[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 35 (Thursday, March 18, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E413]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RELATING TO THE LIBERATION OF THE IRAQI PEOPLE AND THE VALIANT SERVICE 
         OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES AND COALITION FORCES

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. MAJOR R. OWENS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 17, 2004

  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to strongly condemn and denounce this 
cynical resolution which seeks members of Congress to once more endorse 
the needless war against Iraq. The world is certainly not safer now 
than it was before the attack on Iraq. Indeed, just the opposite is 
true. We are bogged down in a war at the wrong place which drains 
dollars, manpower and creative decision-making energy from our 
government. This administration has placed our nation in a deadly vise 
that blocks us from a more effective pursuit of terrorism. Let me just 
cite one critical example: Pakistan! We are losing our long-term ally, 
Pakistan, as a result of blatant neglect. The one Islamic nation which 
clearly has ``weapons of mass destruction'' has received low priority 
and second class treatment from our government. Even after the 
President of Pakistan chose to take great risks to assist in the war 
against the Taliban in Afghanistan, the U.S. offered this nation an 
economic assistance package of less than one billion dollars. At the 
same time this administration was offering Turkey several billion 
dollars merely to allow our troops to pass through on their way to 
Iraq. Pakistan also has a population of more than 150 million people 
while Iraq only has 25 million people. Nevertheless we are proposing 27 
billion dollars to rebuild Iraq while offering the loyal ally, 
Pakistan, less than one billion dollars.
  Mr. Speaker, we are losing our most valuable ally in the war against 
terrorism because we are obsessed with Iraq. Because I have a large 
Pakistani-American community in my District I was invited to visit 
Pakistan 2 years ago. Everywhere there was obviously admiration for 
America; however, everywhere there was also disappointment and 
bitterness with respect to the treatment of Pakistan by successive U.S. 
governments. In the end there is a feeling that their nuclear weapons 
program is the only way they can command the appropriate attention from 
the U.S.
  Be assured that no high school sophomore is expected to believe that 
the sale of Pakistan's nuclear secrets to other nations was a crime 
committed by one super scientist acting without the assistance of the 
government. These deadly sales to North Korea and other rogue nations 
represent defiance and revenge expressed by a nation that deems itself 
to have been grossly mistreated.

  Emergency diplomatic and economic assistance are needed to save 
Pakistan from becoming a Taliban victim or an overt enemy. Loyalties in 
the nation are now almost evenly divided and the present government is 
walking on a very thin line. Diverting just a quarter of the economic 
assistance approved for Iraq to Pakistan would send a meaningful 
message to our long-term ally. Who is losing Pakistan? The Iraq 
obsessed White House is losing Pakistan.
  Problems in Iraq are impacting on all types and levels of decision-
making in Washington. We have been forced into a hardship budget for 
domestic programs. While there is no Federal aid for public school 
construction here at home, we are spending billions to build schools in 
Iraq. While fifty percent of the Black males in New York City are 
unemployed, billions of dollars are being spent to provide jobs to 
Iraqi men. There is a possibility that the bitterness and desperation 
which is the fertilizer for terrorism will create a unique incubator in 
America.
  Is the world better off since we ventured into oil rich Iraq? Are 
Americans safer? Is the war against terrorism being conducted 
effectively? The answer to all of these questions is no. Should we pass 
this resolution which pretends to honor the troops but has been 
concocted to ambush legislators into stating that they endorse the war 
in Iraq? The answer is no.

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