[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 26, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H2388-H2392]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUPPORTING OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, before we begin, let me yield to the
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt), the distinguished former
district attorney from Boston, to finish his statement.
Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, I thank my dear friend for yielding. I
thank the gentleman for his spirit of collegiality.
Mr. Speaker, what I wanted to conclude with was this observation, and
I direct it to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle: if we are
unable to work out in the course of our consideration of the
supplemental budget full funding for all veterans services, then it is
time for the veterans in this country to take action. Many of us have
read in our history books that there was a march on Washington in the
early 1930s. It is time for the veterans organizations and for the
American people to march again.
Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, we want to talk a little bit about the
situation in Iraq tonight and a number of other subjects.
Mr. Speaker, I am joined by the distinguished gentleman from Colorado
(Mr. Beauprez), a businessman and new freshman. The gentleman is on his
way to take his daughter to dinner, and, as a father of two daughters,
that takes high priority. So let me yield to the gentleman from
Colorado (Mr. Beauprez.)
Mr. BEAUPREZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. It is
a pleasure to be with the gentleman tonight on the floor.
Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight with my colleagues to commend the
tremendous progress being made by our troops in Iraq. However, I am
disgusted with recent media reports proclaiming setbacks and delays of
our troops in battle.
Mr. Speaker, such editorializing of the news represents a severe
disconnect with reality. At this very moment we are within minutes of
Operation Iraqi Freedom being just 1 week old. One week, Mr. Speaker.
In one week, we have flown over 7,000 combat sorties, we have delivered
600 Tomahawk missiles with surgical precision such as never before seen
in battle, we have moved numerous ground troops to within 50 miles of
Baghdad, and we have killed or captured thousands of Iraqi soldiers. We
have adapted, we have overcome, and, Mr. Speaker, we will prevail.
But in the din of news reports and live briefings, the fog of battle
for Americans can be information overload. We learn a lot about what is
happening today. But for the next couple of minutes, Mr. Speaker, I
would like
[[Page H2389]]
to make sure that we remember what has happened before to lead us to
this point.
In 1979, Saddam Hussein took control of the Iraqi Government. The
next year he launched a costly 8-year war with Iran that was both
inconclusive and violent.
In 1988, after his unsuccessful foray into Iran, he took on a less
formidable enemy, the Kurdish people of Northern Iraq, his own people.
Using chemical weapons and poison gas, he destroyed 1,000 to 2,000 of
their villages. The death toll from that holocaust may have been as
high as 182,000 people.
In 1990, he once again crossed international boundaries and invaded
tiny Kuwait. During that exercise his soldiers carried out orders to
kill any civilian who did so little as violate curfew.
In 1991, his continued aggression against Kuwait brought about the
attention of the United States and the United Nations and his swift
defeat during Operation Desert Storm.
In the 12 years since Desert Storm, Mr. Speaker, the United Nations
has passed 17 different resolutions outlining conditions under which
Saddam can stay in power. He has violated them all.
We now have further evidence that Saddam and his band of loyalist
thugs have no respect for human life, common decency, nor even the
international rules of engagement. The heinous treatment of our
soldiers and the abuse of even his own citizens once again is
absolutely despicable.
Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, I hope the world takes note of another
truth of this conflict. As Hitler was supported by the Nazi loyalists,
so, too, is Saddam supported by his Baath Party fanatics.
{time} 2045
My colleague from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon), stood on this floor on
February 25 and outlined the atrocities of the regime in terrible,
gruesome detail. He described mutilated babies, crippled children,
adults without limbs, dipped in acid, torture beyond the imagination of
civilized people, all at the hands of Saddam Hussein and his Ba'ath
party.
Referring to these and the regime's other crimes against humanity,
our President, our Commander in Chief said, ``If this is not evil, then
evil has no meaning.'' Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more. That is why
Operation Iraqi Freedom is about regime change, not just about Saddam.
All those that promote terror, manufacture it, and export it must be
squelched before liberation can come to the Iraqi people and peace to
the rest of the world.
