Congressional Record, Volume 151 Issue 8 (Tuesday, February 1, 2005)

[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 8 (Tuesday, February 1, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H270-H276]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

IRAQI ELECTIONS

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fortenberry). Under the Speaker's
announced policy of January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr.
Gingrey) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority
leader.
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, as I was waiting for our time to arrive
this evening listening to this previous hour, my colleagues on the
Democratic side of the aisle started out by telling us what the
President might say tomorrow night about Social Security for the 21st
century. Then for 60 minutes the Democrats proceeded to use their
typical scare tactics to frighten seniors just as they did last year
with the issue of the prescription drug benefit for our neediest
Medicare beneficiaries.
They have the prerogative to talk about anything they want to during
this Democratic leadership hour, and they make a decision or their
leaders decide whatever the theme du jour is going to be. After all, my
colleagues, remember, our 2006 congressional elections are just around
the corner. We have only got 639 days left. So let us be just as
partisan and negative as we can possibly be toward President Bush and
his Republican majority. That is their theme du jour. As I say, my
colleagues on the other side, the Democrats and their leaders, they had
a choice of topics tonight. They could have talked about anything they
wanted to on this eve of what will be one of the most historic State of
the Union addresses in the history of our country.
My fellow Members, for almost 2 years now, we have been in a shooting
war, fighting to rid the world of terrorism, and to bring liberty and
freedom to the long-suffering Iraqi people. These brave souls had an
opportunity this past Sunday, just 3 days ago, January 30, to vote for
the first time in their lives, indeed a vindication, a renewal of
spirit, a new beginning for a great and proud people of the Middle
East. I fully expect the President, and my colleagues were predicting
what he might say tomorrow night, I fully expect the President to talk
about this great, historic occasion.
And that, my colleagues, is what we the Republicans and our
leadership have decided to talk about tonight to the American people on
the eve of the State of the Union address, to talk about the historic
election that occurred in Iraq just 3 days ago. I think that is what is
important to the American people. It is important to the Iraqi people.
It is important to the world. And to delve down into pure, raw partisan
politics at a time like this again, as I say, my colleagues on the
other side of the aisle can do what they want to, but I think they
missed a golden opportunity to hear some joy and good news and
vindication, yes, of our efforts and the efforts of the Iraqi people
over the last couple of years.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw the Members' attention to a couple
of charts that we have here tonight. The first one, from the Los
Angeles Times, Monday morning, January 31, look at it: ``Iraqi Turnout
Trumps Violence.'' Yes, there were some people killed, I think some 44.
At least half of them were Iraqi security people who were trying to
secure the polls and making sure the good men and women, some of them
disabled, struggling to get to the polling place in Iraq, could vote
and not be harmed. Look at that headline from the Los Angeles Times.
Here is another, The Washington Post, Monday, January 31: ``Iraqis
Defy Threats As Millions Vote.'' How many million? Eight million, 60
percent of the registered votes. In fact, that percentage is just as
high as we had in our recent Presidential elections in many parts of
this country, where we do not have to worry about getting to the
polling place. We have to worry about maybe missing a son or a
daughter's soccer match or being late for work, which of course we are
permitted to do that on Election Day; but we certainly do not have to
worry about the threat of violence or indeed losing our lives and here,
60 percent, millions, vote, 8 million people in Iraq. And expatriate
Iraqis around this world in 14 different countries had an opportunity
to vote on this historic occasion and in many places here in the United
States as well.
So this is what we want to talk about. This is what the Republican
leadership, this is what the rank-and-file Members want to talk about
tonight as we celebrate and we look forward and we are so happy and
grateful for the sacrifices that the Iraqi people have made for
themselves and that we have made on behalf of them, and we want to
commend this President for having the courage to stand strong in the
face of unyielding, terrible criticism of his efforts.

