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SMART SECURITY AND PRESIDENT BUSH'S SECOND TERM -- (House of Representatives - November 16, 2004) GPO's PDF
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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, George W. Bush will lead the United States, and the free world, for another 4 years. With the weight of the Presidential contest behind him, it is my sincere hope that he will take this opportunity to shun the aggressive, unyielding, and unilateral approach to world affairs that has bedeviled his first term and ostracized the United States from our allies. Instead, Mr. Speaker, the President must lead the country in a new, stronger and safer direction, one that makes use of aggressive diplomacy and the rule of law to accomplish what needs to be done. The point has never been clearer that, in the vast majority of situations, negotiations work; and the recent developments in Iran are a perfect example. The Bush administration's approach to Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons has consisted of little more than saber-rattling and aggressive posturing. While the U.S. has attempted unsuccessfully to flex its muscles, three European countries have banded together to achieve real results. The United Kingdom, France, and Germany announced earlier this week that they had reached a deal to prevent the development of Iran's nuclear program for the purpose of creating nuclear weapons. In exchange, the three European powers promised that Iran would not face U.N. Security Council sanctions. The promise will be upheld because France and the U.K. are both permanent members of the Security Council and can veto any sanctions against a fully compliant Iran. To be sure, it will take months, if not years, to assure that Iran does not pose a nuclear threat to the rest of the world, but the consequences of these negotiations are significant.
By engaging Iran in direct talks, instead of a political wrestling match, three European powers were able to achieve tangible results. Negotiations worked, while U.S. aggression has not.
There has to be a better way to respond to the threats America faces, a better way than the chest-thumping aggression that was adopted by the first-term Bush administration. That is why I have introduced H. Con. Res. 392, a SMART Security Platform For the 21st Century. SMART stands for sensible, multilateral, American response to terrorism. SMART security treats war as an absolute last resort. It fights terrorism with stronger intelligence and multilateral partnerships. It controls the spread of weapons of mass destruction with uncompromising diplomacy, strong regional security arrangements, and vigorous inspection regimes. SMART security defends America by relying on the very best of America, not our nuclear capabilities but our capacity for multinational leadership and our commitment to peace and freedom around the world.
Mr. Speaker, President Bush should view the example of Iran as a lesson in how to engage so-called ``rogue nations'' over the next 4 years. He no longer has a reelection campaign to worry about, and there is nothing to stop him from using smarter alternatives when conducting America's foreign policy.
What kind of world will the President leave when he steps off the global stage in the year 2008? A world at war for the foreseeable future, or a world at peace, guided by the smart choices of diplomacy and engagement? The choice is in his hands.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r108:38:./temp/~r108uuAybg:: |
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