[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 22414]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2230

                         BRING OUR TROOPS HOME

  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, the sound of gunshots could be heard 
throughout Iraq last week. Unlike most days, however, it was not the 
sound of civil war. Instead, it was the sounds of celebration as Iraq 
won a pivotal soccer match over their Saudi rivals. The return to 
violence that is the new Iraqi way of life did not take long, however.
  Most Iraqi families are living in unimaginable circumstances. Nearly 
one-third of the children are malnourished, and some 15 percent of 
Iraqis regularly cannot afford to eat. That's according to a recent 
Oxfam report.
  The high for Baghdad today was forecast at 121 degrees. Electricity 
is available for about 2 hours a day. Children are out of school, and 
regular employment is becoming harder and harder to come by. In these 
conditions, it is hard to sustain hope. For a country so rich in 
resources, it is disturbing to hear the stories of families trapped in 
slums begging for clean drinking water. Mothers scourge to find books 
and paper for school lessons. It is no wonder. Over 4 million Iraqis 
have been displaced from their homes and have sought refuge in 
neighboring provinces or nations.
  The United Nations estimates that 50,000 Iraqis leave their homes and 
become refugees every single month. That is the equivalent of one 
Biloxi or one Idaho Falls every month. It hits home even more when we 
think of a population the size of San Rafael or Petaluma, both in my 
congressional district. This is each month, Mr. Speaker; and the 
situation isn't getting any better.
  We have spent half a trillion dollars on this occupation. Where has 
it gotten us? If only a fraction of the money we were spending on tanks 
and bombs was redirected to reconstruction and reconciliation, what a 
different country Iraq could be.
  In my district in Marin and Sonoma counties alone, the taxpayers have 
shelled out $1.5 billion for this Iraqi occupation. If we really wanted 
to make America safer, this same amount, just the money from my 
district alone, could have paid for nearly 29,000 public safety 
officers or 20,000 port container inspectors. That's the real way to 
defend our homeland.
  We don't need to wait until September to see if the administration's 
efforts in Iraq are working. They haven't worked from the beginning. We 
were not met as liberators. We are not making America safer. Our 
continuing presence only serves as a recruiting tool for new 
terrorists. How can anyone think to put our troops in harm's way merely 
to serve a political legacy?
  Both the American and Iraqi people have consistently sent the clear 
message: Bring the troops home. Not in 2009 or whenever a new President 
comes along. The time is now, and we must not delay.
  This will require bold actions, but our troops deserve nothing less 
than to be brought safely home to their families.

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