{time} 2115

So tonight it gives me a lot of pleasure to manage this time on
behalf of the majority to talk about something that is really good and
positive for this great country and for our world, certainly for the
Middle East. I am so pleased that many of my colleagues on my side of
the aisle have joined me in this hour, and we will be hearing from a
number of them.
I want to start out by yielding to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr.
Kline), who serves with me on the House Committee on Armed Services, a
great Member of this body who just got back from Iraq, led a small
congressional delegation of members of the House Committee on Armed
Services to be over there to see, to understand what the people were
going through in the lead-up to these elections. At this point, I would
like to let him share with us exactly what he saw on the ground in Iraq
in the lead-up to these historic elections.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Minnesota, and I thank him
for being with us tonight.
Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me and
for his leadership on this and so many other issues. It has been a
great pleasure to serve with the gentleman from Georgia, and I do have
comments about what is truly a world historic event.
It was so exciting on Saturday and Sunday in the United States as we
watched the results of the Iraqi elections to see the millions of
Iraqis overcoming horrific intimidation to get to the polls and vote. I
want to talk about some of that.
In the weeks and months leading up to the January 30 elections in
Iraq, we were warned of plans for violent attacks, mass chaos
surrounding polling places, and the improbability of any positive
outcome. We heard it on the news. We heard it in briefings. And,
indeed, we did see the loss of life of Iraqi citizens and members of
the international alliance providing support, and we were pained. The
reality was grim, but it served to underscore just how important it was
to proceed with the January 30 date for legitimate elections in Iraq
and the promise, the long-last promise of true freedom for the Iraqi
people.
In that recent trip which the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey)
was discussing, I did have the opportunity and indeed the great
pleasure and honor to lead a delegation. Four of my colleagues went
with me to visit Afghanistan and Iraq, and it provided us with a better
understanding of just how very important, in fact, critical, it was to
hold fast to the January 30 date for Iraqi elections. The soldiers that
we talked to, the Marines that we talked to, officer and enlisted,
Iraqi leadership, the ambassador and his staff all insisted that the
elections must go forward on January 30; and the reality of Sunday's
success reflects just how true their calls were and how important that
lesson was.
Prior to the election, there was a brutal, a brutal campaign of fear
and intimidation waged by those who feared a strong and democratic
Iraq. After decades of tyranny, a transition to democracy presented a
challenge to the predatory environment in which these individuals
thrived under Saddam Hussein. These anti-Iraqi forces, the AIF, sought
to thwart democracy

[[Page H271]]

in the only way they could, through violence, and this is violence
almost unimaginable to us here in the United States, violence and
intimidation on a scale which is beyond really our ability to conceive
it. These thugs, these insurgents were taking Iraqis and pulling them
out of their cars and going to their homes and killing them and killing
their families. Absolutely unbelievable.
The amazing thing is, the miraculous thing is, they did not succeed.
For the vast majority of Iraqi men and women and the democratic
coalition of nations that provided support, of which we are a very
proud member, knew the temporary violence that they endured would pale
in comparison to the freedom in which these elections offered.
We were in Afghanistan before we were in Iraq, and Afghanistan is an
encouraging model despite poor conditions, and Afghanistan is one of
the poorest nations on earth. My notes say that they have an ailing
infrastructure. That is kind. They have no infrastructure. The success
of their democratic elections last fall has generated within the Afghan
people a national confidence and the desire to rebuild their nation.
Under the secure protection of a unified and growingly capable
national army, Afghan national army, commerce is growing. We were
pleased as to see, as we drove through the streets of Kabal, that
vendors were lining the streets with their shops and goods were
available for sale. It is not like going to a mall, and we are the
proud home of the Mall of America in Minnesota, and I guarantee my
colleagues that it is nothing like that. These are little ramshackle
shacks. But the Iraqis are out there. They are selling goods. Commerce
is starting to open up. And that is a wonderful sign of a stable
society that is on the rise.

