[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 53 (Wednesday, April 2, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H2671]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUPPORTING OUR TROOPS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HENSARLING. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge all of my 
colleagues and to urge all Americans to unite and support our troops 
now engaged in battle in Iraq. Our Commander in Chief, with the 
approval of Congress, called our Armed Forces into action to disarm a 
rogue regime that threatens our freedom and our security.
  With our troops now in the line of fire, with more than four dozen 
Americans having made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, the time for 
protest has passed. The time for unity has arrived.
  Madam Speaker, we live in a free society. We all share the right to 
debate the best policies for our Nation; and in a free society each of 
us also have the right to assemble and to protest. These are sacred 
rights; but once our Nation, through our democratic process, has 
decided to commit troops and once those troops have been put into 
harm's way, the time for debate and protest is over.
  Just as we share sacred rights, we also share sacred duties. Today 
with American troops in the field, we all share a duty to unite behind 
them and ensure that our actions do them no harm. But, Madam Speaker, 
even as recently as yesterday, Democrat Members of Congress were still 
denouncing Operation Iraqi Freedom. And Madam Speaker, if just one of 
these floor speeches by a Member of Congress, if just one acceptance 
speech by a Hollywood director, if just one street protest causes 
Saddam Hussein and his forces to continue the fight for 1 day longer, 
then those responsible would have done a terrible, terrible disservice 
to those serving so bravely in our name.

                              {time}  1745

  Now, I would never question Americans' right to speak or protest. I 
only question the wisdom of doing so at this time. No matter what 
political beliefs we hold we are all Americans, and those soldiers in 
uniform fighting on the front lines are our sons and daughters, our 
brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers. Those who undertake 
further protest at this point only fuel the resolve of our enemy, and 
they must take full responsibility for their actions.
  Now, perhaps some need to be reminded why we are fighting and what we 
are fighting against.
  Americans were sent to disarm an evil regime that has stockpiled 
weapons of mass destruction that threaten the peace and security of the 
Free World. Madam Speaker, 26,000 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of 
botulinum toxin, 500 tons of sarin, mustard gas, and VX nerve agents; 
enough chemical and biological weapons to kill hundreds of thousands of 
Americans in a single act of terrorism.
  I agree with our President. The risk of doing nothing is far greater 
than the risk of doing something.
  Madam Speaker, Americans were also sent to Iraq to end a regime of 
terror, a regime that has used chemical weapons against their own 
people, a regime that has made rape and torture an instrument of public 
policy, and now a regime that uses innocent people as human shields and 
savagely executes prisoners of war.
  Just ask a 68-year-old mother, Zahra Khafi, why we are in Iraq. As 
she was recently liberated by American forces, she let it be known that 
her 28-year-old son was summarily executed by Saddam's regime for 
merely practicing her religion. She greeted our troops saying, ``Peace 
be upon you, peace be upon you.''
  ``Should I be afraid?'' She asked, wiping back her tears. ``Is Saddam 
coming back?''
  Ask Ali Khemy, who said after the First Marine Expeditionary Unit 
liberated his village, ``Americans very good. Iraq wants to be free.''
  Madam Speaker, President Ronald Reagan once said, ``No weapon in the 
arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of 
free men and women.'' Madam Speaker, the minions of tyranny and evil 
are learning that lesson today.
  Now, our Nation has faced much greater challenges and has seen darker 
days. During the Civil War when brother fought brother, our great 
President, Abraham Lincoln solemnly stated, ``I have often been driven 
to my knees with the overwhelming conviction I had nowhere else to 
go.''
  I believe now is a good time for all Americans to be driven to our 
knees, to pray for a speedy victory, to pray for our men and women in 
uniform, to pray for their families and pray for a peaceful world no 
longer threatened with weapons of mass destruction.
  Madam Speaker, our cause is just, our victory is inevitable. Freedom 
will prevail. But we, all Americans, must unite behind our troops and 
unite today.

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