Mr. Speaker, the bullets are flying; and our troops are in harm's
way. As we continue to be briefed on their daily progress, as we see
the sacrifices being made in the field by our soldiers and back home by
their families, let us keep this in proper perspective. Let us remember
why we are there: to end a regime of terror and liberate a people who
have never known freedom.
Godspeed to our troops and God bless America.
Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Colorado; and I
want to commend him on words well said. I appreciate everything that he
is doing to help free the people of Iraq as a new Member of Congress.
Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about a number of things. I want to read
a letter from an Iraqi woman. I want to read a letter from Charlie
Daniels. I wanted to talk about a French company that has nearly a $1
billion catering contract to the U.S. Marine Corps, and I want to talk
about Iraqi violations of the Geneva Convention.
First, let me read a rather spirited letter from Charlie Daniels. We
know Charlie Daniels is the songwriter who wrote The Devil Went Down to
Georgia, among other things. He is great playing the fiddle, and he is
a great American. So this is Charlie Daniels' letter, open letter to
the Hollywood bunch. I am going to read directly from the letter.
Okay, let's say just for a moment you bunch of pampered,
overpaid, unrealistic children had your way and the USA did
not go into Iraq.
Let's say that you really get your way and we destroy all
of our nuclear weapons, stick daisies in our gun barrels and
sit around with some white wine and cheese and pat ourselves
on the back, so proud of what we have done for world peace.
Let's say that we cut the military budget to just enough to
keep the National Guard on hand to help out with floods and
fires.
Let's say that we close down our military bases all over
the world and bring our troops home, increase foreign aid,
and drop all trade sanctions against everybody.
I suppose that in your fantasy world, this would create a
utopian world where everybody would live in peace. After all,
the great monster, the United States of America, the cause of
all of the world's trouble, would have disbanded its horrible
military and certainly all of the other countries of the
world would follow suit.
After all, they only arm themselves to defend their country
from the mean USA.
Why, you bunch of pitiful, hypocritical, idiotic spoiled
mugwumps. Get your head out of the sand and smell the Trade
Towers burning.
Do you think that a trip to Iraq by Sean Penn did anything
but encourage a wanton murderer to think that the people of
the USA didn't have the nerve or guts to fight him?
Barbara Streisand's fanatical and hateful rantings about
George Bush makes about as much sense as Michael Jackson
hanging a baby over a railing.
You people need to get out of Hollywood once in a while and
get into the real world. You'd be surprised at the hostility
you would find out here.
Stop in at a truck stop and tell an overworked long-
distance trucker that you don't think Saddam Hussein is doing
anything wrong.
Tell a farmer with a couple of sons in the United States
military that you think the United States has no right to
defend itself.
Go down to Baxley, Georgia, and hold an antiwar rally and
see what the folks down there think about you.
You people are some of the most disgusting examples of a
waste of protoplasm I've ever had the displeasure to hear
about.
Sean Penn, you are a traitor to the United States of
America. You gave aid and comfort to the enemy. How many
American lives will your little fact-finding trip to Iraq
cost? You encourage Saddam Hussein to think that we didn't
have the stomach for war.
You people protect one of the most evil men on the face of
this earth and you won't lift a finger to save the life of an
unborn baby. Freedom of choice, you say?
Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bradley of New Hampshire). The gentleman
should address his remarks to the Chair.
Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I am reading a letter from Charlie Daniels
which I think I am certainly allowed under the rules to do. Not that I
would ever argue with the distinguished parliamentarian, particularly
the one on your right, but I believe I can read a letter.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman can read his letter provided
it is otherwise in order.
Mr. KINGSTON. I thank the Speaker. I am still in quotes, Mr. Speaker,
and probably it is very appropriate for the Speaker to point out that I
am reading a letter, open letter to Hollywood written by Mr. Charlie
Daniels, one of America's most popular entertainers. I am going to
continue with that, back to the quoted letter.
Well, I'm going to exercise some freedom of choice of my
own.
If I see any of your names on a marquee, I'm going to
boycott the movie. I will completely stop going to the movies
if I have to. In most cases, it certainly wouldn't be much of
a loss.