During our discussions, President Karzai, who was very kind to give
us of his time on a Friday, a holy day for the Muslims, and he came in
on a Friday to meet with us and talk to us about his vision and his
dreams and his hopes for his people and his confidence that his country
was on the move towards more freedom and prosperity. And I want to say
to my colleagues here how grateful that President Karzai was to the
American people. He made a point of looking me in the eye and my
colleagues and saying, ``I do not think you understand that the
American people know how grateful we are in Afghanistan. We know that
we would not be a free country on the move to greater democracy without
your help.''
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, so the congressman
actually had the opportunity with that delegation to visit not only
Iraq but also Afghanistan and to sort of compare what it looks like a
year later after free elections were held and what hopefully the Iraqi
people can anticipate for themselves. He might want to elaborate on
that for the Members.
Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would continue to yield, I
think that is exactly the point, that in Afghanistan, despite the
abject poverty, the lack of infrastructure, the brutality that they
lived under for decades, and we forget how brutal the Taliban regime
really was and how oppressive, despite those things and despite 7 years
of drought, which would be crippling anywhere, we know the pain that we
feel in our country when we have years of drought, the country of
Afghanistan is just devastated. Even with that, the tribal warlords are
coming on board with the new national government. They are turning in
their arms, and we saw tanks and armored personnel carriers and missile
launchers and weapons of all types that were left over from their
conflict with the former Soviet Union being turned in. So if we compare
it with Iraq, which is comparatively modern in its infrastructure, it
is not what we would accept, but compared to Afghanistan it is
striking.
We were flying around in Iraq. We would fly over big power lines, the
same kinds that we have here. They just do not exist in Afghanistan. So
Iraq with its mighty rivers, the Tigress and the Euphrates, with its
extensive oil resources, with an infrastructure which is at least a
start, it is in a much better position, going in position, than is in
Afghanistan. So all those features and the proximity to a contemporary
organized culture has really inspired the Iraqi people to step up and
realize their freedom.
As the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) knows, these men and
women are more than aware of the dangers that are surrounding their
democratic efforts, but they believe that the promise of liberty is a
worthy goal. There is a wonderful picture in the newspaper, and I saw
it on television, of an Iraqi woman who is looking in the camera and
raising her hand in the sign of victory with the ink, the indelible
ink, on her finger that shows that she voted. We need to remember that
that does not wash off. That is the purpose of the ink. And the ink on
her finger identifies her as someone who defied the intimidation and
went to the polls.
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I would like to share
with our colleagues on both sides of the aisle the poster, exactly what
he was just depicting, and I think maybe we can get that up here
because this is poignant. This is something that we absolutely need to
make sure that each one of us focus in on. I am so glad that the
gentleman from Minnesota brought that up, and I think this is the
picture to which he is referring.
Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would continue to yield,
that is it exactly, and is that not a beautiful sight? Just her bravery
and her determination and that of millions of Iraqis who went to the
polls in the face of an unimaginably brutal campaign of intimidation to
cast their votes and take this important step towards democracy and
taking control of their own destiny.
And part of that taking control of destiny, a subject much discussed
of late, is what the Iraqis are doing in taking charge of their own
security. We had, as part of our visit to Iraq, the opportunity to
visit with General Casey, the American commander there, and with
Lieutenant General Petraeus, who is the American general who was the
commanding general of the 101st Airborne in the first operation in Iraq
and now is the man in charge of training the Iraqi security forces. It
is very clear that he understands that they have a big job, but they
are making progress, not only based on his accounts but in our
discussions with American Marines and soldiers and American commanders,
and their growing confidence in the ability of the Iraqi battalions and
the Iraqi police who are now being well-trained and well-equipped to
step up and start taking responsibility for their security.
We saw it on Election Day, did we not? The Iraqi security forces were
at the polling places, and with the help of the American forces and
other coalition partners who did some terrific planning going into this
election, the elections were held with, yes, some brutal attacks but
with an amazingly high degree of security that allowed those millions
of Iraqis to go down and vote.
It is fair to say that really strict security measures were imposed
for that election day. Traffic was stopped. And that led to some even
more amazing stories of some Iraqis walking up to eight miles, eight
miles, to vote. And, sadly, most of us are not willing to walk half a
mile to vote. We want to get in the car and when we get there, if there
is a line, we grumble about it. In fact, I have to admit that on our
own Election Day, Vicky and I arrived at the polling place and there
was a long line of people and we said, Oh, my gosh, we are going to
have to wait a half hour to vote.
Mr. GINGREY. Let us come back.
Mr. KLINE. Mr. Speaker, I did have the opportunity to vote for
myself, so that is encouraging to make one stay in the line. But think
about what these Iraqis did, how long they waited and how far they
walked and what incredible pressure they were under not to vote, and
yet they did. And those some 125,000 trained and equipped Iraqi forces
stepped up. They voted themselves, in some very heartwarming stories,
voted and then went out and took up their positions to provide
security. It really is a wonderful story of a march to freedom.
I think that if I can go back and look at a quote from President
Ronald Reagan, who, as my colleague knows, I had the great honor of
serving in his first administration, in thinking and talking about a
kind of an obstacle to freedom, the Berlin Wall, President Reagan said,
``Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient

[[Page H272]]

hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the
victor.'' And I think that that is what we saw in Iraq on Sunday.
Freedom was the victor.
The intimidation, the resistance, was not a barrier, it was an
obstacle. And it was a tough obstacle, and the Iraqis stepped up to
remove that obstacle and go in incredible numbers against incredible
odds and start to take charge of their own destiny. As interim Prime
Minister Allawi said, their job now is to rebuild their nation and the
world is watching. And we are watching, and, frankly, Mr. Speaker, I am
proud of what we are watching.

