[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 13943-13944]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   H.R. 5925, RECONCILIATION FOR IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Edwards of Maryland). Under a previous 
order of the House, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, there is an old saying: Everybody 
complains about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it. 
That is pretty much what we are doing in Iraq.
  In testimony before Congress and from press conference to press 
conference, administration officials have said that the most important 
item on our agenda for Iraq, right after security, is reconciliation. 
In fact, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said before the Foreign Affairs 
Committee and the Armed Services Committee that reconciliation is 
perhaps the most critical challenge that Iraq faces right now. Even the 
Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel of recognized leaders in foreign 
policy and governing, wrote that: National reconciliation is essential 
to reduce further violence and maintain the unity of Iraq. And its 
report recommended that diplomats work to energize countries to support 
national political reconciliation in Iraq.
  But this is not just the goal of the United States, Madam Speaker. 
The Iraqis themselves are calling for reconciliation. Before a meeting 
of the United Nations, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said, and I 
quote him, he said, ``Reconciliation lays the foundation for political, 
social, economic progress, and the security that we strive for.''
  This is not a Democratic or a Republican issue, Madam Speaker. It 
isn't a Sunni or a Shia or Kurd issue. It isn't an American or Iraqi 
issue. Reconciliation is an issue that has something to do with all of 
us. It is the pathway for stability and peace in Iraq, and it is the 
pathway throughout the region.
  One news agency has dedicated itself to providing real resources, 
training, and assistance for reconciliation in Iraq. Since the year 
2004, the United States Institute of Peace, the USIP, has been working 
in Iraq at the national and local level building peace

[[Page 13944]]

 community by community and neighborhood by neighborhood. USIP has 
focused on preventing sectarian violence at the local level, developing 
leaders in schools, universities, government, and civil society, 
promoting the rule of law, engaging women in public life, and 
increasing regional stability. All this with a tiny staff, only three 
USIP staff members and eight Iraqi staffers.
  Despite the scarcity of resources, 120 Iraqis have been trained to be 
reconciliation facilitators. They will go into communities to help to 
work towards real solutions, making neighborhoods safer, promoting 
transparency and accountability, and so much more. The work they do is 
amazing and it is awe inspiring.
  Sadly, the resources available are meager in comparison to what we 
are spending to wage war. That is why it is time to bring our troops 
and private contractors home, to give Iraq back to the Iraqi people. 
And that is why I, along with my colleague from Connecticut, 
Christopher Shays, introduced H.R. 5925, International Partnership for 
Reconciliation in Iraq Act of 2008. This legislation will ensure that 
USIP will have the funding and support it needs to continue and to 
expand.
  I urge all of my colleagues to do something: Cosponsor the bill, H.R. 
5925, so that we can work with the Iraqi people, so we can work within 
the international community, and we can reconcile that area. I urge you 
to cosponsor H.R. 5925. Enough talking about the problem. It is time to 
do something.

                          ____________________