[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 12, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H1752]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        NEW LEVEL OF BUFFOONERY

  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, this House reached a new level of 
buffoonery yesterday when one of the Members here used his authority to 
require vendors to rename French toast and that famous Belgian 
delicacy, French fries, saying this would ``show support for the 
American troops protecting freedom abroad.''
  Now, Mr. Speaker, having been a ``troop,'' I do not think many people 
are going to have their morale raised much by us calling it ``freedom 
toast.''
  President Chirac's efforts to find a way to disarm Saddam without 
getting American troops killed is not an act of effrontery or hatred 
toward the United States.
  I could recite a whole long litany of French contributions to our 
military goals, from providing the majority of troops at Yorktown, to 
voting with us more than 98 percent of the time in the Security 
Council, and we all know that France has been our longest and strongest 
ally.
  We could take that picture down over there of Mr. Lafayette. He 
fought at Yorktown. Why not really be silly and make ourselves 
laughingstocks?
  Mr. Speaker, let us stop putting this kind of silliness out and 
demeaning our relationship with the French.

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