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, like all of my colleagues, I have received thousands of e-mails, letters, faxes and phone calls about the ongoing occupation of Iraq. So many of them are touching, and they are impassioned. They urge me, they call on me, and they even beg me to get the administration to bring our troops home, and to allow the Iraqis to restore the security of their Nation.
Last week I received a set of letters that stood out among all of them, from Ms. Rene King's students at Sheppard School in Santa Rosa, California. Most of the children are 9 through 13 years old, yet their thoughts are mature and beyond their age. In fact, their words speak so much truth, a truth which we can absolutely not ignore.
From Marcos, 10 years old, "Can you please stop the war in Iraq? Because the people in Iraq aren't safe. Their villages and houses are destroyed. I do not like fighting."
From Arturo, 11 years old. "Can you please stop the war in Iraq? There is a lot of killing, a lot of people have died. People want to get out of fighting. I feel sad when people die."
From Freddy, 11 years old. "Can you please stop the war in Iraq? I do not like fighting and killing people. Some people are dead. Don't send my people, please. We don't like to fight all the people. The people are sad. We need to save money for poor people here in America. Ms. King (my teacher) is sad. Stop sending people into the war."
From Tony, 11 years old. "Can you please stop the war in Iraq? There are a lot of sad and crying families. I feel sad in our country. I don't like when people are mad at our country. I do not feel safe and other people do not feel safe."
From Genaro, age 13, "Can you please stop the war in Iraq? There is a lot of killing. More than 3,000 Americans have died. Stop sending people to the war. We need to save the money for poor people here in America."
From Yovany, age 12, "Can you please stop the war in Iraq? There is a lot of killing. We need to save money for the poor people. More than 600,000 Iraqis have died. Please stop sending people to the war."
From Jose, 10 years old. "Can you please stop the war in Iraq? The people of Iraq aren't safe in their villages, and houses are destroyed. More than 3,000 Americans have died. Please stop sending people to war."
From Tomas, age 9, "Can you please stop the war in Iraq? There is a lot of killing. A lot of people have died. More than 3,000 Americans have died. Families are being broken apart."
From Steven, age 12. "Can you stop the war, please? A lot of people have died. Please, I don't like wars. No one feels safe. If you keep sending soldiers, more people will be sad."
One student, Angelina, wrote directly to the President, and here is what she wrote. "I think you are making a big mistake. I like you, but your choices make me mad. You need to ask your people about war. I know these people said they will serve the Army. They never said they wanted to die there. If you were ever able to run again, Mr. President, I would not vote for you. I wish I could say you are helping, but you are not. There is another way to handle things other than guns and bombs. I think you should be more like Martin Luther King, Jr., Mr. President. He thought there was another way to handle things than war. I think the United States needs a different President."
These words are honest, these words are true. If only more people listen to the children, the future of this Nation may be different. What a better world we could be living in.
