[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5081]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              THE IRAQ WAR

  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, it is getting to the point where I am 
almost afraid to pick up the newspaper every morning because day after 
day, there is more grim news out of Iraq and the Middle East. More 
revelations about the scandalous mismanagement of this war and its 
aftermath. More evidence that the current administration is 
jeopardizing our national security.
  There has been a lot of rhetoric here on Capitol Hill about who 
supposedly does and does not support the troops. I personally believe 
we should call a moratorium on ``support the troops'' demagoguery until 
the conditions at Walter Reed Hospital finally reach the level that our 
veterans deserve.
  It is positively disgraceful, Mr. Speaker. After risking life and 
limb for our country, our soldiers are sent to a moldy, rodent-infested 
facility where they receive inadequate care. And today, we read that 
Walter Reed officials were aware of problems and heard complaints, but 
largely ignored them.
  The squalid living conditions of Walter Reed are just one symptom of 
a completely ineffective and unaccountable bureaucracy. According to 
the Washington Post, nonEnglish speaking families have a difficult time 
getting the information and services they need. One mother of a soldier 
said, ``If they could have Spanish-speaking recruits to convince my son 
to go into the Army, why can't they have Spanish-speaking translators 
when he is injured?'' Her point is telling. It appears that our 
government is very eager to sign you up, but much less enthusiastic 
about communicating with you once you have been shot down.
  Meanwhile, conditions in the Middle East are rapidly deteriorating. 
The most disturbing recent news is that the Taliban and al Qaeda, 
remember, they are the ones who bear direct responsibility for 9/11, 
these folks are on the rebound and they are stepping up the violence in 
Afghanistan. They are so emboldened that they launched a suicide bomb 
attack right outside the Air Force base where the Vice President was 
staying during his recent trip to the region.
  Curiously, that same Vice President seems to think it is those of us 
who want to end the Iraq occupation that are validating the al Qaeda 
strategy. That was the line he used in attacking our Speaker last week. 
Well, I think the Vice President isn't in a position to throw stones, 
Mr. Speaker. First of all, al Qaeda didn't have anything to do in Iraq 
until the administration launched its pre-emptive strike nearly 4 years 
ago. Furthermore, it was this administration that had bin Laden sounded 
at Tora Bora and let him get away. And it is this administration that 
has taken its eye off the ball in Afghanistan, diverting resources from 
a nation-building project to pursue the ideological fantasy of 
conquering Iraq.

                              {time}  1615

  The new director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell, told the 
Senate Armed Services Committee this week: ``Long-term prospects for 
eliminating the Taliban threat appear dim, so long as the sanctuary 
remains in Pakistan, and there are no encouraging signs that Pakistan 
is eliminating it.''
  And whose fault is that, Mr. Speaker? Not the Speaker of the House.
  Unbelievably, when the White House spokesman was asked about the 
Pakistani Government's failure to cooperate, he answered: ``We're often 
asked to give our report cards on other heads of state. I'm not going 
to play.''
  We have sure come a long way from the tough talk of 2001. Remember 
how we were told that those who harbored terrorists would be treated 
just as harshly as the terrorists themselves?
  Journalist Spencer Ackerman assesses the Afghanistan situation this 
way: ``After two wars, we're in some sense right back where we were 
before 9/11 itself: unable to invade the territory where al Qaeda 
possesses a stronghold and groping for alternatives, while the 
intelligence community puts out warnings about the urgency of the 
threat. Except this time,'' he continues, ``our entire national 
security apparatus is overtaxed from the strains of two wars, wars that 
were supposed to significantly diminish, if not remove, the very threat 
that's regaining strength.
  Mr. Speaker, we must not lose our nerve. It is the responsibility of 
this body, carrying a mandate from the American people, to correct the 
grievous mistakes and reverse the disastrous course of this 
administration.
  We must devote ourselves to democracy-building, reconstruction and 
humanitarian assistance in Iraq and Afghanistan. We must bring our 
troops home from Iraq. And once they're home, we must treat them with 
the dignity and respect they've earned.

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