Out of Iraq Caucus

OUT OF IRAQ CAUCUS -- (House of Representatives - June 20, 2005)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I come this evening to further announce to the people of this Nation that we have formed an Out of Iraq Caucus here in the Congress of the United States of America.

There has been quite a bit of debate this weekend about the activities that took place here in Congress. There was a lot of discussion this weekend about the hearing that was held right here in the basement of the Capitol headed by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) in conjunction with a group that is now known as AfterDowningStreet.org. And that hearing helped to give exposure to the famous, now famous, infamous memorandum that basically some see as a smoking gun, discussing who knew what, when did they know it, and what did they plan to do.

In essence, it is easy to conclude reading that memorandum that this administration, the President of the United States of America and others, had decided that they were going into Iraq, that they were going to attack Saddam Hussein long before 9/11. So that hearing took place, and it was a very interesting one.

It was a very revealing one and over 30 Members of Congress joined in the basement in this crowded room. And I have had a lot of questions this weekend about why were we jammed into such a small room, and I had to answer truthfully and let the people who asked the question know that the Republicans are in charge. They are able to determine where we meet, if we can meet, what kind of space we will have. And they have said to us, they are going to stop allowing us to use any committee rooms. And so even though it was a very small room, it was all that we could get. But, of course, those who have the power can choose to use it responsibly or irresponsibly.

And I would say to the people of this country at this time that we will be thwarted in our efforts to get the word out, to have this kind of discussion; but we will persist, we will not give up.

Further, aside from that hearing, we did form the Out of Iraq Caucus. Over 60 Members have now signed up. And I am being asked by journalists and TV personalities, what happened? Why are you having this discussion and this debate that is occurring at this time?

I must answer those questions by saying, first of all, we have Members of Congress who were elected by their constituents on peace, justice and equality issue. We have Members of Congress who have long histories fighting and agitating for peace. Whether you talk about the Vietnam War or the work that many of us did to end apartheid in South Africa or the work that we are doing now to try to bring attention to genocide in Sudan, this is who we are. This is what we do.

Philosophically, we cannot sit here and allow this war to continue with no exit strategy, no answers, no reports from the President of the United States about how they are really going to get the training done, what does that mean and basically when are we going to bring our troops home.

So we have joined with the American public. The American public have been waiting on us. They are against this war. The polls now are showing us that the American public wants this war to end, and so we have joined with them to provide some leadership.

Our caucus is made up of an array of Democrats, some who come from the New Democrats, some from the Blue Dog Democrats, some from the Progressive Democrats, but we have come together to talk about coordinating activities, helping to give a platform to this discussion, to work with the national peace organizations, to bring in people who have been trying to get to Congress but since we have no hearings that are going on, they have not been able to connect with anybody. We are going to connect with them, whether they are veterans against this war or mothers and fathers and family members who have had their children and relatives killed in this war. They are now going to have Members to talk to.

We are going to create this discussion and this debate, and some people are saying out now. Some people are saying, Mr. President, give us a strategy. Some people are trying to come up with a date certain.

We have a bipartisan effort that has been put together with a date certain attached to it. As far as our caucus is concerned, people see it a little bit differently, whether or not out now, whether or not we just beg the President to give us a strategy or whether or not we insist on a date certain. The most important thing is we are all organized just to get the word out. We want out of Iraq.

This thing will evolve, and as it evolves, we will know what the right timing is. The President will have an opportunity now, given that he has seen the polls and he understands what is going on, he can denounce it or reject it in any way that he wants, but the fact of the matter is the people of this country want us out. The new caucus that I am so proud of that we have formed will work to make sure that we have the debate that we have not had.

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