[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 25, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H144]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    CONGRATULATING THE IRAQI PEOPLE ON HOLDING ELECTIONS JANUARY 30

  (Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak 
about the upcoming Iraqi national elections on Saturday, January 30, 
and to congratulate the millions of brave Iraqi citizens who plan on 
voting in their first free election.
  After suffering for decades under Saddam Hussein's brutal regime, the 
Iraqi people finally have an opportunity to form a representative 
government that truly reflects the will of the Iraqi nation. Despite 
ongoing pockets of violence in a few Iraqi cities, it is clear that 
millions of Iraqis will finally be able to shape their own futures by 
expressing and exercising their right to vote.
  Mr. Speaker, this will truly be a national election that Iraq and the 
rest of the Middle East can and should be proud of. More than 14.3 
million Iraqi citizens have registered to vote. More than 190 political 
parties will be on the ballot, encompassing almost 19,000 Iraqi 
citizens standing for election. Finally and most importantly, nearly 80 
percent of Iraqis say that they will vote, even in the face of 
threatened violence from the terrorist insurgency.
  Mr. Speaker, these are fantastic statistics.

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