{time} 2130

I am proud of what we, the American forces, and our coalition
partners and allies have been able to do in working with the Iraqis;
and I am just brimming over with pride and with enthusiasm and with
optimism and hope for the Iraqi people; and that picture by the
gentleman's side I think epitomizes that. I wish that we would not have
any partisan rancor that is associated with this. We and free nations
around the world ought to be dancing in the streets with joy and moving
forward to do what we can to help those people take charge of their own
destiny and their own freedom. I have a great deal of optimism.
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that I share the joy of
the gentleman from Minnesota; and I commend him, and I thank him for
being with us tonight, and I commend him for his service on the
Committee on Armed Services and for his service to our country. He is a
veteran, one of the 5 percent of the 435 Members of the Congress who
served our country in the military. People serve in other ways, but I
have a special place in my heart for people like the gentleman from
Minnesota.
For him to come tonight and talk about what he saw in Afghanistan a
year after elections, 30 percent of the voting in Afghanistan was by
women, and talk about that lack of infrastructure, and then to go on to
Iraq in the days leading up to the election itself and to see those
Iraqi security forces working hard to try to secure, to protect these
people who were having the first opportunity in their lives to vote.
Yes, there were terrorist attacks, as the gentleman points out. I
think there were some 68 or 69 attacks. But do my colleagues know what?
Forty-four people lost their lives and over half of them were the Iraqi
security forces themselves, the police, not the people standing in line
to vote.
I have been to Iraq, like the gentleman from Minnesota has, I am sure
on more than one occasion. He knows that these improvised explosive
devices and rocket-propelled grenades and these shoulder-mounted
missiles, when these terrorists strike, they do not intend to kill less
than one person per attack, and that is what happened on election day
in Iraq this last Sunday.
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that I have a couple of Members on our
side of the aisle, a couple of additional Members who have joined me
and will be talking about this historic occasion as we look forward to
the President's address tomorrow night. One of my colleagues I would
like to yield time to now is a dear friend and a fellow colleague on
the House Committee on Armed Services, and that is the gentleman from
Utah (Mr. Bishop).
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia
for giving me this opportunity of taking a few moments here with my
colleagues. I hope you will apologize as we talk about this historic
event; I am still an old history teacher at heart, and sometimes I talk
too much about it, but I see historical precedence that we sometimes
forget all about.
In the late 18th century, the revolution took place in France, which
ended with the overthrow of the monarchy, the beheading of the king.
The Jacobins established the republic, with three goals in mind:
liberty, equality, and fraternity. While this was happening, across the
English Channel, in the British Parliament, Burke was watching it all
unfold, and he made the statement that now the French are free to do as
they please. We ought to see what it pleases them to do before we risk
congratulation. As my colleagues know, before the century was done, the
French Revolution had degenerated under Robespierre into the Reign of
Terror, as we call it now, into which all of those noble concepts were
lost in the blood of the beheadings that took place.
We sometimes do things here on the floor in which small minorities
take upon themselves their rights and prerogatives which extend our
debate, totally free to do as they please, but I am not so sure if the
American public will always congratulate those types of occasions.
I do want, with some credit going to J. D. Crouch, from whom I have
read an article, to talk about an election that I do think risks
congratulations; it rises to that particular level now. I am talking
obviously about a country that is far away from here, that has a
culture and a language so vastly different from ours, that was lead by
a brutal dictatorship, a corrupt family, one man whose brutality in
murdering his rivals, even relatives, is almost unparalleled; a one-
party domination whose control squandered their resources and wealth,
destroyed the economy; a secret police that invaded everyone's rights
and terrorized people and led to ethnic violence. Of course I am
talking about the country of Romania, pre-1989.
Because what we did not realize is that last year, there was an
election in Romania, where the Prime Minister, Adrian Nastase, lost the
election and peacefully transferred power to the opposition leader,
Traian Basescu. I apologize for not knowing how to pronounce that name
because, quite frankly, it was not in the news. I do not have any news
reports of people trying to properly pronounce his name, because this
election in Romania was so blase, we did not even cover it; we did not
even talk about it. It just simply seemed to happen.
We can make some vast parallels between Romania pre-1989 and Iraq in
2003. Romania had the Communist Party, whereas Iraq was dominated by
the Ba'athist Party, a brutal dictator in Hussein versus a brutal
dictator in Ceausescu. The Fedayeen Saddam of the secret police was
similar to Romania's Securitate. The Kurds and the Sunnis, who were
ethnically abused similar to many of the Hungarians and the natives in
Romania at that time. It is true, I will admit, that Slovakia and
Moldavia did not send all sorts of rebels across the border to try and
stir up ethnic violence, but they did in the 1990s have significant
clashes where bloody miners attacked peaceful demonstrations, and the
result of the world to that was to meet it with both patience and
support for their efforts of moving towards a democracy.
Fifteen years later, Romania now still has some effect of a one-party
state, but they are moving away from that as new Romanians are coming
back into the country who were trained in the West and are bringing a
spirit of entrepreneurship with them. There is still some element of
the communist corruption, but no longer do people think in Romania that
it is the grease of commerce, and there are tough laws against it.
Fifteen years later, Romania is a strong democratic nation and a
powerful friend of ours as a member of NATO.

We need to not forget in the history of this world, it took 7 years
after World War II to have the first election in Japan, and 4 years
after World War II to have the first election in Germany. We have done
the same thing in Afghanistan in 18 months. The first election that
showed clearly to the world that most of Iraq is not in chaos, that
that small lens of the camera has to focus in on the picture so you do
not see a full view of what is happening over there. It showed that al-
Zarqawi is not a leader.
We had a Member who serves in this building, not necessarily in this
particular body, who said our military and the insurgents are fighting
for the same thing: the hearts and minds of the people. I have to
reject that. That is an inaccurate analysis. We are not fighting for
the same thing. Those fighting to destroy democracy coming to Iraq are
the Ba'athist Party seeking a return to power. It is very similar as
George Will in one of his articles quoted ``1984,'' George Orwell where
he describes the government as the boot stomping on a human face
forever. That is what the Ba'athists would like to return to Iraq.
The other is al-Zarqawi which is a radical rejection of the idea that
government derives legitimacy from the

