WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma) convened an informal hearing to break the silence on Capitol Hill to discuss  “How to Bring the Troops Home.”   Woolsey is calling on Members of Congress to work together to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq, while helping the Iraqis regain control over their country and their future.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey, the first Member of Congress to call on the President to develop and implement a plan to bring U.S. troops out of Iraq, has requested hearings in the U.S. House International Relations Committee and the U.S. House Armed Services Committee to discuss plans to bring the troops home while helping the Iraqis regain control over their country and their future.

Since her requests of the President and the Republican controlled Congress have been ignored, Congresswoman Woolsey is organizing an informal hearing to discuss strategies to achieve military disengagement while still playing a constructive role in the rebuilding of Iraqi society.

The following are her words as written for the “Bipartisan Hearing on Iraq” on Capitol Hill:

“Good morning, and thank you to our panelists, my House colleagues and everyone who is joining us today.

“Many people had a hand in organizing this hearing, but I want to single out the work of California State Senator Tom Hayden, who had many important suggestions and whose grass roots leadership has been a source of great energy and strength for the anti-war movement.

“I had hoped that today’s discussion would take place under the auspices of the House Armed Services Committee or the House International Relations Committee.  But there has been very little appetite among the Congressional Leadership for open discussion about how we might end the war in Iraq.

“So we’ve taken matters into our own hands.  In so doing, we are doing the oversight work that the relevant committees are obligated to do…and we’re doing it without their budget I might add.  There are many layers of opposition to this war, many reasons to arrive at the conclusion that it’s time for our troops to come home.

“Some of us have dissented from the very beginning, based on the belief that the doctrine of pre-emptive war is inhuman and immoral.  Others were shocked that the Administration’s rationale for war turned out to be based on dubious intelligence at best and outright lies at worst.  Others became disillusioned by the Abu Ghraib outrage, or the failure to outfit our soldiers with proper body and vehicle armor.

“Still others jumped off the bandwagon when it became clear that the Administration was deluding itself – into believing that there would be no insurgency…that we’d be greeted as liberators…that this mission would require only minimal manpower and a few billion dollars.

“And for some, the last straw has been the blinding incompetence of the war effort – the failure to prevent looting; the failure to secure munitions sites; the dissolving of the Iraqi army; the lack of an effective plan to secure the peace after the end of major combat operations; and on and on and on.

“The reasons are varied and certainly intertwined, but the important thing is that opposition to the war now puts us firmly in the political mainstream.  Less than 40 percent of Americans, according to recent polling, approve of the President’s handling of Iraq; and roughly half want to see our troops come home as soon as possible.

“With this support comes some responsibility to be more than a protest movement; we must also offer sound, thorough policy proposals that could turn our deeply-held convictions into operational reality.

“The question for us today is not the “why” of troop withdrawal; it’s the “how.”  We’ll hear from a broad range of experts, scholars and military strategists.  We’ll start with an overview of the situation on the ground, including a perspective on the lives of Iraqis under U.S. occupation.

“Later this morning, we’ll hear specifically about ways that we can pivot away from the current policy, ending our military commitment in Iraq and bringing our troops home.  And from there, we’ll transition into a discussion of: what next?  I have always insisted that ending the war does not and cannot mean abandoning Iraq and its people.

“We believe in the principle underlying Colin Powell’s “Pottery Barn Rule.”  And even if it was the Bush Administration policy that “broke it”, we believe, at the very least, that we must play a constructive role in the rebuilding of Iraq.

“Most of all, this hearing is designed to inspire a long-overdue national conversation about alternatives to the current Iraq policy.

“We want to fill the policy vacuum and break the silence on Capitol Hill, where, frankly, Members of Congress have been slow to embrace the fresh thinking and the new approaches to Iraq that their constituents are eager to hear.  For too long, for a number of reasons, this debate has been ceded to the Bush Administration, even as they have produced a bloody and ruinous debacle.

“Now we are here -- prepared not just to say no to the war in Iraq…but yes to a new, intelligent, progressive, peaceful Iraq policy that will both protect the American people and fulfill our obligations to the Iraqi people.  I want to thank the witnesses in advance for their expertise and their courage…and I look forward to all of today’s testimony.    Thank you very much.”