[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 7 (Monday, January 31, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S619-S621]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            ELECTION IN IRAQ

  Mr. JOHNSON. Another issue about which I will share some thoughts 
with my colleagues today is my hope--and I think it is shared by our 
entire Nation--that this election in Iraq is the beginning of a new 
era, beginning of a greater era of stability and opportunity for the 
United States to diminish its presence in that very troubled place.
  My own oldest son served in combat in Iraq, and I appreciate 
profoundly the sacrifices and the risks and the courage of so many who 
have served our Nation there and in other dangerous places around the 
world.
  We have this hope while at the same time recognizing that one 
election does not a democracy make; that the potential for ongoing 
violence, for chaos in many parts of that difficult country remain, and 
the election will be viewed more credibly by some than by others. I am 
pleased the turnout seems to be significant, seems to be supportive, 
certainly, in the Kurdish and Shiite regions; less so in the Sunni 
areas where most of the violence has centered. Nonetheless, it is our 
hope this is a beginning, a start, at least, to the point where we can 
begin to take troops at some near rather than later time back home to 
the United States.
  We have paid a dear price. We are expending in the range of $2 
billion per week in Iraq, in a country that was a regional threat, was 
not involved in international terror, but which was a regional threat 
to its neighbors at one time. It certainly is our hope the efforts that 
are ongoing there will lead to the ``Iraqification,'' if you will, of 
that country and the development of some self-governance in Iraq. The 
expenditure has been immense. We have not seen President Bush's budget 
for the next fiscal year yet. I am told to anticipate we will be 
spending $1 billion per minute on defense. This is a remarkable 
undertaking, an obligation that we are going to have to deal with. It 
is my hope we will in the future approach these conflicts with a 
greater

[[Page S620]]

eye toward multilateralism, toward cooperation with our allies--whether 
it be NATO, the U.N. or other regional security groups--and that we 
understand the reality that it is much easier to win wars than it is to 
win peace. It is certainly our hope that perhaps today marks some 
beginning in the progress toward if not peace, at least greater peace 
and greater stability than currently exists in that nation.
  I commend the troops who have served with such courage and such 
distinction, their families. I have contacted two South Dakota parents 
just today about the loss of their sons' lives. It is something that 
strikes home to me in a very profound way because of the experience of 
my own son. These families will never be the same. These losses are 
devastating. We sometimes see the numbers in the newspapers and treat 
it as though it were just another daily event, but each and every day 
these losses constitute a life-shattering experience for so many 
parents, so many families, so many spouses, so many children. We should 
never look lightly on the contributions, the courage, the distinction, 
the professionalism exhibited by these troops, and let us, as a Senate, 
do still more to see to it that to the degree we put these young men 
and women in harm's way we do so selectively where no other recourse is 
realistic and that when they are in harm's way they have the equipment, 
the ammunition, the body armor, the other resources they need to 
minimize what is already an enormous risk to each and every one of them 
each day they serve in that country.
  I express gratitude to our troops, their families, and caution that 
we still have a long way to go. The administration has indicated we may 
have troops in Iraq for another 5 years. I hope it is not that long. I 
hope we can see progress that will allow us to get every single one of 
our troops home sooner rather than later; that we can get this massive 
expenditure off the shoulders of America's taxpayers and be able to 
devote more of those dollars to the domestic needs we have in the 
United States, but at the same time recognizing yesterday was a day of 
some hope and expectation that perhaps better times will come in Iraq.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Allard). The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, first I ask unanimous consent to speak as 
in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate is in morning business.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, let me acknowledge my colleague from the 
State of South Dakota, who is unique in this Chamber. Those who voted 
on the question of whether America should go to war in Iraq were 
certainly representing our constituents in thinking of the American 
people in that historic and tremendous decision. My colleague from 
South Dakota, Tim Johnson, was the only Member of the Senate who 
understood that decision would affect his family directly. I am glad 
your son is home safely. I am glad he is now living in Illinois. I hope 
he is still enjoying that experience and happy about his recent 
marriage to a Lithuanian-American woman, and I wish them the very best.
  For those who ask the question, and it has been asked by some, How 
can Members of Congress appreciate what a war means if none of their 
children are serving, my colleague, Tim Johnson from South Dakota 
certainly understood that personally as others have in the past.
  What a great triumph yesterday. There was a possibility that all the 
violence in Iraq would discourage people from voting. One can 
understand that when they are lobbing mortar shells in the green zone, 
the protected zone in Baghdad where American soldiers a couple weeks 
ago were eating a meal. One can understand the vulnerability of life in 
Iraq.
  Each citizen had to make a decision yesterday in Iraq, whether to 
risk their life to vote. It appears millions were prepared to do so. As 
Senator Lott of Mississippi said earlier, after they voted, they dipped 
their finger into this indelible ink, an indication they had already 
voted so there was no duplication voting, and that ink was on their 
hands today, testimony, as well, for the insurgents that these Iraqis 
had defied the insurgency to cast a vote for their future.
  It was a great triumph, a triumph of human spirit, and a triumph for 
the Iraqi people, all that they have been through, to finally have this 
moment to have an election. A great deal has to be said for the men and 
women of our American military who made it possible. They risked their 
lives again yesterday, as they do every day in Iraq, to try to bring 
this to a peaceful end. They were successful yesterday in creating the 
zone of safety so that the Iraqi people could be part of this 
triumphant moment in their history.
  I thought about that triumphant moment as I reflected on information 
I received over the weekend about two Marine Corps corporals from 
Illinois who died on January 26 of last week in the deadliest day of 
the war for the United States. That was the day when the Marine Corps 
helicopter crashed and 31 Marines lost their lives. Among those 31 
Marines were Hector Ramos of Aurora and Nathaniel Moore of Champaign, 
young men in their twenties who volunteered to serve this country, who 
with great pride joined the Marine Corps, went through the rigorous 
training, and went off to risk their lives for America. That story has 
been told and retold thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of 
thousands of times, but we do not appreciate how important that 
decision is by each of the men and women in the military until a 
tragedy occurs, as it did with the crash of this helicopter a few days 
ago.

