer costs of the war are also staggering. So far, the war 
and reconstruction of Iraq have cost more than $200 billion, and the 
spigot of taxpayer funds continues to run. Originally, Secretary of 
Defense Donald Rumsfeld told us that war in Iraq would cost ``under $50 
billion,'' but due to a lack of planning and terrible decisions by the 
Bush administration, the costs are skyrocketing.
  This war is tainted by the faulty information that the President 
provided the Nation and the world about Saddam Hussein's supposed 
stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. But our troops are there and 
we must support them. And, in my view, we must work to stabilize Iraq 
and bring our troops home as soon as possible.
  Thanks to groups such as Peace Action, our communities are speaking 
up about the costs of this war. I hope that their activism will bring 
positive results for our Nation and for our troops in Iraq and their 
families.

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