You scoff at our military whose boots you are not even
worthy to shine.
They go to battle and risk their lives so ingrates like you
can live in luxury.
The day of reckoning is coming when you will be faced with
the undeniable truth that the war against Saddam Hussein is
the war on terrorism.
America is in imminent danger.
You're either for her or against her. There is no middle
ground.
I think we all know where you stand.
What do you think?
God bless America.
Unquote, Charlie Daniels.
Mr. Speaker, my colleagues can get this off the website. However, due
to technological ethics, I am unable to give out that website number,
but if somebody would call my office, I would be glad to give it to
them.
Mr. Speaker, here is a guy who is one of the American-dream-type
success stories, came up the hard way. I believe Charlie Daniels went
to the University of Chicago, so he is not exactly just this country
boy from back home on the farm that Hollywood would scoff at. But this
is a guy who has really made it pretty big in the entertainment world,
knows the Hollywood bunch because he calls them up front and he writes
a letter like that to give us an idea of what he thinks.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I am going to read another letter by a woman named
[[Page H2390]]
Katrin Michael. She is member of Women for a Free Iraq, a Washington-
based advocacy group. She wrote this for Newsday, but I read it in the
Savannah Morning News. I am going to again quote from this.
As an Iraqi woman who wages peace and has fought in war, I
am compelled to support a U.S.-led action to remove Saddam
Hussein. After 26 years of resistance against Saddam, I have
come to the conclusion that only forces from outside Iraq can
bring an end to the nightmare of his rule.
The stories of Saddam Hussein's brutality are all true.
Ethnic cleansing, summary imprisonment and execution, torture
and rape are all part of the nightmare. I know this from
personal experience.
My father founded an Iraqi peace movement, a crime for
which he was murdered. At the time I was 14 years old. I was
arrested by the regime merely because I joined the Iraqi
Women's League. I was not the only young girl arrested for
such a trivial offense.
Later, I joined the Kurdish resistance, even though I was,
in their eyes, a mere woman and a Christian. I traveled in
disguise to Baghdad and around the country to organize
opposition to Saddam. When I was injured in one of his
chemical bombardments against hundreds of Kurdish villages in
1987 and 1988, I was forced to flee to a refugee camp in
southern Turkey where I stayed until I finally reached
freedom in the United States in 1997. I continue to suffer to
this day from lung, nerve and eye damage caused by these
weapons.
No one in Iraq is immune from Saddam's brutality, not even
the closest members of his own family. He even executed two
of his own sons-in-law in 1996.
A commonly used form of torture is to bring a detainee's
female relative, preferably his wife, daughter or mother, and
gang rape her in front of him.
Members of the Iraqi opposition in exile receive videotape
of tapes of their female relatives in Iraq being raped. Women
who criticize or merely offend Saddam are accused of being
prostitutes and regularly beheaded in public.
His son, Uday, often leads these beheadings. They occur in
Baghdad as well as in smaller villages throughout Iraq. The
heads of the executed women are hung on the doors of their
houses for all to see.
I am saddened when I see people who sincerely care for the
fate of the Iraqi people resist the American-led effort to
remove Saddam and restore hope for the Iraqis. We cannot do
it alone.
Iraqis had their closest brush with freedom in 1992 during
Operation Desert Storm. I regret, as do most Iraqis, that the
United States and its allies allowed Saddam to squash this
resistance and remain in power. Those who care about peace
and justice for the Iraqis should not make the same mistake
again.
Saddam will never leave power willingly. He will never give
up his weapons and allow the Iraqi people to live in freedom.
That is the end of the letter, Mr. Speaker, but I want to restate one
more time that this was written by an Iraqi woman who was raised in
Iraq, who was part of the peace movement, who has come to the
conclusion that only a U.S.-led action will remove Saddam Hussein, and
that is the only way that the world will be rid of him.
