[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 155 (Tuesday, December 6, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H11041]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             IRAQI PROGRESS

  (Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, during August of 2003, I was with a 
bipartisan CODEL in Iraq. We were in one of Saddam Hussein's old 
bunkers and had a briefing from members of the Coalition Provisional 
Authority. United States State Department, General Sanchez, was there. 
They outlined their plan for reconstituting the Government of Iraq and 
civil society in Iraq.
  This plan involved selecting Iraqi citizens to form an interim 
constitution leading to the institution of a provisional government, 
which would then set the stage for selecting representatives to the 
Transitional National Assembly, who would write the final Iraqi 
constitution which, after ratification, would culminate with the 
election of the new Iraqi government. All but the last step have now 
been accomplished, basically adhering to the time line set up by the 
administration, the only deviation being a somewhat condensing of the 
timeline at the request of cleric al-Sistani.
  There is no question that there are those in the country of Iraq who 
feel they would be better served by continued chaos in the region. This 
is not the position of most of the people who live in the country of 
Iraq. The insurgency, the terrorists, hold no tactical advantage. They 
hold no territory. This is a fight that they know they cannot win on 
tactical grounds.
  The only way for us to lose this fight is to lose our political will 
at home. Our soldiers have done everything which we have asked. 
Congress should not desert them now.

                          ____________________