[[Page H273]]

consent of the governed. It is a concept of popular sovereignty that
Western traditions accept as the basis of our government as something
he still thinks of as an evil principle. His rage would have the same
effect, a different kind of boot, but still on the face of the people
forever. Those insurgents are not fighting for the hearts and minds of
the people; they are fighting for chaos and terror and pure political
control.
The hearts and the minds of the people are those who went to the
polls on Sunday and voted, like the 32-year-old Samir Hassan who said,
I would have crawled here if I had to, to the first vote ever held in
his country; and he used that phrase because he had one of his legs
blown off in a car bomb prior to the election. And then he went on to
say, I do not want terrorists to kill other Iraqis like they tried to
kill me. So much for the idea that Arabs do not want democracy.
Freedom is the antidote for terrorism. The Iraqis have had a defining
moment and the good guys, those who went out to vote, they won. What we
now must give Iraq is the same thing we gave to Romania 15 years ago:
patience, international support. Despite any smug predictions to the
contrary, we are moving in Iraq at a faster pace toward a truly new
style of government in which people count; not power, but people count.
And with an eye to that future, with an eye to that future, I think the
election in Iraq is one that rises to the level where we can risk
congratulation.
I thank the gentleman from Georgia for allowing me to share this time
with him.
Mr. GINGREY. Well, I want to thank, Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from
Utah, my good friend, for joining us tonight and for bringing some
historical perspective. Absolutely, once a history teacher, always a
history teacher; but I would say tonight to my colleagues, we are
talking about a world-class history teacher, and he gave us a good
lesson in Romanian history. I am standing up here listening to my
colleague, and yes, I have long since forgotten they went through this
struggle less than 15 years ago, in talking about of course the French
Revolution and the fact that something historic happened on Sunday.
But there is a lot more work to be done, as the gentleman from Utah
so clearly pointed out. We are not through, and for us to listen to
naysayers as we had to listen throughout this entire recent
Presidential and congressional election cycle, about declare victory
and come home even if you have not won. Look for an exit strategy.
Bring the troops home. Give us a day. How many? What day? This is
totally wrong, and I really appreciate the gentleman bringing that to
our attention tonight.
We have been joined as well by my colleague, the gentlewoman from the
great State of Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn), and she is a passionate
Member of this body and works very intently for the people of her State
and her district and for this great country. It is a privilege tonight
for me to recognize her and thank her for being with us.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I want to say thank you so much to the
gentleman from Georgia for taking the time to bring this issue not only
to the Members of this body, but to the American people. Mr. Speaker, I
also want to thank the gentleman from Georgia for taking the time to
bring this incredible photograph to the floor and let us continue to
just feast our eyes on the contentment and the joy that is expressed in
this Iraqi woman's face as she has dipped her finger in that blue ink
which has become the indelible mark of freedom, which shows the world
that she, as a free woman, has exercised her right to vote. I thank the
gentleman for that.
Because we watched this take place, and what an incredible display it
was as we saw the Iraqi people stand and fight back terrorism and to
rejoice in the work that they have done. The entire nation rejoiced.
Our military men and women rejoiced with them, and I think the entire
world has gathered to offer praise and congratulations.
At the same time, it was amazing as this took place to listen to some
of the liberal leaders in Washington and around and about talk about
how important it was to not overhype these first elections. The
gentleman from Utah provided some wonderful perspective to that.
Mr. Speaker, I can understand why those on the left and some of those
that have harangued the President for months would start to feel as if
they are feeling some political heat because, indeed, I think they are.
They were wrong. They were wrong. They had too little faith in America,
they had too little faith in our military men and women, and they had
too little faith in the Iraqi people and the power and the desire for
freedom and what that would do in their country.
Some of those liberals like to say that Iraq was out of control and
that the terrorists would destroy the election, and America was losing
and that we should postpone the elections. Certainly, some like Senator
Kennedy even called for an almost immediate withdrawal of American
forces. They wanted us to tell the world that the United States did not
have the strength and the determination to defeat terrorism, and they
were wrong in every instance. This President stood tall. Our Armed
Forces did not waiver. The American people refused to yield to tyrants
and terrorists, and we watched the Iraqi people refuse to yield to
tyrants and terrorists and the pressures.

{time} 2145

Today we know that our President was right. Despite all the doom and
gloom and despite the constant focus on every single failure that could
have possibly taken place in Iraq, despite seeing those ``two steps
forward and one step back'' as we marched towards success, we somehow
managed to hold safe and orderly elections in Iraq. And I think that
tells us all something. It tells me that the national media had already
decided in their minds that Iraq was not going like it ought to go, and
they reported everything and anything that they thought could make it
look like it was going to be hopeless. They ignored every little single
shining success. They thought that they could ignore it. They ignored
progress and heroism and they had their version of what they thought
they wanted Iraq to be. They were against the war, and they manipulated
coverage to suit their personal views.
Thankfully, the American people did not believe that national media.
They stuck with the President, and today the Iraqi people are seeing
what freedom means. Today we know that America has struck a
demoralizing blow against terrorism. We are taking valuable territory
from the terrorists. They no longer have an assured safe haven in
either Afghanistan or Iraq.
Pakistan is working with us to track terrorists. Libya has even begun
seeking diplomatic relations with the United States.
Mr. Speaker, over the past 2 years I have had the opportunity to be
in Iraq and to make friends with some folks in Iraq, and it is amazing.
We have had some of these women come here to America as we have been
there to visit with them. Some of these I e-mail with frequently, and
we have shared our vision for what an alliance can be between our
nations. Other Members of this body have joined in working with some of
these folks. It has been absolutely extraordinary. It would have been
unthinkable 4 years ago, and this is how we are going to win the war on
terrorism, is building these relationships.
In the hours just after the election, I received several e-mail
messages from some of my Iraqi friends, one in particular from an Iraqi
woman who ran for Congress, and I would like for you all to just listen
to this for a moment.
It says, ``Dear American Friends, a warm hug of appreciation from
Iraq to the good hearts in the United States. Congratulations for us
and for you on Iraqi Elections Day.
``Today we are not only free but we have stood united in democracy.
Today we marked our history with bright words of Winning the War
Against Terror Against Dictatorship. Today we won our identity in front
of a watching world. Today Iraq is for us and we are for Iraq, while
yesterday Iraq was Saddam and Saddam was Iraq.
``Today Iraq is for all: Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians, Turkomans and many
others, while yesterday we were all looking for a home of dignity,
humanity and peace.