I think that is so important, Mr. Speaker, because there are a lot of
well-meaning people who are against the United States action. There are
a lot who are not so well-meaning. A lot of people just have a gripe
with George Bush, and they find the war a convenient vehicle to air
their opinion. There are a lot of people who do not like the United
States of America and, again, they find the war a convenient excuse to
air their opinion on that. But then there are a lot of people who are
absolutely sincere: peace first, peace only, negotiations.
Yet what this Iraqi woman is saying, who has been there and has been
injured by Saddam Hussein, is we cannot do it alone, we have to have a
U.S.-led coalition.
Today, Mr. Speaker, in Basra, we did find out that there was an
uprising and at this point it has not continued, but I think that it
will, and I think in the days and weeks ahead we are going to see more
and more Iraqi citizens coming out of their hiding places and facing
Saddam Hussein and joining the resistance against him.
Now, I have been joined by our friend from Miami, Florida (Mr. Mario
Diaz-Balart). I want to yield some time to him.
I have a couple of other topics I want to talk about surrounding
Iraq. One of them has to do with a French company that has a lucrative
contract with the Department of Defense feeding 55 garrisons throughout
America. I also want to talk about the House Resolution that we passed
today urging Iraq to comply with the Geneva Convention. But the
gentleman has been a very active freshman Member of Congress and has a
lot of issues he has been working on, too. So I yield to him to jump in
on this or switch topics or whatever pleases him.
{time} 2100
Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding to me. I was listening to the gentleman's words today, and I
was moved by the gentleman's statements and by the strength and
veracity of that letter from that young woman who suffered the intense
oppression of that brutal, crazy dictator, that dictator that is
oppressing the people of Iraq.
What she says is so true: the Iraqi people have been suffering for a
long, long time. They have suffered through what we really cannot even
imagine, the most horrendous humiliations, tortures, murders,
assassinations. That man who has killed about 1.5 million people, has
gassed his own people, and other nations; who has no concern for life
or for any basic principles or freedoms, and who the world was
negotiating with for about 12 years.
Think about that. We all believe in negotiations. We all believe in
diplomacy. I believe that we should try to negotiate; and when we have
a dictator, a crazy, insane man who has committed mass genocide and
murder, that we should try to negotiate, for 1 year, 2 years, 3 years,
4 years, 10 years, 12 years? When is enough failed negotiations enough?
When is enough failure enough?
I believe that the United Nations has a role to play. Yes, I believe
we should get the United Nations resolutions to express the sentiment
of the world once, twice, three times, ten times. But 17 times? How
many resolutions must he ignore and continue his oppression, his
assassination, and more dangerous to us, his trying to obtain nuclear
and other weapons of mass destruction?
How many times should we say, or is there a time when we should say,
enough? What does it take? What does it take for the world to react?
Thank God, fortunately, we have a President who stated after the
attacks, those horrendous attacks that occurred on 9-11 against our
people, our innocent people, he stated very clearly that those that
harbor terrorism were terrorists, and that there was going to be a
price to pay.
Then he tried to warn, and he did warn, Saddam Hussein. He went to
the United Nations and got one last chance for Saddam Hussein from the
United Nations. But there is a time, unfortunately, when one must act.
That time has come. Now our brave men and women are doing what the
President said he was going to do, what he was going to ask them to do
if Saddam Hussein did not disarm. He was going to disarm them with our
brave men and women.
They are doing an incredible job, an incredible job. This is the time
to support our troops. This is the time to not vacillate in that
support for our troops.
I know there are those who say, well, we support our troops, but we
wish they were not there. They are there. They are performing a vital
job. We have to support them wholeheartedly, not with caveats, not with
reservations. We have to support them. We have to support them, and
they have to do what it takes to get the job done.
It is up to us, who are living and enjoying the freedoms that those
thousands of men and women in uniform for generations have fought to
give us. We should utilize those freedoms to show appreciation, to show
respect, to show admiration, and to say, job well done. We are with
you. We are going to be with you to the end.
They are going to succeed because the vast majority of the American
people supports them; because the vast majority of the American people
supports our President, our Commander in Chief, in his efforts. We are
so grateful.
