[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15374]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           OCCUPATION 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, the Government Accountability Office issued 
a report on Monday that should worry every single Member of the House. 
The GAO said that the government isn't moving quickly enough to ensure 
that radioactive materials don't get into the hands of terrorists.
  Last year the GAO ran a sting operation to see how easy it would be 
for anyone to get a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to 
buy enough radioactive materials to create a dirty bomb. They set up a 
bogus company with only a post office box number and got the license 
within a month.
  The government then promised to tighten up on its requirements for 
the purchase of radioactive materials, but the GAO report found this 
effort is still years behind schedule. So while the government takes 
what looks like its sweet time, we live under the threat of a dirty 
bomb that could kill many Americans and devastate our economy.
  But as outrageous as this situation is, it is only a prime example of 
how our country's real security needs are being ignored.
  Another example is the occupation of Iraq because the administration 
continues to have tunnel vision when it comes to Iraq. While the 
administration devotes most of our military resources and troops on the 
occupation of another country, an occupation that actually makes no 
sense whatsoever, it is blind to the real threats to our security in 
Afghanistan.
  Even Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 
has admitted that we are focusing on the wrong place. Earlier this 
month he said, ``I don't have troops that I can send into Afghanistan 
until I have a reduced requirement in Iraq. We don't have enough troops 
in Afghanistan to hold, and that is key clearly to the future of being 
able to succeed in Afghanistan.''
  Mr. Speaker, al Qaeda is growing stronger along the border between 
Afghanistan and Pakistan. Even Ryan Crocker, our ambassador to Iraq, 
admitted when he testified before Congress in March that stopping al 
Qaeda in Afghanistan should be our top priority, not the occupation of 
Iraq.
  Yet we have five times more troops in Iraq than Afghanistan. That 
doesn't make military sense; it doesn't make common sense.
  We can have two reactions to this tragic situation. We can scratch 
our heads and wonder at the folly of it all, or we can take action. Of 
course I prefer action. That is why I have offered a SMART Security 
plan which would defeat terrorism through strong international 
alliances, aggressive diplomacy, improved intelligence, and initiatives 
to address the root causes of terrorism.
  In addition, I and my colleague, Representative Barbara Lee from 
California, asked Members of Congress to sign a letter to Prime 
Minister al-Maliki of Iraq last week. Thirty-one Members signed the 
letter, and I thank them.
  The letter states, ``We, the undersigned Members of the United States 
House of Representatives, 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.''
  Prime Minister al-Maliki has called for such a timetable. We should 
work with him to make it happen. This is a great opportunity to end our 
disastrous and counterproductive occupation of Iraq.
  Yesterday, The Washington Post released a poll that shows that 63 
percent of the American people believe that the war in Iraq was not 
worth fighting. Let's listen to the American people, Mr. Speaker. Let's 
bring our troops and military contractors out of Iraq, but let's not 
repeat the same military folly in other parts of the region.

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