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``After all this, just tell me how can I say thank you. Thank you for
every spirit you have given from families and friends to Iraq. Thank
you for every minute you contributed from your life to Iraq. Thank you
for every word of support, for every courage moment. Thank you for
every aid, every project, every rebuild. Thank you for being the best
friend Iraq ever had. Thank you on behalf of or tortured men and women
in the prisons of Saddam.
``Thank you on behalf of all Iraqi innocents who have given their
lives for the freedom price. Thank you on behalf of next generation of
love and peace in the Middle East. Thank you and a warm hug from Iraq
to the brave hearts in America.''
Mr. Speaker, that message is for all of us. It is for our country, it
is for our President, and it is an absolutely beautiful thing. I know
some of those across the aisle will continue to criticize our every
move in Iraq; and, sadly, much of that criticism comes from the
powerful leaders of the left. But to my colleagues across the aisle who
know better, speak up, challenge your leadership, work with us in Iraq
rather than against us.
To our allies in Iraq, America says a hearty congratulations. We are
ready to stand by your side as you rebuild. We will not cut and run.
America looks forward to your help as an ally in the war on terror.
Mr. Speaker, God bless our active duty, our Reserve and our National
Guard men and women as they work to protect us all over the world
tonight.
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Tennessee
(Mrs. Blackburn) and I sincerely appreciate her sharing that poignant
testimonial, that anecdote from the Iraqi woman voting in those
elections and what they wanted to share with the American people and to
say not a simple but an elaborate thank you, a deep, heartfelt thank
you. I really appreciate the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs.
Blackburn) sharing that with us, and I thank her for being with us this
evening.
It is truly amazing that our friends on the other side of the aisle
spent one hour, the previous hour, of course, the determination of what
they talk about just as our subject matter is made by our leadership.
And their leadership decided, well, this was the great opportunity to
attack the President on Social Security for the 21st century. They
spent an entire hour and not one word, not a single word about this
historic election, free elections in the Middle East for the first time
in hundreds or maybe thousands of years. And certainly none of these
people that had that opportunity, some of them literally stepping over
pools of blood to get to that ink, to put on their finger that
indelible ink, as my colleagues pointed out, that will not wash off,
will not go away.
It was a way to make sure that people voted once and only once and
everything was secure. These people, not only were their lives at stake
before they got to the polling place and while they were waiting in
line, queuing up sometimes waiting hour after hour in the hot sun, in
dust, in misery, waiting to vote, but then they dipped that finger in
that indelible ink, knowing that for at least 2 days, maybe longer,
there was no way they could get that off their finger. So they are
putting their lives at risk even after the fact, but they did not care
because they are brave, courageous, wonderful people, and I am
extremely proud of them.
I am disappointed that our friends on the other side of the aisle
went 60 minutes without not one comment. They do not have to praise
President Bush or the Republican majority or this leadership, but to
not spend one word talking about what the Iraqi people did 3 days ago
is just beyond any imagination.
Mr. Speaker, as I stand here tonight and manage this time, and we do
have one additional speaker before we get into conclusion and I do want
to hear from the gentleman from Texas, but I just want to say, share
with my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, some of the thoughts that I have had
since this historic happening this past Sunday.
We all represent maybe 630 or so thousand people in our districts
across this great country; 435 of us who are Members of this body, this
House of Representatives. And we have all suffered and our people have
suffered, mainly our young soldiers men and women who have been in
harm's way, Marines, soldiers, sailors, airmen, some 1,600 maybe, close
to 1,600 now, who were killed in action and others that we have gone
and we have seen. Sometimes we visit them in theater, dying with them,
or talking to them or maybe been out to Bethesda to see them struggling
to recover from their injuries, proud that they have served this
country and served it well.

