[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 11618-11619]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                  IRAQ

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to speak out of 
order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentlewoman from 
California is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, it has been almost 39 months since our 
troops were sent to Iraq; and today, more than 37 months after the 
President declared their mission accomplished, they are still there, 
still fighting a guerrilla war for which they weren't properly trained 
or equipped, still paying for the tragic blunders of their civilian 
superiors, and still risking life and limb because of a security threat 
that never even existed.
  If American troops are still in Iraq at year's end, and, 
unfortunately, it appears they might be, we will have been in Iraq 
longer than these soldiers' grandfathers fought in World War II. The 
difference is that that was a much different war, with a clearer 
objective, a national consensus, a moral core, and a just cause.
  Not only has Iraq not made us safer; it has actually harmed our 
national security, making the United States an international pariah, 
provoking the range of anti-American jihadists around the Muslim world, 
and stoking the fires of an insurgency that gets stronger every day, 
every day that we are in Iraq.
  And that doesn't even take into account the staggering human cost, 
the 2,500th American soldier killed just yesterday, more than 1,800 
soldiers gravely wounded, thousands of others mentally and physically 
traumatized by their combat experience, not to mention the countless 
tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians who died for the cause of their 
own so-called liberation.
  Mr. Speaker, the sham resolution that the Republicans in Congress 
brought to the floor yesterday and that we voted on just a few minutes 
ago is yet another partisan divisive attempt to stay the course and to 
link support for this war to support for our troops.
  We could have debated particulars of a military disengagement. We 
could have a substantive discussion that results in an actual change in 
the Nation's Iraq policy. Instead, we did nothing more than a little 
Kabuki dance that at the end of the day won't change a single thing 
except to prove that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are 
willing to distort the facts and use the war and our troops for 
politics.
  There is nothing inconsistent about having the deepest contempt for 
the

[[Page 11619]]

war, but the utmost admiration for the soldiers on the front lines. 
Last fall, I traveled to Iraq and visited with our troops. My 
conversations with them only confirmed what I already knew, that these 
are uniquely loyal, intelligent, and courageous Americans. They 
represent the very finest our country has to offer, and they deserve 
our unyielding gratitude every hour of every day.
  If only they had civilian leaders who were worthy of their service 
and their sacrifice. If only the people who are running this war had 
half the honor, half the integrity of the men and women who are 
fighting it. It is because I support the troops that I have advocated 
so passionately for their return home. And we can do that, and we can 
do it without abandoning Iraq.
  We must establish a multilateral security force to keep the peace in 
Iraq while shifting the U.S. role from military occupier to 
reconstruction partner. This is what the American people want, Mr. 
Speaker. They want to help Iraq rebuild and become a free democratic 
society, but they want it done without another drop of American 
bloodshed. They want their sons and daughters, they want their mothers 
and fathers, their brothers and sisters, their friends and neighbors 
back home where they belong.
  What we need now is action from Washington, not platitudes and photo 
opportunities, not inconsequential resolutions that require lawmakers 
to risk absolutely nothing. The American people are looking to 
Washington. They are begging for leadership. It is time this Congress 
and the President of the United States provided some.

                          ____________________