I actually was walking through, and I heard what the gentleman was
saying on the floor. I had to come by and thank the gentleman, thank
the gentleman for those words, and thank him for reminding us what is
at stake. When the gentleman read that letter from that young woman, I
think it brought it home. It brought it home to roost. What is at stake
here is so precious. It is liberty, it is life, it is everything that
we care for, everything that we believe in.
[[Page H2391]]
Yes, unfortunately, it is expensive. It is expensive. It has been
expensive for generations. But those who have to protect those lives,
those freedoms are the American people. Once again, our troops are
doing it with the honor, with the valor, with the talent that they have
always done it. I want to thank them for what they are doing.
I want to thank you, sir, for once again bringing that to light. That
is why I had to come by here. I saw the gentleman on TV, and I had to
come by to thank him for these words of solidarity to our troops, to
the Commander in Chief; and to remind everybody why it is that we are
in this battle; and that we are going to win this battle because it is
so important, because so much is at stake. Yes, we are on the right
side.
Mr. KINGSTON. I want to thank the gentleman for those words, Mr.
Speaker.
It is interesting, today we had a great moment where all Members,
Democrat and Republican, came together on the issue of Iraq complying
with the Geneva Convention, which of course they are not doing. Each
day there is a new revelation.
There was a very tender moment today as we in Congress saw the
pictures of the prisoners, the American POWs, that Iraq had filmed. As
the gentleman knows, it was very gruesome. First, the cameras panned on
some dead soldiers, soldiers who at least three of them had a shot
right in their forehead; young men, strong men, men in uniform, men
with their dog tags around their necks and the blood that was on their
chests, in some cases. It was a very sobering, very gut-wrenching scene
to see.
Then, apparently in the same room, but it was not clear, were the
live prisoners. Iraqi TV or whoever the reporters were were
interviewing them and asking them a lot of questions. There seemed to
be some pushing and shoving in the room. It seemed that there were a
lot of people. We could tell by the look in these American prisoners'
eyes that they did not know if they were going to be alive the next
minute, or make it through the night, or what was going to happen to
them. It seemed like utter confusion.
What struck me, among other things, is that even in Somalia, and we
all have read or seen ``Blackhawk Down,'' which I think was a great
depiction of that battle. When they had the captive helicopter
operator, he was still allowed to get the International Red Cross to
come in. Yet in Iraq they do not even let the Red Cross in to see our
prisoners.
Today, on a bipartisan basis, we debated, and we will vote on it
tomorrow, House Concurrent Resolution 118, which I had, I guess I am
not going to say the honor, which would be the usual word, but I
offered it, along with the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes).
I represent the Third Infantry in Hinesville, Georgia, and he
represents Fort Bliss in Texas, where the members of 507th Maintenance
Division were from, supporting the Third Infantry.
Just to see the House come together and say, you know, this is
absolutely not right, and we are going to put the folks from Iraq on
notice that they will be tried as war criminals as soon as possible. If
that means waiting until the war is over, fine; but if we can get them
out of there before then, they will be tried as war criminals. We made
that statement to them, number one.
Number two, we assured our troops that we are watching and we are
with them in thought and in spirit, and we are going to do everything
that we can to get them out of there alive.
Number three, we sent a signal to the international community, the
French, the Germans, the Chinese, the Russians, those who were so quick
to denounce the United States of America and this action. Well, there
are 164 countries that have signed the Geneva Conventions going back to
1949. Let these countries now step forward and denounce Iraq, who
incidentally is a signer of the Geneva Conventions; and let the world
community find something that they can agree on in the form of these
seven soldiers who are captured as we speak tonight.
Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, it
is interesting, the gentleman mentioned some of these countries that
were so quick to criticize the United States, criticize the United
States for enforcing the resolutions that they unanimously supported,
by the way.
Yet, we now see some of them, and I do not know why they have acted
the way they have, but I can just throw some facts on the table. We now
see that the Government of Russia has sold to the Iraqi Government some
very high-tech military equipment.
Mr. KINGSTON. That Russian equipment sold to Iraq, Mr. Speaker, that
is radar-jamming or missile-jamming technology. Is that not the case?
Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART. It is highly sophisticated night vision
equipment, equipment to avoid radar, missiles, and also to confuse GPS
devices that are obviously a big part of a military arsenal.
Yet a lot of these things are things that were not permissible under
the sanctions that those same governments supported. So on one side,
they are saying, well, Iraq is a violator of all sorts of rights. They
are trying to obtain weapons of mass destruction. They have supported
all these resolutions in the past. On the other side of their mouths,
they are selling them high-tech equipment, military equipment.
That regime that they have condemned for the human rights abuses, for
the rape of the women, for the assassinations, they are selling that
regime high-tech military equipment, much of it banned by the United
Nations. Those countries voted to ban that equipment to the Iraqi
regime.
We saw that the wonderful, talented men and women of the U.S. Air
Force shot down missiles. Some were destined to land in populated areas
of Kuwait. Those are missiles that supposedly they do not have, that
Iraq does not have. What more proof do we need?
I ask a question, I ask a rhetorical question, How many violations
does it take for these countries to realize that there is a problem? Of
course, what we realize now is that it is not that they do not realize
that they are violations. It is that they have been assisting this
regime and selling them high-tech equipment that has been banned, that
is unlawful, according to the United Nations resolutions. They have
been assisting this regime in their oppression, in their
assassinations.
I think we are going to find a lot of that. I am not telling the
gentleman that is the reason why some of these countries oppose the
United States' effort to free the people of Iraq, just like the United
States military freed the people of France twice.
By the way, the people of France, thank God, they had the right to be
free. A lot of brave young American GIs died to free the people of
France. I am glad that France is free. The people of Iraq are no less
human beings than the people of France. They have the right to be free,
as well.
Mr. KINGSTON. It is interesting that the gentleman mentions that,
because there is a degree of racism, I think, on the part of the peace
activists of the world. The reason why I say racism is because would
these people support a Saddam Hussein if he were in Paris? Would they
do it if he were in Germany? No. They would denounce him quickly. But
as long as he is in the Middle East, well, they have been fighting for
years. Or if he is in, say, South Asia or something, well, they have
been fighting for years; or if he is in Africa.
How many times have we heard, they have been fighting for years, we
cannot bring peace in the Middle East, like the people in the Middle
East do not deserve peace; but the folks in Europe, that is the high
standard to live by. To me it is just a double standard. I can only
summarize it with racism.
The gentleman mentioned Russia selling sophisticated, high-tech
equipment to Iraq. We already are seeing in Congress that we have the
supplemental budget coming, and it is going to be to fund the military
operation as well as the humanitarian operation.
As a result of the humanitarian operation, I am already seeing a gold
rush. I am seeing companies actually start lobbying for contracts. That
bothers me a lot when we have one missing in action today, seven
captured, and eight casualties American and 18 British. Yet what really
bothers me is some of these countries are not American countries and
they are not English countries and they are not Australian; they are
not coalition countries.
[[Page H2392]]
I have one example, though, of a company. USAID, which is a foreign
aid branch, it does a lot of good things, but it is going to let some
humanitarian contracts go, and French and German companies will be
eligible to compete for it. That bothers me a lot, that they will be
able to profit from this war.
Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART. I could not agree with the gentleman more, if
the gentleman will yield, Mr. Speaker. This is a two-fold problem.
There is, first, the opposition to this effort to free the Iraqi people
and to free the world from this very dangerous dictator, free the world
from a dictator who is trying to get or obtain nuclear weapons, and who
already has other weapons of mass destruction.
{time} 2115
We are trying to free the Iraqi people while at the same time free
the world from this incredible threat.
So we have to remember these countries that we are objecting to that,
that even though unanimously, just a few months before, they said, hey,
look, we are going to give this dictator one last chance, he has to
disarm, but it is worse than that because not only are they objecting
to the freeing of the Iraqi people, are they objecting to ridding of
the world of this dictator who is trying to get nuclear weapons, who
has ties with terrorist organizations and, by the way, including
terrorist organizations that have assassinated Americans, but what is
even more offensive is that at the same time they are selling this
dictator high-tech equipment that he can use to further exploit, hurt,
oppress, kill, murder his people and others because of his ties with
terrorism.
