[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 130 (Monday, September 22, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S11730]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  IRAQ

  Mr. FRIST. The second subject I want to comment on is the continual 
news that we have with regard to what is going on in Baghdad. Today we 
received news that a suicide bomber detonated himself at the entrance 
of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. The bomber injured 19 people, 
including 2 Iraqi United Nations workers.
  This terrorist action follows an assassination attempt over the 
weekend on Aquila al-Hashimi, one of the three women who is serving on 
the Iraqi governing council. I understand through reports that Ms. Al-
Hashimi is recovering from the attempt on her life. Most of my 
colleagues know she is a leading candidate to become Iraq's future 
United Nations ambassador.
  These outrageous attacks demonstrate the level of cowardice and 
depravity that indeed is almost beyond words, that the enemy would 
stalk and attack a woman who is serving her people and murder Iraqi 
civilians attempting to build a representative democracy or, as we just 
saw, one guardsman inspecting a car. That they would do these things 
shows us once again the ugly face of our enemy.
  Some in this body have claimed there is no connection between Saddam 
and al-Qaida. This is false. As the President said last week, there is 
no question Saddam Hussein had al-Qaida ties. We know Saddam permitted 
the operation of a terrorist training camp on Iraqi soil. We know the 
Iraqi intelligence chief, Faruk Hijazi, met with bin Laden and his 
associates. And we know Abdul Rahman Yasin, a suspect in the 1993 World 
Trade Center bombing, was harbored in Iraq. We are now learning from 
documents found in Tikrit that he may have even received payments and a 
home from the Iraqi Government.
  Thus, there is no doubt--there is no doubt--that Saddam was in league 
with terrorists. Saddam himself was the embodiment of terror.
  There can also be no doubt that Saddam is finished; that Iraq, the 
American people, and the civilized world are better off without him and 
without his terror-sponsoring regime.
  It is my expectation the Senate will turn to consideration of the 
President's emergency request for Iraq and Afghanistan on the floor 
next week. It is my hope that we will have good debate, both in 
committees over the course of this week and, indeed, on the Senate 
floor, and complete action on this legislation before the Senate 
recesses on October 3.
  I know Senators on both sides of the aisle have a lot of questions--
many questions. The post-war situation in Iraq has required sacrifice. 
We see it every day--from the families who are separated by service, 
the families who are our constituents and friends to whom we talk on a 
daily basis and, most of all, those who have lost loved ones in the 
ongoing fighting.
  The President has laid out a plan and a vision to move us forward. By 
actively participating in this debate we can fulfill that vision and 
support our service men and women who have already sacrificed so much. 
We will also send a message to friend and foe around the world that 
America will stand with the Iraqi people; that America will defeat the 
enemies of peace and democracy. It is that message that I believe, 
through our committee hearings this week, through our discussions and 
through the debate on the Senate floor, will ring most loudly--that 
America will stand with the Iraqi people and America will defeat the 
enemies of peace and democracy.
  In preparation for next week's debate, Senate committees--this week, 
in fact, beginning right now at 2--will begin holding a whole series of 
hearings to examine and discuss the President's request. The Senate 
Appropriations Committee will be holding two hearings, the Foreign 
Relations Committee will be holding three hearings, and the Armed 
Services Committee will be holding one hearing. Each will examine 
closely the President's proposal, and I am confident that with the 
appropriate discussion and with that scrutiny it will win overwhelming 
support in the Senate.
  The world now has before it a window to help the Iraqi people reclaim 
their future as a free people. The foundation of a democratic and 
stable Iraq will only be found in economic opportunity and liberty. It 
is this foundation that best defines--and this will play out as we talk 
over the course of this week--this is a foundation of economic 
opportunity coupled with security that President Bush's proposal best 
provides.

  With our $20 billion investment, we will not reconstruct the economy 
of Iraq, as a lot of people say or which they envision. That is not 
what the $20 billion will be doing. That can only be done by the Iraqi 
people themselves. The Iraqi economy can only be reconstructed by the 
Iraqi people. It can only be done by their own resourcefulness, by 
their own commitment, by their own entrepreneurship, and by their own 
imagination. Yes, Iraqis now have the freedom to become entrepreneurs, 
to be creative, and to have that creativity realized and translated 
through democratic principles into economic opportunity. What we must 
do is create a stable environment in which that newfound freedom will 
be allowed to flourish.
  From our investment will flow other investments from other nations 
willing to help the Iraqi people and from the developing resources of 
the Iraqi people themselves. Our investment, at least as I see it, is 
not an obligation: it is a choice. It is a choice that the United 
States supports the Iraqi people. It is a choice that we believe 
democracy can and will flourish among them. And it is a choice that the 
American people are made more secure by Iraq having a free and 
democratic state.
  The swift victory of our troops this spring makes us forget in some 
ways the threat Saddam once posed. We lived with the threat and 
instability emanating from Iraq for over two decades. Twice Saddam 
Hussein was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons--once stopped by 
the courageous airstrike by Israel and once stopped by the United 
States coalition in the 1991 gulf war. Twice Saddam Hussein invaded his 
neighbors to expand his reign of terror--once into Iran and once into 
Kuwait. Twice we sent the United States military to confront Saddam 
Hussein--once expelling him from Kuwait and once expelling him from 
Baghdad. Saddam Hussein played host to international terrorists to the 
very last day of his reign.
  Some will argue that we cannot afford to finish the job in Iraq. We 
can't afford not to. We have already invested billions of dollars, 
through two wars and through two decades, in trying to end this 
persistent threat to the stability of the Middle East and to the safety 
of the United States and its allies.
  We have it now within our power to ensure once and for all that there 
will be no third attempt to build yet another nuclear weapon. We have 
it within our power to ensure that there is not a third gulf war for 
yet another generation of Americans to fight. We have it within our 
power to help the Iraqi people build Iraq to become an exporter of 
stability in the region instead of the source of deadly weapons of war 
and oppression.
  By putting Iraq on the path to economic opportunity and democracy, we 
will shift the entire strategic direction of the Middle East. By 
finishing the job we started, we will ensure a safer future for our own 
people.
  I look forward to this debate in Senate, and I am confident that the 
outcome will be overwhelming support for the President of the United 
States.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________