[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 14851-14852]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         U.S. TROOP DEPLOYMENT

  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, just 10 days ago we celebrated the 4th of 
July because on that day in 1776, we first declared our Nation's 
independence and sovereignty.

[[Page 14852]]

  The American people have cherished and fought for that sovereignty 
for 232 years, so it is only right that we respect the sovereignty of 
other nations.
  Last week, Iraq's Prime Minister al-Maliki said that the withdrawal 
of American troops out of Iraq or a timetable for withdrawal should be 
part of the current status-of-forces negotiations between his 
government and the United States. He insisted that the basis for any 
agreement will be respect for the full sovereignty of Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, this House should affirm Iraq's right to full 
sovereignty. In fact, my colleague, Representative Lee of California, 
and I have sent a letter to every Member of the House inviting all 
Members to cosign a letter to Prime Minister al-Maliki supporting his 
government's sovereign rights. The letter reads in part as follows: 
``We, the undersigned, Members of the United States House of 
Representatives, write to acknowledge and support the sovereign right 
of the government of Iraq to insist that any security agreement between 
the United States and Iraq include a timetable for the complete 
redeployment of U.S. Armed Forces and military contractors out of Iraq.
  The letter goes on to say, Mr. Speaker, ``As elected members of the 
legislative branch of the world's longest continuing democracy, we 
recognize that it is the national legislature that is responsible for 
expressing and exercising the sovereign rights and powers that the 
people have entrusted in their government.
  ``It is for the free people of Iraq, acting through their elected 
representatives in the Iraq parliament, to decide for themselves the 
terms and conditions under which they will agree to the continuing 
presence of the U.S. Armed Forces and military contractors in their 
country. And it is for the Congress of the United States to approve the 
terms and conditions of any security agreement that commits the United 
States to the defense of Iraq.''
  Mr. Speaker, Prime Minister al-Maliki's statement for support for 
withdrawal timetable could very well be the light at the end of the 
tunnel that the American people have long been waiting for. Ending the 
occupation of Iraq, which was never an imminent security threat to the 
United States in the first place, would allow us to refocus on 
Afghanistan where the real threat lies. It would end the U.S. military 
occupation in the Middle East that has done so much to strengthen 
Iran's hand in the region. And it would allow us to redirect tens of 
billions of dollars back home for desperately needed investments in our 
economy, our health care, energy independence, education, child care 
and so much more.
  The President has often said that as Iraqis stand up, we will stand 
down. Prime Minister al-Maliki's statement shows that the Iraqis 
believe they are ready to stand up. Now the ball is in our court. It is 
time for the President to prove he meant what he said because if the 
administration doesn't work with the prime minister in a serious way to 
withdrawal our troops and military contractors, it will prove what so 
many of us have feared all along, that the administration has no 
intention of leaving Iraq ever.
  Representative Lee and I urge all Members of the House to sign this 
important letter to Prime Minister al-Maliki. This is a critical moment 
and a crucial opportunity to end the long, bloody, disastrous 
occupation of Iraq. We must seize it.

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