[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16906]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             A ``SMART'' NEW ERA IN AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, the members of the Out of Iraq Caucus, 
the Progressive Caucus, and many other Members of this body have 
demanded that the administration change course in Iraq for many years 
now. We have also urged the administration to build a new foreign 
policy based on peaceful engagement, not on war.
  For years the administration ignored us. We were voices in the 
wilderness. But today our ideas are winning wide acceptance, and they 
now occupy the center of the political debate.
  We called for a timetable for the responsible redeployment of our 
troops and military contractors out of Iraq. In recent days even the 
presumptive Republican nominee for President has embraced this idea. 
The White House has talked about a time horizon for withdrawal. The 
Iraqi leaders, who are eager to regain their national sovereignty, have 
called for a firm timetable.
  Perhaps most surprising, there has been sudden movement on the 
diplomatic front. A high-ranking State Department official sat down 
with Iran's nuclear negotiator, which the administration had stubbornly 
refused to do for over 6 years, and Secretary of State Rice met with 
her North Korean counterpart to urge North Korea to verify the 
dismantling of its nuclear weapons program.
  We can only wonder how much could have been achieved, and how many 
lives could have been saved, if the administration had emphasized 
diplomacy all along.
  These turn of events, however, didn't happen by themselves. They 
happened because so many of us in Congress and the American people 
demanded them.
  Now we must demand even more change. We must demand a whole new 
foreign policy. America must reject saber-rattling and wars of choice 
and instead use the far more effective tools of diplomacy and 
international cooperation to achieve our national security goals. I 
hope that our next President will turn the page on the failed policies 
of the past and choose a new course.
  I have offered a blueprint for change that can help us chart this 
course. It's a plan called SMART, which stands for Sensible, 
Multilateral American Response to Terrorism. I offer it again today 
because I believe that the American people are ready to support its 
principles.
  SMART was developed with the help of Physicians For Social 
Responsibility, the Friends Committee on National Legislation, and 
Women's Action For New Directions.
  SMART would end our isolation in the world and build strong 
international coalitions to fight terrorism and solve common challenges 
such as trade, the environment, and global health. It would strengthen 
our intelligence capabilities aimed at tracking and stopping terrorism. 
It would focus on stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction 
with vigorous inspection regimes, regional security arrangements, and a 
renewed commitment to nonproliferation. It would renew our commitment 
to the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, a program which has been 
successful in securing loose nuclear material. It would address the 
root causes of terrorism through an ambitious international development 
program, a program that includes initiatives for better education and 
health, initiatives which are the building blocks of stability and 
peace and the best way to deny new recruits to the terrorists. And it 
would reshuffle our budget to include a serious effort to develop 
alternative energy and end the addiction of foreign oil that threatens 
our security.
  Madam Speaker, this is a time of profound change. The country is 
preparing for a new administration. Momentum is building for ending the 
occupation of Iraq sooner rather than later. We must begin now to 
answer the question, What happens after Iraq?
  I hope that my colleagues will consider SMART a good way to start 
answering that question. It would send a clear signal that America is 
once again ready to respect the rule of law and human rights and work 
for peace in the world.

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