[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 67 (Thursday, May 13, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S5459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      MORE OUTRAGED BY THE OUTRAGE

  Mr. MILLER. Mr. President, here we go again, rushing to give aid and 
comfort to our enemies--pushing, pulling, shoving, and leaping over one 
another to assign blame and point the finger at ``America the 
terrible,'' lining up in long lines at the microphones to offer 
apologies to those poor, pitiful Iraqi prisoners.
  Of course, I do not condone all the things that went on in that 
prison, but I for one refuse to join in this national act of contrition 
over it. Those who are wringing their hands and shouting so loudly for 
heads to roll over this seem to have conveniently overlooked the fact 
that someone's head has rolled, that of another innocent American 
brutally murdered by terrorists.
  Why is it there is more indignation over a photo of a prisoner with 
underwear on his head than over the video of a young American with no 
head at all? Why is it some in this country still do not get it, that 
we are at war, a war against terrorists who are plotting to kill us 
every day, terrorists who will murder Americans at any time, anyplace, 
any chance they get.
  Yet here we are, America on its knees in front of our enemy, begging 
for their forgiveness over the mistreatment of prisoners, showing our 
enemy and the world once again how easily America can get sidetracked, 
how easily America can turn against itself.
  Yes, a handful of soldiers went too far with their interrogation. 
Clearly some of them were not properly trained to handle such duty, but 
the way to deal with this is with swift and sure punishment and 
immediate and better training.
  There also needs to be more careful screening of who it is we put in 
these kinds of sensitive situations--and no one wants to hear this, and 
I am reluctant to say it, but there should also be some serious 
questioning of having male and female soldiers serving side by side in 
these kinds of military missions. Instead, I worry that the HWA, the 
``hand wringers of America,'' will add to their membership and continue 
to bash our country ad nauseam and, in doing so, hand over more 
innocent Americans to the enemy on a silver platter.
  So I stand with Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma who stated that he is more 
outraged by the outrage than by the treatment of those prisoners. More 
outraged by the outrage, that is a good way of putting it. That is 
exactly how this Senator from Georgia feels.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.

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