[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 101 (Friday, July 22, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H6332]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          COMMUNICATION FROM MEMBER OF IRAQ NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, since the 12th of June, there has been an 
embargo on the American press for reporting on a letter written by the 
Iraqi legislature. For that reason I will read it here today:
  ``As the National Assembly is the legitimate representative of the 
Iraqi people and the guardian of its interests, and as the voice of the 
people, especially with regard to repeated demands for the departure of 
the occupation, we note that these demands have earlier been made in 
more than one session but have blatantly been ignored from the Chair. 
Worse still is the Government's request to the U.N. Security Council to 
extend the presence of the occupation forces, made without consultation 
with the people's representative in the National Assembly who hold the 
right to make such fateful decisions.
  ``In line with our historic responsibility, we reject the 
legitimation of the occupation and we repeat our demand for the 
departure of the occupation forces, especially since our national 
forces have been able to break the back of terrorism and to notably 
establish its presence in the Iraqi street and to recover the state's 
dignity and the citizen's trust in the security forces leading to the 
noble objectives in an Iraq whose sovereignty is not embellished.
  ``Peace and God's Mercy and Blessings be Upon You.
  ``Falah Hasan Shanshal.''
  This letter was signed by at least 126 members of the 275-member 
democratically elected Iraqi parliament and it gets nothing in the 
American press.
  Everyone should know this.

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