[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 25792]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           THE HEALTH OF IRAQ

  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, earlier this week, the World Health 
Organization released a report that can only be called shocking and 
appalling. Cholera is on the rise in Iraq and spreading to urban areas 
like Baghdad and Basrah, and some of the northern provinces as well.
  As most of you know, cholera is a diarrheal illness caused by 
infection of the intestine. People get cholera from drinking water or 
food contaminated with the cholera bacteria, and it spreads rapidly in 
areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water.
  This sounds like a disease of the Third World, not one of a developed 
and wealthy country, certainly not a country where the United States is 
propping up the health care system, right? Then why have the confirmed 
number of cases of cholera risen to more than 2,000? In one week alone, 
616 new cases were discovered. The WHO estimates that more than 30,000 
people have fallen ill with similar symptoms which may later be 
confirmed as cholera.
  This is a shocking epidemic. As a result, the Iraqi Government is 
considering travel restrictions to limit the spread of this often 
deadly disease, particularly for children.
  In a country already crippled by refugees and internally displaced 
people, the situation grows more severe every single day. Why, as we 
are spending more than $13 million an hour for the occupation of Iraq, 
$13 million an hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, can we not join 
with the international community to provide for the most basic human 
needs? We are talking clean drinking water and proper sanitation. This 
is not reinventing the wheel or putting a man on the Moon.
  Clean water and sanitary conditions, is that too much to ask? I guess 
it might be for our leader at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, 
because the administration spews a lot of rhetoric about liberating the 
Iraqi people. Does that mean crumbling infrastructure, sectarian 
fighting, a massive refugee crisis, and on top of that, a possible 
epidemic of cholera?
  Iraqi families need to start their lives over again. They need their 
kids to be able to go to school. And they need to start their 
businesses and reopen them. They want real sovereignty over their own 
nation. They want U.S. troops out.
  Real leadership in Iraq means bringing our troops home and offering 
humanitarian assistance to the people of Iraq. We must join with the 
international community to provide relief, reconstruction, and 
reconciliation. This is the only way forward for Iraq.
  Force and occupation will not rebuild Iraq. It will not provide 
healthier communities. And most importantly, it will not provide a 
peaceful future for the people of Iraq.
  Bring our troops home. Bring hope to our military families at home 
and the Iraq families yearning for peace.

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