[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 127 (Wednesday, October 2, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H6932]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            AMBASSADOR WELCH

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, David Welch, 
recently published an op ed in an Egyptian newspaper encouraging 
newspaper editors to be more careful about vetting articles before 
publishing them. There has been an upsurge of hate speech and 
commentary in that region suggesting that al-Qaeda was not responsible 
for the attack on 9/11. Ambassador Welch rightly pointed out that there 
is overwhelming and conclusive proof that al-Qaeda planned and executed 
the attack, including al-Qaeda's own admission.
  Newspapers have a responsibility to report the truth, and not to 
repeat lies and ridiculous rumors. Now our Ambassador has a bunch of 
Egyptian columnists, writers, and cartoonists angry with him. They 
issued a statement that he should go back to his country, and accused 
him of only seeing the region through Israeli eyes.
  Egypt is a friend and ally of the United States, but I think it would 
be appropriate for that country's journalists to treat Ambassador Welch 
with more respect and to report the truth, just as Ambassador Welch has 
suggested.

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