Lynn C. Woolsey: “today and tomorrow, we are debating the foreign relations authorization bill, a comprehensive piece of legislation…”

“today and tomorrow, we are debating the foreign relations authorization bill, a comprehensive piece of legislation dealing with matters that are important, even if they are not headline grabbers: passports, scholarships for international students, death benefits for American foreign service officers, just to name a few. I intend to vote for this bill on final passage, Mr. Speaker, but not without some reservation and not without a great deal of disappointment. {time} 1815 Here we are essentially affirming American foreign policy for the next 2 years. And what does the bill have to say about Iraq, the greatest foreign policy challenge of our time? Virtually nothing. Three hundred-plus pages of legislative language and not a word about Iraq until the very end of the bill where it calls on the President to transmit a plan to provide for a stable and secure government of Iraq and an Iraqi military and police force that will allow the United States military presence in Iraq to be diminished. That is it. This is like writing an essay about the significance of December 25 and saying at the end, oh, by the way, it is Christmas too. Some amendments have been offered that address aspects of the Iraq war. These amendments only serve to advance the current failed policy. Instead of giving us the new direction and the fresh thinking that we so badly need, this policy, these amendments continue what already exists.…”