And I cannot help but think about three soldiers in my district, the
11th of Georgia, West Georgia, and its 17 counties. There have been
more injured, but there are three that lost their lives in this
conflict. I have been thinking about them for the last couple of days,
as I am sure my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have reflected on
the families, the loved ones from the funerals that they have attended
over the last year and a half as we have paid this great sacrifice on
behalf of the Iraqi people and freedom in this great world that we live
in as the President talked about in his inaugural address just the
other day.
And I want to mention them. I want to mention them because I do not
want to ever forget them. I do not want us to ever forget them. I want
to think about them. I want to think about their faces. I want to think
about the face of Command Sergeant Major Eric Cooke, whose uncle lives
up in Calhoun, Georgia, in Gordon County just on the outskirts of my
district, who, after serving almost 30 years this country in conflict,
in battles in several venues, gave his life on Christmas Eve 2003, two
days after I visited with him in theater.
He went on a mission in a Humvee, and he took the shrapnel that
probably was intended for somebody else, and he gave his life for this
great country.
I want to think about specialist Justin Johnston from Rome, Georgia,
Floyd County, 19 years old when he joined the Army, barely 21 years old
when he lost his life on Easter Sunday last year. And I think about
Janet and Joe, his parents, his brother Josh and people that have paid
this sacrifice and what did they give it for? What did their sons and
daughters give up their lives for?
Last but not least, I think about First Lieutenant Tyler Brown.
Lieutenant Tyler Brown, president of the student body at my alma mater,
the Georgia Institute of Technology, just a few years ago, 26 years old
at the time of his death, killed by a sniper in Iraq, just 2 weeks
after being redeployed there from the demilitarized zone. No picnic.
But Tyler Brown gave his life. He was a wonderful young man. His
parents, I think about them. I see their faces as I stand here tonight.
Mr. Speaker, I think about these people. I know that they have the
comfort of knowing as well that their sons and daughters did not die in
vain. I mention these three. There are many others. My colleagues,
maybe they have there, maybe they have been to more funerals than I
have been and seen more mayhem, but this is seared in my memory, and it
always will be. When you go to Arlington, when you visit as a tourist,
it is one thing, but when you go to Arlington to watch a young soldier
whose family you knew and represented laid to rest, who died for our
country, this is something of a totally different story.
That is why I am proud. I am proud to talk about this tonight, and I
am proud of these young men and women who have done this for us and
served us so well. So that is what I want my colleagues to think about.
Let me, before we use up all of our time, Mr. Speaker, and I get too
carried away, I do want to introduce another Member on our side of the
aisle, a new Member, a gentleman from the great State of Texas, a
judge, a fine judge, a member of the appellate branch of the judiciary
who might be a freshman Member, but he has got a lot of experience and
a lot of things to share with us tonight, not only on this issue that
we have been talking about for the last 45 minutes but also a point
that is very near and dear to his heart as well.
I proudly yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert).
Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the right honorable
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingery). I consider it a privilege to call
him a friend and colleague; and I appreciate the time, Mr. Speaker, to
address a couple of issues here together.

[[Page H275]]

First of all, we know 2 days ago the cradle of civilization took
initial steps towards becoming a democracy. Citizens of Iraq, which
today includes parts of the former Mesopotamia and Babylon, cast
ballots as free people to elect their own leaders. We must join the
rest of the world and salute the extraordinary courage it took for
these people to cast their votes.
Each of them had to endure adverse conditions and the threats of
death to go to the polls, stand in line and let their voices be heard.
The people of America and the free world should be inspired. As with
the words paraphrased from Les Miserables, ``We should hear their
spirits sing as it is the music of a people who will not be slaves
again.''