One would hope that humanity has gone above and beyond that, and yet
there are those that would like to profit even while selling high-tech
equipment that they know they should not be selling because they have
said it repeatedly in U.N. resolutions. So they know it, it is not by
mistake, and yet they are doing so to earn a buck, to earn a buck?
Mr. KINGSTON. There is another example. Another company called
Sedxho, S-E-D-X-H-O, it is a French company. It is a publicly-owned
French company, but they have $1 billion worth of food service
contracts with the United States Department of Defense. Recently, they
signed an $881 million contract to feed the U.S. Marines in 55
different garrisons. We are working on a letter to the Secretary of
Defense, Mr. Rumsfeld, to say he needs to renegotiate this, he needs to
cancel it, he needs to look into it. But can my colleague imagine, here
is a French company, and France, I do not remember one division in the
country of France in terms of their stance against America in the last
3 to 6 months. I do not remember anybody moderating.
In America we had division. We had a pro-war and an anti-war group,
and the world knew that. But, in France, it seems like they were all
united against the United States and against this war.
Apparently, that is not a problem to Sedxho, because they are a
French company. And yet here are the Marines, the brave and the
honorable Marines who are the ones who discovered this hospital today,
allegedly a hospital, and yet 55 different garrisons in the United
States of America, when an 18-year-old Marine sits down for lunch, a
French company is making a profit from that. That is unbelievable, and
I call on the Department of Defense to cancel that contract.
Listen, there are reasons sometimes we have to buy from an enemy.
There are reasons that somebody has something unique, but we are
talking catering. I am sure there are good companies in Florida and
Georgia and all over America that can do the catering service for the
U.S. Marine corps, but a French company, it is unbelievable.
Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. If the gentleman would yield, I
think we are going to find a lot of that. I think we are going to find
a lot of companies that are profiting from selling goods to the United
States, including to the United States Armed Forces and armed services,
as the gentleman just pointed out, who, by the way, are probably also
making a hefty profit selling products to Iraq, even though there are
sanctions there and probably even some high-tech equipment to the
tyranny in Iraq.
I think it kind of explains some of the ferocity of the argument,
some of the aggressiveness of some of those that were objecting to the
United States' noble stance to help free an oppressed people and also
help rid the world of these weapons of mass destruction and the
possible obtaining of nuclear weapons to this dictator. I think we are
going to see a lot of that.
The thing that surprised me, and it does not surprise me anymore
because we are starting to see why, and my colleague just mentioned it,
we are starting to see why but, surprisingly, the ferocity of the
argument and how France, for example, not only do they object to any
resolution that was not of their liking in the U.N. recently and they
said so, but, also, they went lobbying. They actually were talking to
every nation possible to try to stop this movement to free the people
of Iraq and to free the world from this dictator who has caused so much
grief.
I think we are starting to see why, but it is sad, it is sad that it
looks like one of the main reasons or at least one of the reasons may
be because they are making a buck off of this dictator.
Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, also, are they not making a buck or
profit, things like that, but they have had a lucrative oil contract in
Iraq they did not want to disturb. That it is clear France is not after
some noble or high ground about peace, but it simply boils down to
profit.
If the gentleman would like to make any closing comments, I need to
actually make an engagement.
Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I just want to thank
the gentleman from Georgia. Again, I had to come to the floor today
once I was hearing what he was talking about. I had to come here and
thank the gentleman, thank him for standing up for our troops, thank
him for supporting our troops, thank him for supporting the President
of the United States, Commander in Chief in such a difficult time. Our
troops are going to prevail because of their honor, their integrity,
their decency and because they are the best people, best troops and the
best human beings that this world has ever seen, and they are well led,
and their cause is just.
I wanted to thank the gentleman again for his words. They were
humbling, and they were touching, and I wanted to come here and thank
him tonight for his words.
Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate everything the gentleman is
doing.
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