[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 119 (Thursday, September 19, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H6409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HITLER COMPARISON INAPPROPRIATE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Foley) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, first, I want to take a moment to thank the 
American Cancer Society and all of the various people who have come 
from around the 50 States, and right outside this Capitol building are 
providing a loud chorus of voices, working to fight cancer, whether it 
be breast cancer, melanoma, prostate cancer, colon cancer, any of the 
number of maladies that strike mankind.
  It is terrific to see people, particularly those from the 16th 
Congressional District of Florida, participate in this very important 
day of public awareness, both for prevention of cancer and to, 
hopefully, find a cure for cancer.
  Mr. Speaker, I also want to take a moment to express my personal 
outrage at the comments recently provided by German Chancellor Gerhard 
Schroeder's justice minister, Herta Daeubler-Gmelin, who said, ``Bush 
wants to divert attention from his domestic problems. It's a classic 
tactic. It's one that Hitler used.''
  To compare our President in any way in a reference to the satanical 
Adolf Hitler to me not only demeans the friendship of Germany to the 
United States, but also indicates to me that politics in its raw form 
has found its way insidiously into the debate in the reelection of Mr. 
Schroeder as the Chancellor of Germany.

                              {time}  1600

  I was in Europe just the other day and happened to catch a few of his 
impassioned speeches where he was using the United States and our fight 
against terrorism as a means in which to exploit his election chances. 
A few weeks ago he was behind in the polls and he decided a good game 
was to play ``them versus us,'' as if the United States and Germany 
were at war, as if the United States and Germany were not bound 
together by economic and other issues of importance to both our 
peoples. It seemed to me that there is a lot of thanks that should be 
given from Germany for the Marshall Plan. After the problems Europe 
faced in World War I and II, it was the United States economically that 
came together to aid that community and help dramatically restore 
economic opportunity to millions of Germans. It was Ronald Reagan in 
fact that spoke and urged Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down this wall. We 
helped, if you will, along with others in the U.N. and the United 
Nations communities to work on ending the separation of East and West 
Germany. That to me is a human outreach of kindness from one people to 
another. If you look at the number of Mercedes-Benzes and Volkswagens 
and BMWs and German products that are purchased and consumed by the 
United States, I can say definitely we have been on the side of 
economic prosperity for millions of Germans. But to have the Chancellor 
and have one of his top ministers comparing anyone in the United States 
to Hitler, particularly pointing that reference to the President, is 
honestly unspeakable. It is demeaning, it is derogatory, it is plain 
sick.
  When Mr. Schroeder or his opponent wins the election, I am certain 
the dialogue will shift to, You know, it's just politics. Just kidding. 
We really do oppose terrorism. We weren't necessarily saying we sided 
with Iraq and Saddam Hussein. We merely were using you at an opportune 
time for our political expedience. Mr. Schroeder, if the election or 
reelection of your government is that important that you can side with 
Iraq and Saddam Hussein, you do so at your own peril. This Nation has 
been a long and steadfast friend of Germany and its people. We have 
worked together on so many issues, too many to mention. But to sit here 
at an eleventh hour opportunity to regain power for the sake of power 
and demean our President and our commitment to working together for the 
international safety of every person on this globe is reprehensible.
  I hope he will refute and rebut the words of his justice minister. I 
hope he will at least find them to be offensive. I hope they will work 
on strengthening their determination to continue our united efforts 
against terrorism, that they will in fact join with France and Britain 
and others who have long recognized the threat terrorism poses to a 
free people. The President's passionate deliverance of the speech to 
the United Nations woke up a lot of people to the real threat that is 
facing all people, not just the United States. This is not for self-
protection. This is for global peace. The President embarked on a very, 
very difficult campaign and he did so alone, with few supporters and 
few allies. After his speech, I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of 
what I considered important support for going into weapons inspections 
and reopening U.N. peacekeepers and weapons inspectors into Iraq. That 
was a breakthrough and one I hope is taken seriously.

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