[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9347]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             WINTER SOLDIER

  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, earlier today the Congressional Progressive 
Caucus held an event called ``Winter Soldier'' where we honored our men 
and women in uniform who have returned as veterans. And then this 
afternoon, we were given another bite at the so-called apple, as if we 
were continuing the honor of these winter soldiers.
  What happened this afternoon, what happened less than an hour ago was 
an amendment on the House floor to fund the Iraq-Afghanistan war until 
June of 2009 failed. It did not pass. It failed. Now, that is the way 
to honor winter soldiers: stop paying for the President's debacle, for 
the failed international policy, for the damages that are being caused 
to our soldiers across the waters. That is the way to make up and honor 
winter soldiers.
  So what is a Winter Soldier? In 1991, a courageous group of veterans 
of the Vietnam War took their cause to Washington in an event called 
``Winter Soldier.'' Today, we honored that tradition, and we looked at 
a new generation of veterans and a new warfront, Iraq.
  The event, which was organized with the Iraq Veterans Against the 
War, got to the heart of the issue: how this endless occupation is 
affecting our men and women in uniform and the Iraqi people themselves.
  In recent months, we have heard from General David Petraeus, we have 
heard from Ambassador David Crocker, and we've heard a lot from the 
administration, all armed with PowerPoint presentations and colorful 
posters attempting to convince us that after 5 years we are finally 
making progress in Iraq.
  That's what made this morning so unique. This was an opportunity to 
hear not from the military's top brass but directly from the very 
soldiers who put their lives on the line to carry out the 
administration's policies.
  Today's event was a continuation of Winter Soldier hearings that were 
organized earlier this year at the National Labor College in Silver 
Spring, Maryland. Over 3 days, dozens of veterans shared their personal 
stories and testified about their own experiences on the ground in 
combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  These weren't pundits or analysts talking about the wars in Iraq and 
Afghanistan in the abstract. These were the stories, these were the 
testimonies of the men and women who had experienced the horrors of war 
up close and personal.
  As I listened to the testimony this morning, I was struck that while 
each witness brought a unique and very personal perspective towards the 
occupation of Iraq, there was one consistent thread that connected each 
and every testimony: that despite the valor and sacrifice of our 
troops, and at almost every level, the administration's strategy in 
Iraq has failed and continues to fail.
  What a great response to these wonderful soldiers because today's 
vote says exactly what we need to say: put an end to this war, reject a 
blank check to extend this occupation into another year, concentrate on 
funding the redeployment of our troops and the redeployment of our 
contractors.
  We owe nothing less than that to those brave men and women in uniform 
and those who have been there before them, and we also owe nothing less 
than that to the Iraqi people.

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