[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10508-10509]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TRILLION WITH A ``T''

  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, a week ago Sunday, at approximately 10:06 
a.m., after the House had adjourned for recess and Americans were 
enjoying their holiday weekend, the Nation reached a truly disturbing 
milestone. At about that moment, according to the National Priorities 
Project, the combined amount of taxpayer money spent on the wars in 
Iraq and Afghanistan reached a staggering $1 trillion. That's trillion 
with a ``T,'' Mr. Speaker.
  That's a breathtaking amount of money to spend, even on something 
that works. But that kind of spending on two bloody wars that have 
taken thousands of American lives, destabilized other parts of the 
world, and done nothing to achieve national security goals, well, it's 
positively shameful.
  That trillion dollars doesn't even include some bills that haven't 
yet come due, like future medical costs for returning Iraq and 
Afghanistan veterans, a commitment we absolutely must keep. Nor does it 
include interest our grandchildren will pay on the debt we have racked 
up to finance these wars.
  What I can't help thinking, Mr. Speaker, is the lost opportunity 
costs that we should be taking into account. What could we be spending 
that kind of money on if we weren't wasting it on immoral wars?
  The National Priorities Project did a few calculations that report 
what we could do with a trillion dollars. They say we could provide a 
year's worth of health care to 161 million low-income Americans, or we 
could pay for 137 million Head Start slots, or we could put 16 million 
more teachers in our elementary school classrooms.
  But a funny thing happens whenever we try to make significant 
investments in the American people, especially those who find 
themselves struggling through no fault of their own. Suddenly, many of 
the same people who want to hand a blank check to the Pentagon become 
the strictest penny-pinchers. The priorities are completely distorted. 
We have to fight and scrap for every dime of spending designed to help 
our own people. But in the name of overseas invasion and conquest, 
money is no object and no expense is spared.
  We don't need to spend a trillion dollars to combat terrorism and 
protect our people. Instead, we can implement a smart security strategy 
that rejects warfare for the kind of real power, moral authority, and 
humanitarian decency that is American. It is America at its very best.
  It's time to replace the military surge with a civilian surge, Mr. 
Speaker. We need aid workers, diplomatic initiatives, civil society 
programs, teachers, democracy promotion specialists, agricultural 
experts and much more, which would and will make us safer at a fraction 
of the cost.

[[Page 10509]]

  Mr. Speaker, these trillion dollar wars have to end. It's time to 
move to a smart security strategy. It's time to bring our troops home.

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