[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9443]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       OUT OF AFGHANISTAN CAUCUS

  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, in the year 2005, I joined my colleagues 
and fellow Californians, Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee, and other 
strong progressives in forming the Out of Iraq Caucus. That group was 
critical in galvanizing support for an end to the Iraq war and a return 
of our troops safely home.
  Before we formed the Out of Iraq Caucus, Mr. Speaker, questioning the 
occupation of Iraq was considered a political death wish, but because 
we had the courage to speak out and to organize, ours became a firmly 
mainstream position. Without the work we did and the pressure we 
applied and the growth of our Out of Iraq Caucus, we would not be 
poised for redeployment out of Iraq later this year.
  It's now time for those of us who oppose the war in Afghanistan--a 
bloc that's growing every single day--to do the same thing. I urge 
Members on both sides of the aisle to join the new Out of Afghanistan 
Caucus, formally launched by my friend Mr. Conyers from Michigan.
  As Afghanistan becomes more bloody, more expensive, and, frankly, 
more hopeless, we must rally with the same sense of purpose and 
fearlessness as we did in 2005 in the debate over Iraq. Every day, it 
seems, brings more bad news out of Afghanistan. The United States death 
toll has topped 1,000. According to news reports, for the first time we 
now have more troops in Afghanistan than we do in Iraq, and the 
combined costs of both wars is fast approaching $1 trillion--that's 
trillion with a ``T,'' Mr. Speaker.
  The American people are losing patience with this war, and who can 
blame them? For 8\1/2\ years, they have sent their finest men and women 
and their hard-earned taxpayer dollars halfway around the world only to 
find that the Taliban is resurgent, the terrorist threat remains 
strong, and Afghanistan remains mired in corruption, violence, and 
poverty. At just the moment when we need to draw down, we are doubling 
down. We're pouring thousands of troops into Kandahar for an all-eggs-
in-one-basket offensive that no one seems confident will succeed.
  With all that in mind, how can we, in the House of Representatives, 
not speak with a louder and more unified voice against this war? But we 
in the Out of Afghanistan Caucus are not calling for an abandonment of 
the country. We just believe that a military occupation, which has had 
nearly a decade to work, can't achieve the objectives of stability and 
security for the Afghan people.
  What we need is diplomacy. We need humanitarian aid, support for 
democracy building and civil society programs. What we need are more 
resources for agriculture, education, and infrastructure. These are the 
tools of a smart security strategy that can empower the Afghan people 
in a way that sheds no more blood.
  Mr. Speaker, warfare has only led to more warfare, emboldening the 
very enemy we're trying to defeat. A peaceful civilian surge is 
actually the only answer.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in becoming a part of the Out of 
Afghanistan Caucus and help bring our troops home.

                          ____________________