[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 34 (Wednesday, March 17, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H1211-H1212]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          IRAQ: ONE YEAR LATER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown) is recognized for 5 
minutes
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, Iraq, 1 year later.
  First of all, I want to commend our brave troops who proudly serve 
our great Nation and risk their lives to preserve our freedom. I praise 
their courageous efforts to protect our country, and I am with them 100 
percent. They are the best of the best. And I can truly say every 
Member of this House, this body, supports them 100 percent. What I do 
not support is this misleading Bush administration and this House that 
follows them like sheep. Let me repeat that. What I do not support is 
this misleading Bush administration and this House, the people's House, 
that follows them like sheep.
  A new report has been released that shows that George Bush, Dick 
Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Condoleezza Rice made 237 misleading 
statements about the threat posed by Iraq in 125 public appearances. 
Eighty-four of those statements misled the American people about Iraq's 
chemical and biological weapons.
  Mr. Speaker, I was horrified last year to learn that 44,000 of our 
troops were sent out to battle without proper armor. Forty-four 
thousand. How can we ask young men and women to trust us when we make 
decisions that involve life and death and then not outfit them with the 
best that they need to save their lives. We deployed our young men and 
women to Iraq with Humvees that lacked armored protection and 
bulletproof windows.
  I personally went to Walter Reed where six troops had lost their legs 
while riding in Humvees. If they had been riding in the right type of 
vehicles, this may not have happened. This use of Humvees in Iraq was 
not what they were made for. We need to get our troops the equipment 
they need now.
  And, Mr. President, you need to spend more time planning for the 
safety of our troops and their families in your war efforts and less 
time fund-raising and cutting taxes for the rich country club friends 
of yours.
  There are two or three other points that I want to make. One, many of 
my constituents approach me about BRACC and the base closing amendment 
that we will be doing in 2005. They are telling me we are looking 
forward to your fighting to make sure our bases are not closed in our 
area. And my question to them is, why do you think that this Bush 
administration insisted, insisted, after the House and Senate both 
voted down and said we should not have a base closure, or BRACC 
scenario, during this time of war, why do you think this administration 
insisted that we go through this? It is destabling to the families and 
the communities during a time of war.
  I have heard that someone from the other body indicated that if they 
were elected that that is one of the first things they would scrap.
  I also want to comment on the 2000 election, which I cannot get past 
because the election determined who is in charge, and certainly I do 
not think we are headed in the right direction. I am going to submit 
for the Record an article that was in The New York Times last week 
indicating that Florida could be Florida again. In other words, the 
problems that we experienced in the 2000 election have not been 
corrected. It is a disservice to the people that we serve that we do 
not straighten out the problems with the elections, not just in Florida 
but all over this country; and we have not properly funded the program.
  Lastly, let me mention the coup d'etat that took place a couple of 
weeks ago in Haiti. It is very unfortunate that this Bush 
administration has chosen to go in and take out a duly elected 
president. Just take him out. Just take him out. The poorest country in 
the western hemisphere. We have to make sure that the Haitian people 
get the assistance that they need from the super Bush administration, 
after going

[[Page H1212]]

in and taking out the duly elected president.

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