Lynn C. Woolsey: “Sergeant Christian Williams of Winter Haven, Florida; Staff Sergeant Tracy Melvin of Seattle, Washington; Lance Corporal…”

“Sergeant Christian Williams of Winter Haven, Florida; Staff Sergeant Tracy Melvin of Seattle, Washington; Lance Corporal Jeremy Long of Sun Valley, Nevada, only 18 years old; Private First Class Colin Wolfe, also an 18 year old, of Manassas, Virginia; and Staff Sergeant Michael Deason of Farmington, Missouri. Mr. Speaker, these are just five of the Americans who have been killed in action in Iraq since this Chamber last convened. You see, Congress gets to close up shop for a month, the entire month of August, even if we haven't completed the Nation's business. But no such luxury for the 138,000 men and women who are stationed in Iraq. Their dangerous work goes on and on. No adjournment, no recess, no end to their mission in sight. In fact, many who were scheduled to come home were told in August, no, they had to stay in Iraq. And why? Because their commander-in-chief says that people who want our troops to come home don't understand the world in which we live. I submit, Mr. Speaker, that it is the President himself whose understanding of our world could use some real work. Does he understand that his clumsy belligerence has contributed to more intense feelings of jihad and anti-American radicalism in the Muslim world? Does he understand that the invasion and occupation of Iraq has created many more terrorists than it could possibly defeat? Does he understand that his policy lit the match that engulfed Iraq in sectarian violence and civil war?…”