[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 25, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S376]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOMINATION OF CONDOLEEZZA RICE

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, as most of today's program will be based 
on Condoleezza Rice and her appointment to be Secretary of State, I 
rise to make some comments to show my admiration for Ms. Rice and my 
support for her to serve in this task. I certainly cannot think of a 
better candidate. I rise to offer my strong support for Dr. Rice 
because I believe she not only brings a remarkable record of public 
service and academic credentials to this position, but also great 
experience and integrity in troubled times, times of war.
  I find it troublesome that we are here today, unfortunately, not so 
much to debate the qualifications of Dr. Rice, even though they are 
certainly impressive and she is equal to the task. Instead, to some 
extent we have chosen to return, at this time, to the honored position 
of trying to score political points by distorting the record of the 
President's decision to use force in Iraq. The ongoing operations in 
both Iraq and Afghanistan are critical components to the global war on 
terrorism, a war with the purpose of fundamentally changing the 
environment which has given rise to the power of the extremists in that 
part of the world. It remains an aggressive effort, not only to bring 
to justice the perpetrators of 9/11 but also the nations that aid and 
support them.
  There has been a great deal of discussion, of course, with Dr. Rice 
about the facts that brought us into Iraq. The fact is, at that time 
everyone involved--whether it was the United States, whether it was 
Britain, whether it was the CIA--had this view of what the world was 
and that is what it was based on. Some of those views turned out not to 
be correct, but at the time that was the information we had.
  So I certainly hope we can move forward here. I agree, everyone 
should have a right to say what they choose with regard to these 
nominations. On the other hand, they ought to be here for the purpose 
of examining those persons for that task, and not talking about the 
politics of all the surrounding issues.
  I also have to say I am not at all surprised that someone nominated 
to serving on the Cabinet would be supportive of the President. If you 
were President, would you appoint people who disagreed with you and 
would not be with you, who would not support your positions? Of course 
not. So that is where we are.
  At any rate, I support the decision to use force, supporting the 
action in Iraq today. We have to finish our work there. I think we are 
offering freedom and hope to the people of these poor and oppressed 
countries. The best way is to neutralize the effect of fanatical Islam. 
We continue to make progress with other nations, and that is great.
  Dr. Rice has performed admirably in her role as National Security 
Adviser and will continue to serve the country well as Secretary of 
State. I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this nomination 
today and move it on down the line.

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