[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 114 (Tuesday, September 21, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9404-S9406]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    PRESIDENT BUSH'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I request 14 minutes and I ask the Chair 
to notify me when I have reached the 12-minute mark.
  Lately, we have heard a lot of politically motivated doom-and-gloom 
speeches, and we have heard a number of them this morning. I want to 
talk about a couple of issues discussed on the floor. I want to comment 
on our economy and I want to comment about our foreign policy.

[[Page S9405]]

  I think the economy is doing well. We would like to see it do better 
in some cases, but I think it is very positive news and we should not 
forget about that. The economy, at the first part of this month, posted 
job gains for each of the last 12 months, creating nearly 1.7 million 
jobs since August of 2003. These are the facts. The national 
unemployment rate fell to 5.4 percent in August, down .9 percentage 
from a peak of 6.3 point in June of 2003, and its lowest rate since 
October 2001. At 5.4 percent, the unemployment rate is below the 
average of the 1970s, 1980s, and the 1990s. In August, 144,000 new jobs 
were added. Nearly 1.7 million new jobs were added since August 2003. 
The unemployment rate over the last year was down in all regions and in 
49 of the 50 States. The manufacturing sector, which was the hardest 
hit by the economic downturn, has added 107,000 jobs since January.
  View that in the perspective of what we were facing when this 
President was first elected to office. We have turned this economy 
around. This President has taken strong action that made a difference 
in moving our economy forward. Now is not the time to turn back. The 
labor market has improved considerably since shortly after the 
President's jobs and growth bill took effect last May. America's 
standard of living is on the rise. Real aftertax incomes are up by 
nearly 10 percent since December of 2000. Consumer confidence continues 
to be substantially higher than last year.
  In the second quarter of 2004, the national home ownership rate was 
at an all-time high of 69.2 percent. Minority home ownership set a new 
record of 51 percent in the second quarter and is up 2.1 percentage 
points from a year ago. I am proud to say that I was a Senator who 
sponsored that legislation to encourage home ownership among 
minorities. Core inflation remains low, and mortgage rates remain near 
historic lows, making home buying easier and more affordable.
  We still have a challenge ahead of us and this President is not 
backing away from it. I don't think we Republicans in the Senate are 
backing away. We continue to push to make tax relief permanent. The 
temporary tax relief contributed to the figures I just read off. We 
need to do more. I think one of the most important things we can do to 
continue to see the economy grow is to make tax relief permanent. We 
obviously need to provide training for worker skills and control health 
costs, and we need to reduce regulations. We have not talked enough 
about the burden of Government and the downward pressure it has on the 
economy. We need to reduce regulations. As a small businessman I had to 
live with regulations. I understand how high taxes and a high rate of 
regulation can impact your ability to do business and create new jobs. 
Frivolous lawsuits are a problem and this Congress needs to address it. 
We need to adopt a national energy policy and open more jobs overseas.
  The President has acted decisively to bring us back from recession to 
recovery. I don't think I need to go over those issues. The basic part 
of it was that he has cut taxes. By cutting taxes, he stimulated the 
economy, which increased revenue to Colorado, and we are going to have 
increased revenue to the Federal Government.
  Let me talk a little bit about foreign policy. A year ago last 
February, President Bush made the courageous decision to overthrow 
Saddam Hussein's brutal dictatorship and bring democracy to Iraq. He 
did so because Saddam Hussein had refused, over the last 12 years, to 
fully cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors. He did so because Saddam 
Hussein had brutalized his people for over 25 years. He did so because 
it was the right thing to do and because it had to be done.

  Some of our friends in the United Nations did not approve of his 
decision. They thought he should have waited; that perhaps Saddam would 
give in and eventually cooperate, despite his long history of lies and 
deception.
  A few friends, such as U.S. Secretary General Kofi Annan, believed 
the United States should have sought another Security Council 
resolution. It appears Mr. Annan continues to believe this, given his 
remarks last week in which he described the liberation of Iraq as 
``illegal'' and that violated the charter of the United Nations.
  Even with the benefit of hindsight, it does not make any more sense 
now than it did then for the United States to have sought a second 
resolution. Resolution 1441 was the 17th--17th--Security Council 
resolution demanding that Saddam Hussein verifiably disarm, respect his 
neighbors, and otherwise comply with the cease-fire from the first Gulf 
War. It was clear that he violated Resolution 1441 and that he 
continued to try to shoot down U.S. warplanes in the United Nations-
sanctioned northern fly zone and that he was making little or no effort 
to comply with the terms of the 1991 cease-fire. How many more security 
resolutions do we need before it becomes legal?
  As the Wall Street Journal has eloquently pointed out, if liberating 
Iraq was wrong, then Mr. Annan must also believe a number of other 
operations are illegal. Does the Secretary believe NATO's intervention 
in Kosovo, where hundreds of thousands of Yugoslavian Albanians were 
saved from the genocidal attacks of Milosevic's cronies, was illegal? 
Does he believe France's recent intervention in the Ivory Coast was 
illegal?
  It is my hope that when the President speaks today to the United 
Nations, he reminds the United Nations that the United States has the 
inherent right of self-defense guaranteed by that body's own charter. 
It is my hope that with unequivocal certainty, the President reminds 
the United Nations that his first obligation as President of the United 
States under our Constitution is to protect our Nation from all 
threats, foreign and domestic.
  It is my hope that the President reminds the world's greatest 
debating body that if the United States had not acted, Saddam Hussein 
would still be defying the United Nations, would still be seeking to 
develop weapons of mass destruction, and would still be brutally 
murdering and torturing his own people.
  From my perspective, the United Nations should be grateful for the 
decisive leadership and courage President Bush demonstrated by 
liberating Iraq. It seems to me that the United Nations should be 
grateful that it now has a real opportunity to help bring democracy and 
freedom to 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  I believe the President made the right decision. He took a stand and 
did not back down. He held up the value of the Security Council 
resolutions at a time when most were content to see these resolutions 
ignored.
  The President emphasized the value of the lives of the innocent 
Iraqis who were repeatedly tortured and routinely murdered when most 
chose to look the other way. He sought to protect our country and 
safeguard international peace when most refused to act.
  The President today will ask our friends in the United Nations to 
help us in Iraq. That body has a unique opportunity to do something 
extraordinary. They have a limited opportunity to help a nation that 
has experienced nothing but dictatorship and brutality transition to a 
freedom-inspired country centered on the rule of law and the democratic 
process.

  This coming January, Iraq will hold its first ever national 
elections. I recognize the practical difficulties of such an effort. We 
are constantly reminded by the media that Iraqi insurgents continue to 
launch suicide attacks and kill innocent hostages in new and grotesque 
ways.
  It is certainly possible that things will get worse in Iraq before 
they get better. That does not mean we give up. It does not mean that 
the majority of Iraqis do not desire freedom.
  This Thursday, the Iraqi Prime Minister will address a joint meeting 
of Congress. This speech is more than a reminder that Iraq has a 
functioning government. It is a statement to Iraqi insurgents that the 
business of promoting freedom will go on. It is a statement to the 
world that the Iraqi Government is the representative of the Iraqi 
people.
  I look forward to Prime Minister Allawi's speech. I believe he will 
bring us new insight into the problems facing Iraq and encourage the 
American people in the ongoing struggle.
  The United States is making a difference. Iraq is rebuilding. 
Insurgents are being fought with steadfastness and courage. And Iraq 
remains on the path toward freedom. We ask for nothing more.

[[Page S9406]]

  I thank the Chair. Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Minnesota.

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