[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 52 (Wednesday, April 21, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E583-E584]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              H. RES. 557--COMMEMORATING START OF IRAQ WAR

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TAMMY BALDWIN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 21, 2004

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the men and women in 
our Armed Forces who have served and continue to serve in Iraq. Their 
bravery and dedication is something all Americans should admire and 
honor.
  It is not just their martial skill and training that proved 
outstanding during the combat phase of the Iraq campaign, their 
exceptional abilities to begin the rebuilding of Iraq have been 
essential. Our military forces have demonstrated again and again their 
professionalism when faced with incredibly difficult challenges. They 
truly are the best in the world.
  I want to also give special recognition to our citizen soldiers--the 
men and women in our National Guard and Reserves--and their families. 
For them to leave their jobs and loved ones, in many cases for more 
than a year, requires tremendous sacrifice and commitment. In the last 
year, I have been there when many of our local Wisconsin units have 
left for deployment and been there when many have finally returned 
home. When they leave, I have seen their determination to get the job 
done combined with great sadness about their separation from their 
families. When they return, I have seen their pride at a job well done 
and their joy at being reunited with their families. No country could 
be better served than we have by the members of our Guard and Reserve.
  I also want to pay my respects to the ultimate sacrifice paid by the 
709 military men and women who have died in Iraq and express my 
heartfelt condolences to their families. Each one of them is a hero. 
All Americans owe them a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid but 
must always be remembered.
  We also owe a great debt to the more than 3,200 who have been wounded 
in Iraq. Medical advances and improved safety equipment have meant 
fewer deaths, but many are surviving with serious injuries. We must 
fulfill our commitment to caring for them, ensuring that our veterans 
health care system can meet their needs.
  Mr. Speaker, there is no Member of this Congress who is not grateful 
to our soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen. No matter our positions 
on what the proper U.S. policies should be, let there be no doubt that 
we honor and appreciate their sacrifices.
  It is with regret that I voted against the resolution presented to 
this House. I am very disappointed in the Republican leadership of this 
House for bringing forth a resolution under a closed rule without 
providing the opportunity for Democrats to participate in the drafting.
  Honoring our troops should always be a non-partisan effort and should 
never be used as a partisan maneuver.
  The resolution that came before us could have, and should have, won 
the backing of every Member of the House. A non-partisan resolution, 
drafted with input from both sides of the aisle, would have attained 
unanimous support, allowing the House of Representatives to speak with 
one resounding voice in honor of our men and women in uniform.
  It is not simply the partisan nature of this resolution that caused 
me to vote against it. If that were my only concern, my desire to 
recognize our troops would have been stronger than my indignation about 
the means employed to do so. However, I voted against the resolution 
because it is being used to distract us from the very real and very 
important debate that we should be having about our Iraq policy and our 
counter-terrorism policies.
  Mr. Speaker, there is a debate going on among the American people 
about Iraq and the war. The American people are concerned about our 
intelligence failures, the use of intelligence, the Administration's 
apparent obsession with Iraq, the failure of post-war Iraq planning, 
the cost of the war, the costs of reconstruction, the long-term demands 
on our military and how Iraq affects the war on terrorism. This 
Congress and this Administration has a responsibility to answer, or 
find the answers, to these questions. The American people deserve no 
less.
  The American people are wondering if we are safer as a result of the 
war to remove Saddam Hussein as ruler of Iraq. This is a difficult 
question to answer, and to be quite frank, I don't know. But it is a 
question that is important to ask. And it should not be dismissed with 
an ``of course'' or the suggestion that anyone who thinks we may not be 
safer is unpatriotic or would be happy if Hussein were still in power. 
We must draw an important distinction between the following questions: 
Is Iraq better off? Is Iraq less of a security threat to the United 
States? And, is the United States safer as a result of the President's 
choice to go to war in Iraq. I believe the answer to the first two 
questions is yes. However, it is the final question that is by far the 
most important.
  On September 11, 2001, the United States was attacked by Al Qaeda, an 
international terrorist group that was then based in Afghanistan with 
the support of the Taliban regime. Military action against Al Qaeda and 
the Taliban was widely supported by Americans, including me, to hunt 
down the perpetrators of 9-11 and eliminate their ability to operate in 
Afghanistan. We were joined by numerous countries who understood that 
the fight against Al Qaeda was their fight too. The initial phases of 
that campaign were successful in shutting down their training camps, 
capturing or killing many of their members and

[[Page E584]]

deposing the Taliban. Like in Iraq, our military men and women 
performed exceptionally well.
  But the victory in Afghanistan is not complete. Just last month, we 
launched, with Pakistan, another military initiative to find additional 
Al Qaeda forces hiding out in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan and 
western Pakistan. Security in Afghanistan is largely absent outside of 
Kabul and traditional tribal leaders and warlords have real control 
over most of the country. Scheduled elections may need to be postponed 
because of the inability of the international community to register 
voters in the countryside due to lack of security. Opium production is 
reaching record new levels. Our job in Afghanistan is clearly not done.

  Our national security officials cannot focus on an infinite number of 
problems at once. There are only so many hours a day for the National 
Security Advisor, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense and other 
top officials to do their work. They can't focus on everything and must 
make choices. There can be no doubt that Iraq required an incredible 
amount of time and resources in order to succeed. What is the 
opportunity cost? I fear that part of the reason for the slow progress 
in Afghanistan is the result of diversion of resources and attention to 
the invasion and reconstruction of Iraq.
  The commitment of time, money and resources to Iraq has also impacted 
our homeland security. The war, occupation and reconstruction costs in 
Iraq are likely to exceed $250 billion. That is a huge expenditure. By 
focusing our scarce resources during an economic downturn on Iraq, much 
less has been available to fund our first responders and protect our 
country.
  A recent independent review of our homeland security efforts by the 
Century Foundation found major deficiencies. Their Homeland Security 
Report Card clearly indicates that a safer America will require 
significant improvements by the Department of Homeland Security. While 
there have been successes in passenger screening, the air marshall 
program and infrastructure analysis, this report highlights serious and 
disturbing shortcomings that leave Americans vulnerable. Protecting 
private planes, securing air cargo, providing funding for first 
responders, and better immigration oversight are critical to our 
security. It is disappointing to find that, according to the Century 
Foundation's report, in these areas we may be worse off than before 
September 11.
  Mr. Speaker, this Congress needs to stop focusing on rhetoric about 
Iraq and begin to focus on the facts. We need to spend less time trying 
to portray loyal Americans as soft on terrorism because they raise 
questions and want to debate the most effective ways to prevent 
terrorism and protect Americans. A full and healthy national debate, in 
Congress and around the country, will not weaken our resolve, it will 
strengthen us. Building a consensus policy to combat terrorism will 
allow us to move forward united. A consensus policy will reduce 
friction about dedication of resources and will allow us to sustain a 
consistent policy for the duration of our fight against terrorism. That 
is the debate we should have had. That is the debate our country needs 
to have.

                          ____________________