  I read the stories in the paper about the two young men. They were 
excellent people. I am sorry I did not get to know them. I dropped 
notes to their families expressing my sorrow about their loss, and I am 
sure everyone in America will join in expressing sorrow for the loss of 
some 1,400 now, American soldiers, who have made the supreme sacrifice 
in this war in Iraq.
  What it leads to is this: If yesterday was a turning point in Iraq 
for their self-governance, the question I am prepared to ask is, Was 
yesterday a turning point in terms of Iraq's security in its future? We 
have been trying for almost 2 years to train Iraqis to take 
responsibility for guarding their own country, and we have had a 
terrible time of it. The administration gives us inflated numbers, 
120,000 Iraqis in their army and security force, and yet other military 
experts say no, only 4,000 will be willing to stand and fight. Many 
more have gone through the training, but they are not willing to defend 
their country.
  So what happens? One-hundred fifty thousand Americans risk their 
lives just like the marines who went down in that helicopter last week 
and the others who have died since.
  My question to this administration in the White House here, as well 
as the new government in Baghdad, is this: Now that you have reached 
this new point in your history of self-governance, of the 
responsibility of controlling your own future and your own fate, will 
you now step up and meet with our President and our leaders and discuss 
the day and how soon it will come when Iraq can defend itself? How soon 
can we expect Iraqis, trained, well-equipped, to stand in and take the 
place of American soldiers to come home?
  Illinois is not unlike a lot of other States. Seventy percent of our 
National Guard have been activated or have already served in Iraq. I 
have attended sendoffs and the welcome-homes. They are emotional times. 
I went a few weeks ago to Litchfield, IL, and saw 80 of our National 
Guardsmen who were activated in an infantry unit off for 5 months 
training in Ft. Stewart, GA, and for a 12-month deployment in Iraq. 
Emotions ran high in the Litchfield High School gymnasium that Saturday 
afternoon as the troops stood at attention and the families faced them 
and we all wished them the very best and told them they would be in our 
prayers, as they should be.
  I would like to be able to say to the families who are waiting 
anxiously back in the United States that the election yesterday meant 
something. It meant that we have reached a turning point. It meant that 
Iraq is now going to take responsibility for its own future. We have 
been talking about it for a long time, for over a year and a half, and 
have little to show for it. Now is the time for concrete results, for 
this administration to meet with the new Government of Iraq and to 
start moving in a specific pattern, in a definable

[[Page S621]]

schedule, toward a real goal of starting to bring American troops home.
  When I hear that, then I will be ready to stand up and applaud what 
happened yesterday; not just for the courage of the voters but the 
courage and leadership of the new Government in Iraq, that they will 
stand up for their people so that our soldiers can come home safely, 
which is what we all pray for.
  That is what I took from yesterday's election, a great triumph for 
the Iraqi people. Tragedies that we have seen involving Americans, I 
hope, will diminish now. This administration has to move us beyond the 
promise to the reality of the Iraqis defending themselves.

                          ____________________