[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 35 (Thursday, March 18, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H1233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   OUR PRESIDENT IS WORKING TO DEFEND AND PROTECT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

  (Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, when in power, Saddam Hussein 
posed a grave and great danger to the Iraqi people, the region's 
stability, and the worldwide community. He ruled by oppression, 
deception, and fear; and the President's decision to go to war with 
Iraq was the right one, and the world is safer and better off without 
Saddam Hussein in power.
  For 12 years, Saddam Hussein used tactics of denial, distortion, and 
delay to prevent the world from enforcing the 1991 cease-fire agreement 
that ended the Persian Gulf War and numerous other U.N. Security 
Council resolutions demanding complete disarmament. It proves Saddam 
Hussein's stance against a peaceful resolve in the region.
  Now, while some skeptics continue to suggest that military action in 
Iraq was wrong, their answer never is that Iraqis or the world would be 
better off left with him in power.
  Mr. Speaker, I stand here today in support of the President and his 
decisions, for I know his one overriding responsibility is to protect 
and defend the American people, and our President is working to do just 
that.

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