{time} 2200

They have joined in the fight that secures them the right to be free.
These brave souls have ventured out in sheer defiance of terrorists and
insurgents who want to harm them and keep them enslaved. I join the
rest of the world as we salute them, the brave voters of Iraq.
In sharp contrast, right here in this democratic Republic, where
hundreds of thousands have sacrificed their lives and millions more
have sacrificed so much to secure our right to be a free people, we
have a group of Democratic Senators who know the sacrifice it took to
secure that right and obligation. They know the words they spoke in an
oath sworn to God, with history and citizens watching, to support and
defend the Constitution of the United States. They know the
Constitution mandates they vote on the nominations to Federal courts,
those nominations made by the President. Yet they fail and refuse to do
their sworn obligations, and it is as if they never intended to keep
their oaths when they were sworn.
Not only has this group intentionally failed to follow their sworn
oaths, they have taken the job of questioning good, honorable and
decent people and turned it into abusive inquisitions. These Senators
would never tolerate these unfair inquisitions if they were treated in
the same manner. Many of these nominees have pulled themselves up by
the bootstraps and have worked hard to become the top in their field.
There are nominees who have lived ethical, moral, honorable lives; yet
they are brutalized and had their lives publicly smeared and demeaned
in the most vile and disgusting manner.
In the ancient Roman Empire, Christians were thrown to the lions, but
many were at least allowed to fight back. When a conservative or a
moderate Christian Hispanic or African American nominee is dragged
before the Democratic Senators' inquisition, they are not allowed to
fight back. These are nominees who have never been accused of cheating
in college or plagiarizing speeches or surgically changing their
appearance or being involved in the death of fellow party-goers. These
are decent people who are who they are and who they appear to be, and
they deserve better treatment.
These folks have not lied under oath by completely refusing to do
their sworn duty. These nominees have simply agreed to subject
themselves to the torture chamber of the certain Democratic Senators in
order to try to help this Nation. The judicial nominees only wish to
help the Nation without legislating from the bench, and they believe in
the true intentions of our Founders.
Having been a district judge and a chief justice, I know some of the
nominees that the President has made over the years. They have been
attacked and stymied, and I believe what has been done to them is
simply unconscionable. Were the attacks made out in the civilian
sector, those nominees, some of them, would certainly be entitled to
huge verdicts by juries who would understand the malice.
Some nominees have had their lives put on hold for years while some
Democratic Senators not only refuse to follow their oath but do all
they can to block others from keeping their oaths. When one Democratic
Senator was chairman of the Judiciary Committee in 1992, the average
length of time to get a vote before the Senate after being nominated
was basically very short months. This same Senator wrote to nominees
saying basically he would not play politics with their nominations.
Then he turned right around and played politics, dragged out such
hearings and votes for nearly a year, at which time the nominations
died when the President was defeated in November 1992.
Now those certain Democrats have effectively prevented votes on
qualified nominees such as that of Priscilla Owen, Carolyn Kuhl,
Charles Pickering, Miguel Estrada, Henry Saad, David McKeague and
Terrance Boyle, not for months but for years. Those were all nominated,
and I mentioned, in 2001. Miguel Estrada could wait no longer and
finally had to withdraw. In fact, my law school classmate, Justice
Priscilla Owen, was one of those who was nominated for the 5th Circuit
Court of Appeals. That was on May 9, 2001, and then she was coldly and
callously left without the constitutionally required vote for over 3\1/
2\ years.
I have some Democratic friends back home who understand truth and
fairness, and right and wrong; and that is why these actions of certain
people have hurt not only this country; they have hurt their party.
Please understand, when an attorney is nominated for the bench,
clients are normally reluctant to send new cases their way. When judges
are nominated, there is a reluctance by colleagues to send involved
cases to them because they may not be around to finish them. The
nominees are normally reluctant to make major purchases or make
decisions about schools for their children because of all of the
uncertainty. These qualified individuals who are ready and willing to
serve their country have theirs and their families' lives put on
indefinite hold.

When the average length from nomination to vote was just a matter of
months, that was not a major problem. It is now a critical problem.
Nominees' lives are incarcerated in an unfair and unnecessary
purgatory. Some Senators have complained about how long we held brutal
and threatening terrorists, yet these same Senators uphold the
honorable judicial nominees' lives as a matter of routine.
These handful of Senators often act out as brutal lions hiding behind
the safety of their perches where they cannot be attacked by their
victims. Then they maul and brutalize their victims and leave them and
their families in a suspended animation for years. It is high time they
were held accountable for such outrageous conduct. I believe we have
begun seeing recently in this country in the last election some
Senators pay for their abusiveness.
It is my intention to begin a judicial observance at least once a
month from the floor of this House until all the previous nominees from
the President's last term who are renominated are all voted on.
May God grant peace and certainty to those to whom these Senators are
persecuting or made to suffer some for their religious beliefs.
In conclusion, some may want to fire shots across my bow. That is
fine. So long as they quit attacking good decent nominees and give them
their vote.
May the still small voice of fairness and conscience that has been
stifled for far too long finally be heard in the soul of the
prosecuting Senators. May those who are too afraid to vote take
inspiration and courage from the brave Iraqis who ventured out to vote
despite the threats on their own lives.
I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) for yielding.
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas. The
gentleman obviously speaks with passion and knows of what he speaks,
and I suspect that we will be hearing more from him on this issue as we
go forward in the 109th Congress because it certainly clearly needs to
be addressed, and the time tonight, of course, is in the context of
talking about freedom, talking about liberty, talking about the rule of
law and what we are trying to share with the Iraqi people and other
oppressed people of the Middle East and other parts of the world and
other Arab nations who have not yet felt that fresh smell of liberty
and democracy. So I thank the gentleman for joining us tonight and
speaking so eloquently.
Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I want to mention a couple of quotes that
mean a lot to me, mean a lot to everybody who has ever heard them, mean
a lot to this great country, mean a lot to Great Britain, but first of
all, this one.

[[Page H276]]

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the
blood of patriots and tyrants, Thomas Jefferson, November 13, 1787. The
blood of patriots indeed and the blood of tyrants indeed, and this is
what we are talking about.
This is a sacrifice that the Iraqi people have made on behalf of
themselves and what we have been making on behalf of them over these
nearly 2 years now as we have sacrificed our sons and daughters.
The other quote: Democracy is the worst form of government except for
all the others that have ever been tried. Of course, Sir Winston
Churchill. We are sharing, and that is what the President talked about
during his inauguration address on January 20. That is what we are
talking about, sharing. That is what he will talk about tomorrow night.
God bless you, Mr. President, and God bless America.

____________________