[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 440-441]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    REDEPLOY OUR TROOPS OUT 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, this Thursday night, I will join many of my 
constituents at the 26th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian 
Awards hosted by the Marin County Human Rights Commission in San 
Rafael, California.
  Ten of my constituents, including four high school seniors, will 
receive awards for the many, many contributions they have made to our 
community, and I would like to name a few of them. Two doctors, Paul 
Cohen and Alicia Suski, will be honored for developing a partnership to 
provide medical and legal services to low-income residents. An 
educator, Whitney Hoyt, will be honored for protecting the rights of 
gay students. A high school senior, Joanna Sitzmann, will be recognized 
for her work with a therapeutic horseback riding program for people 
with disabilities. Another student, Morgan Green, will be cited for 
helping to raise money for the victims of the crisis in Darfur. And 
another high school senior, Allison Franklin, will be honored for 
working with disadvantaged youngsters, including those participating in 
the Marin Special Olympics.
  I am really proud of these wonderful constituents, constituents who 
are serving others. I know there are millions of other Americans just 
like them, and they can be found in every single congressional 
district. They represent the true face of America, the America that has 
compassion for the people of the world, who want the world to be a 
better place for all of us.
  But today, the world has a very different picture of America, Mr. 
Speaker. The people of the world see us through the lens of the 
occupation of Iraq, Abu Ghraib, and Guantanamo. They hear about 
torture, waterboarding, and the reckless activities of the Blackwater 
military contracts.
  In addition to the very real human rights issues that these problems 
raise, they have made it much harder for us to win the public relations 
battle against the terrorists. And in the long run, that public 
relations battle, along with other elements of so-called ``soft 
power,'' are just as important, if not more important, than any 
military battle that we will fight in Iraq.
  Even Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has recognized this. In a 
speech he gave 2 months ago, Secretary Gates said, and I quote, ``One 
of the more important lessons of the wars in Iraq and

[[Page 441]]

Afghanistan is that military success is not sufficient to win. Economic 
development, institution building, and rule of law, promoting internal 
reconciliation, good governance, providing basic services to the 
people, and strategic communications are essential ingredients for 
long-term success.'' He also called for an increase in spending on the 
soft power components of national security. These include diplomacy, 
foreign assistance, and economic reconstruction and development.
  I agree with Secretary Gates about all of this, but this appears to 
be one more example of our leaders not backing up their words with 
actions. This administration has relied solely upon military power to 
achieve its objectives. It hasn't believed in diplomacy in the first 
place, or of the other elements of soft power.
  Our leaders think they can bomb and shoot their way to a more 
democratic and peaceful world, and they've been proven wrong over and 
over again. In their latest testimony before the House, our generals 
have told us that our occupation of Iraq may last until the year 2020. 
And even Secretary Gates has undermined his own lofty rhetoric about 
diplomacy by saying that a 50-year occupation would be just fine with 
him.
  The only way to restore our moral leadership and our ability to 
influence events is to responsibly redeploy our troops out of Iraq. 
That would allow the regional and international diplomacy needed to end 
the conflict to begin. It is up to Congress to use its power of the 
purse to make this happen. The administration will never do it. Our 
leaders offer us high-minded speeches about the rule of law and 
diplomacy, but all they give us are bloodshed and occupation. And Mr. 
Speaker, it must stop.

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