[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 2518-2519]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PEACE MARCH ON THE MALL

  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, this weekend there was an extraordinary 
event right outside these windows. I come to the floor this evening to 
celebrate the hundreds of thousands of people who gathered on the Mall 
this Saturday because they have had enough of this immoral occupation 
in Iraq.
  Groups like Code Pink, United for Peace and Justice, Win Without War, 
and Peace Action did an exceptional job of organizing the march and 
rallying their members. We were fortunate to have many celebrity 
activists in attendance, as well as several Members of the Congress.
  But what made the event successful was the energy and the passion in 
the crowd. It was a testament to the power of the grassroots.
  Hundreds of thousands, from the stage as far as the eye could see, 
packed on the mall, standing together to send a powerful message that 
Americans want to bring our troops home from Iraq.
  Hundreds of thousands standing together to say that 4 years of 
bloodshed is enough, that over 3,050 lost American lives is over 3,050 
too many for a war we never should have started in the first place.

[[Page 2519]]

  Hundreds of thousands standing together to register the disgust with 
the President's Iraq policy, the staggering civilian casualties, the 
billions upon billions of dollars wasted, human rights abused, our 
global credibility shattered, terrorists emboldened rather than 
defeated.
  Every objective measure we could possibly use leads to the conclusion 
that what we are doing in Iraq has been a tragic failure.
  And everyone can see that, Mr. Speaker, except the President, the 
President of the United States, who is asking us to sacrifice more of 
our tax dollars and more lives and limbs so he can win in Iraq.
  You know what they say: The definition of insanity is doing the same 
thing and expecting different results. Fortunately, we have an antidote 
to this insanity. It is not another Iraq study group. It is not another 
bipartisan committee to debate and deliberate while more people die. It 
is not a nonbinding resolution.
  It is comprehensive legislation that would have all of our troops 
home safely, out of Iraq, and contractors out of Iraq within 6 months.
  It is H.R. 508, the Bring Our Troops Home and Iraq Sovereignty 
Restoration Act, which I introduced with my colleagues, Congresswomen 
Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters, earlier this month.
  But the real authors of this bill, Mr. Speaker, were the hundreds of 
thousands of people marching on the Mall this Saturday and the millions 
more Americans who they represent. By offering H.R. 508, we are giving 
voice to their will.
  Many of the marchers came back to Congress today to share their views 
in person. They want their elected representatives to know how strongly 
they oppose the continuing occupation and how strongly they support 
H.R. 508, which would fully fund a safe military withdrawal.
  The President has challenged us to issue a plan. We have, and people 
gathered on the Mall this weekend showed their support. Enough is 
enough.
  In the name of national security, fiscal sanity and common decency, I 
ask my colleagues, sign on to H.R. 508 and bring our troops home.

                          ____________________