[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 62 (Thursday, May 6, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H2709-H2710]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                CONDEMNING TREATMENT OF IRAQI DETAINEES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, it is with a mix of anger, sadness, and 
frustration that I rise in support of the resolution that the House 
passed earlier today.
  Our words can do little to mitigate the damage that has been 
inflicted upon our Nation, our Armed Forces, and our hopes for better 
relations with the Islamic world.
  Nevertheless, we must offer these words to the Iraqi victims and to 
the world. All of us have seen the photographs of smiling American 
military personnel mocking hooded, naked Iraqi prisoners. These images 
of those degraded are vile. The smiles of those who would degrade are 
grotesque.
  The soldiers in the photos must not become the face of the American-
lead occupation in Iraq or of the American GI.
  Sixty years ago at the end of World War II, the American soldier was 
seen as a smiling supplier of chocolate bars. Our men and women in 
uniform must not become known around the world for degrading and 
humiliating unarmed, naked detainees.

                              {time}  1630

  I am deeply proud of our military. The vast majority of our men and 
women in uniform serve with bravery, compassion and honor. Sadly, the 
barbaric conduct at the Abu Ghraib prison reflects upon all our troops 
and it is up to all of us, the Congress, the executive branch, the 
justice system and the military itself to address this blight upon our 
record. I am glad that several of our senior commanders in Iraq have 
publicly apologized to the Iraqi people. I also believe that it was 
important for President Bush to express his personal regret to the 
Iraqi people and his commitment to a full investigation as he did 
during two interviews with Arabic language television yesterday.
  I have been to Iraq and met with our young men and women who are 
serving there. The most disturbing aspect of this reprehensible conduct 
at the prison is that it undermines and endangers the lives of American 
soldiers who are diligently working every day in the most difficult 
conditions. All of the countless acts of good will performed by our 
soldiers, the rebuilding of hospitals, the opening of schools, the 
reuniting of families, the building of civic institutions and the 
foundation of representative government, all of these are undercut by 
these acts.
  Our campaign against terror has also been weakened. The war on terror 
and the war in Iraq are ultimately wars of ideas. The idea of a civil 
society under the rule of law, respective of human rights and 
individual liberties is at war with the idea of a closed society devoid 
of the right to speak as one chooses, without the free exercise of 
religion and propagated by indiscriminate and murderous violence 
against innocent men, women and children. The recent events at Abu 
Ghraib prison, a place identified with the barbarity of the Saddam 
Hussein regime, are a major setback in the war of ideas. A key element 
of this war has been our attempt to convince the Islamic world that 
America and the West are not out to humiliate and destroy Muslims. The 
damage to that effort is incalculable and the soldiers who committed 
these acts have betrayed the bravery, dignity and the sacrifice of 
their fellow troops.
  This resolution is our statement to the world and particularly to 
Iraq and the Islamic world that the people of the United States are 
united in their condemnation of the stomach-turning acts of abuse that 
were perpetrated in our name. But this is only the beginning. We need a 
thorough investigation to find out both where the breakdown in the 
chain of command occurred and why Congress was left out of the loop, 
even though the military has been investigating these incidents for 
months and the investigation by Major General Antonio Taguba was 
completed in late February, 2\1/2\ months ago. We also need to 
determine whether the conduct at Abu Ghraib was an isolated set of 
incidents or whether, as some have suggested, similar acts were 
committed at other detention facilities in Iraq.
  Nearly two centuries ago, Alexis de Toqueville is reputed to have 
said, ``America is great because America is good; if America ceases to 
be good, she will cease to be great.'' That was true then. It is still 
true today. Our greatness has been built upon countless acts of 
goodness and not even an episode like this can undo that proud history, 
but it should serve as a reminder that our Nation has succeeded because 
Americans are strivers. We are always looking to better ourselves, our 
communities, our country and the community of nations. We now face a 
great challenge to that perception of goodness and we must all rise to 
meet that challenge.

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