[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 8 (Tuesday, February 1, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H239-H240]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            IRAQI ELECTIONS

  (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, at a meeting of Republican Members of the 
House and Senate this weekend, our distinguished majority leader, who 
has just come into the Chamber, reminded us that 24 years ago, on the 
20th of January out here on the west front of the Capitol, Ronald 
Reagan said, ``No weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable 
as the will and moral courage of free men and women.''
  Mr. Speaker, we also this weekend witnessed the greatest example in 
recent times of that when we saw a people who, for a half a century 
have been living under repression, having no opportunity to express 
themselves, exercised that. The anecdotes are amazing. The story of the 
woman who literally gave birth at a voting station and then named her 
baby Democracy underscores the kind of success that we are seeing.
  It is very clear that self-determination, political pluralism about 
which the chaplain just spoke, and the rule of

[[Page H240]]

law are on the move. The Iraqi people are to be both congratulated and 
thanked: congratulated, of course, because they are going to be able to 
enjoy their success; thanks for the message they are sending throughout 
the entire world.

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