[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15558-15559]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        U.S. OCCUPATION OF IRAQ

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to speak out of 
turn.

[[Page 15559]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentlewoman from 
California is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, today is the 162nd time that I have come to 
the floor during Special Orders to discuss the U.S. role in Iraq. 
Unfortunately, very little has changed on the ground in Iraq over the 
course of these last 3 years and 162 speeches. Unfortunately, also, 
official visits to the region by our administration and those who 
represent the United States of America must still be in secret because 
the area is so very, very violent.
  Our troops increasingly face snipers, roadside attacks, ambushes, and 
improvised explosive devices, IEDs. Bombings continue to kill and wound 
nearly 100 Iraq civilians daily, and the country has slid into a civil 
war. One thing that has changed is this, the United States is now 
playing the role of occupier.
  President Bush claimed that the U.S. would go into the Iraq conflict 
as a liberator. These days, the more accurate statement is that the 
United States is an occupier. Our brave men and women of the Armed 
Forces have not been trained or equipped for this very mission. They 
are doing the very best they can under the circumstances, but their 
civilian superiors have let them down. Right now, the best way to 
support our troops is to set forth a plan to bring them home.
  In light of all of this, tomorrow several of my colleagues and I will 
introduce a bill that will revoke the President's Iraqi war powers. 
This legislation, the Iraq War Power Repeal Act of 2006, will return 
the war powers for Iraq back to Congress, back where our Founding 
Fathers intended.
  According to the President, all major war combat was completed just 6 
months after Congress authorized the use of force. In fact, he said 
this while standing aboard an aircraft carrier before a banner reading 
``Mission Accomplished.'' Therefore, the United States has no longer 
been at war since that statement of his 6 months into the war, but 
rather carrying out an occupation with absolutely no end in sight. The 
American and the Iraqi people want the United States troops out of 
Iraq; they want them home where they belong.
  Over the objections of many House and Senate Members 3\1/2\ years 
ago, the House voted to support the war in Iraq. We did not vote to 
support an occupation in Iraq. That is why our goal tomorrow, Mr. 
Speaker, is to have the congressional leadership allow an up-or-down 
vote on the occupation. I urge all of my colleagues to cosponsor the 
Iraq War Powers Repeal Act of 2006 to end this madness once and for 
all, to stand up for our troops, to bring them home

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