[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16172]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     COST OF THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to speak out of order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kuhl of New York). Without objection, 
the gentleman from California is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight because in a moment, we are 
going to have a historical presentation here on the House floor. It is 
the 165th time that there has been a consistent voice about getting our 
troops out of Iraq and ending the war in Iraq. And I know that the 
voice of the distinguished colleague from California, Lynn Woolsey, is 
being listened to because, eventually, we are going to follow her 
advice. It is just a question of when. I hope it is not going to take 
another 165 days.
  I would like it yield the remainder of my time to the distinguished 
Congresswoman representing Marin and Sonoma Counties in California for 
her 165th presentation on the House floor on this issue.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague. Thank 
you, Congressman Farr, for those nice words and for standing here with 
me this evening.
  Mr. Speaker, tonight I come to the floor again, for the 165th time, 
to discuss the costs of the occupation of Iraq. Unfortunately, we all 
know too well the human cost of the occupation. More than 2,550 of our 
brave fighting men and women have died. Nearly 100 Iraqi civilians are 
killed every day.
  One might be able to justify these losses if the cause were 
justified, if Americans were safer because of our action in Iraq. 
Instead, the architect of the September 11 attacks, Osama Bin Laden, is 
still at large. The Middle East is literally going up in flames. 
Terrorism is increasing throughout the world.
  And when we turn our eyes home to America, we see so many squandered 
opportunities as a result of the Iraq occupation. If we hadn't been 
spending nearly $.5 trillion in Iraq, just think of what we could have 
done to strengthen our economy and our very own people. Think of the 
investments we could have made in our future right here at home.
  Think about the unmet needs of our children. For the cost of 15 days 
of the Iraq occupation, we could immunize every child in the United 
States against serious childhood diseases with all recommended vaccines 
for the cost of $4 billion.
  For the cost of almost 2 months of the occupation in Iraq, we could 
hire 460,000 teachers across America to lower average class sizes to 18 
students, at the cost of $15 billion.
  For the cost of just over 2 months of the occupation of Iraq, we 
could provide basic health insurance to every American child currently 
making due without coverage. That cost would be $17 billion.
  For the cost of little more than 2 months of the occupation of Iraq, 
we could pay 1 year of tuition and fees at a 4-year public university 
for the 3 million high school seniors who graduated this spring.
  For the cost of just over 5 months of the occupation of Iraq, this 
could provide a 20 percent pay raise to 3 million public school 
teachers.
  Mr. Speaker, when will we learn?
  Congress, over my objections and those of many of my colleagues, gave 
the President the authorization to go to war. We did not give him 
permission to occupy Iraq, nor did we give him permission to neglect 
American children and jeopardize their future.
  It is time to bring our troops home from Iraq. It is time to focus on 
the education and health care of our Nation's children. The Congress 
can do this by passing my legislation, H.R. 5875, a bill to repeal the 
President's Iraq war powers. Tonight, I urge my colleagues to cosponsor 
this legislation. And I urge the leadership to consider this bill 
before we head home for the August break, before one more penny is 
wasted on occupying Iraq.

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