[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 24 (Wednesday, March 1, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H486-H492]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        THE OFFICIAL TRUTH SQUAD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kuhl of New York). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Price) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority 
leader.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to 
come before the House this evening with another edition of the Official 
Truth Squad to, as we have talked about, kind of set the record 
straight.
  I want to thank the Republican leadership and the Republican 
Conference for allowing me and other Members of our conference to come 
and talk this evening.
  The group that we have just heard, I was a little encouraged at the 
very beginning, because the tone was a little different, but then they 
just could not help themselves. They just could not help themselves. So 
we launched into

[[Page H487]]

hyperbole, and we launched into disinformation, and we launched into 
misinformation, and we launched into distortion.
  And frankly when I go home, when I talk to constituents at home, they 
say, what on Earth is going on up there in Congress? Why is it so 
partisan? And it is just tough to understand how people can be so 
doggone negative and think that it results in a positive outcome.
  It is tough to understand how the politics of division are seen to be 
the way that we ought to go as a Nation. And it really is remarkable. 
We are, all of us, on the same team, Republicans, Democrats, 
Independents. We are all on the same team. We are all Americans.
  We have got some incredible challenges that confront us as a Nation. 
And the politics of division, frankly, they do a disservice to us as a 
Nation. They are not helpful. I believe they are frankly shameful for 
the individuals that seem to believe that that is the way that we ought 
to conduct ourselves in public discourse. It just does not make any 
sense, Mr. Speaker. It does not make any sense.
  It is not new, though. It has been going on in American politics, 
frankly, for a long time. Some would say that some folks on the other 
side of the aisle now have elevated it to a grand tradition and to a 
new height of excellence. But I want to read something that President 
Abraham Lincoln said that talked about the politics of division and how 
destructive it is.

                              {time}  1815

  He talked about his philosophy of government and social philosophy. 
``You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot 
strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage 
earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot encourage the 
brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the 
poor by destroying the rich.''
  It kind of crystallizes American philosophy, we are all in this 
together. Mr. Lincoln was a master at putting words and thoughts 
together and contrast together. I do not think it has ever been said 
better, frankly.
  I highlight that because I encourage my colleagues all across this 
Chamber to recognize that the kind of politics of division that seems 
to be practiced by some is not helpful, it is not productive. It does a 
disservice to all.
  We are here with another session of the Official Truth Squad. The 
Official Truth Squad began when a group of freshman Republicans got 
together and talked about just what we were hearing from our 
constituents. Why on earth do you hear the kind of personal accusations 
that go on up there in Washington?
  So we thought we would put together some truthful episodes. So we try 
to come here almost every night while we are in Washington to bring 
about some truth and talk about honest, open debate in Washington about 
a variety of topics.
  Truth is incredibly important to the public discourse. If we are not 
dealing in truth, then we cannot reach the right conclusions. We cannot 
reach the right solutions to the challenges we have got.
  I am joined tonight by a number of folks. I would like to recognize, 
first, Congresswoman Schmidt from the great State of Ohio. She has been 
just a stellar member of the freshman class and a great proponent of 
freedom and liberty. We are going to talk a little bit about national 
security tonight, and Congresswoman Schmidt comes with an incredible 
background and expertise and experience serving at both the local level 
and the State level and the first woman to represent the district that 
she represents from southern Ohio.
  And we welcome you tonight, Mrs. Schmidt. Thank you so much for 
coming, and we look forward to your words on national security.
  (Mrs. SCHMIDT asked and was given permission to revise and extend her 
remarks.)
  Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on the importance 
that we as a nation need to continue to do all we can to prevent 
another terrorist attack on our homeland.
  Some of us on this side of the aisle a few weeks ago had the chance 
to listen to the President, and the President talked about how 9/11 has 
changed all of us, and it has changed us forever.
  I remember that day as if it was yesterday. In fact, a few weeks ago 
I talked again about how when my daughter lived in New York in 
Manhattan and we as a Nation witnessed the attacks on the Twin Towers, 
my daughter and I, we had dinner at the Windows on the World just 30 
days before the event. And I knew she did not work close to the 
building, but I did not know the subway system. So when I saw the 
towers come down I was scared, scared about where she was. I was also 
horribly afraid that another attack would occur.
  The thing that was so frustrating was my husband and I could not get 
through to her because cell phones were the only way to get through and 
the buildings that housed the towers were destroyed. We did not get 
through to her for 2 full days. It made me realize how important 
national security and homeland security are for our Nation. Thank God, 
we only had fear and did not have regret and sorrow as so many others 
did.
  We as a Nation must do everything in our power to prevent another 
attack. Period.
  I rise today to congratulate the hard-working men and women of our 
intelligence agencies and first responders on preventing another 
attempt since 9/11. The headlines normally fail to mention that it has 
been over 4 years since our Nation was hit by those terrorists on that 
horrific day. I, like most Americans, like Congress, wake up every 
morning feeling safe, proceed with my day without even worrying about 
the threat of an attack because I know that from law enforcement to our 
national security apparatus, thousands of highly trained professionals 
are diligently watching and working and protecting.
  Men and women using the latest technologies and a lot of muscle are 
hard at work around the clock making sure that those that want to hurt 
us are kept away.
  I hope everyone understands that the desire of the terrorist 
organizations to launch a deadly attack has not subsided. It is their 
mission to attack and destroy us, to attack and destroy our way of 
life. But what has changed is that our ability to thwart attacks has 
dramatically increased.
  The latest in database technology, coupled with surveillance 
technologies, is proving to be a powerful force in identifying those 
potential attackers who want to kill us. We owe a great deal of 
gratitude to these men and women on the front lines of our defense.
  Just this past week the media reported that some 200,000 people 
across the globe are on our watchlist, persons that we have reason to 
believe wish to do us harm, but most importantly, 200,000 people we 
have already identified as potential threats. And when you know who 
your enemy is, you have got a better chance at seeing them come at you.
  When we wake up each morning and turn on our television sets and 
there is no news of an attack, we do not even think that there might 
have been one. That, in itself, is a tribute to the hard work of our 
national security team. We go about our lives without fear of another 
attack because of the job they are doing each and every minute of each 
and every day for us. And that means we must give them every tool 
needed to complete their mission.
  Their mission is not only important, it is a matter of life and 
death. Our life and death. My life and death. Your life and death, Mr. 
Speaker.
  Much has been said about the National Security Agency's surveillance 
program in the media. Much of it is nonsense and distortion, and I am 
so glad we have the Official Truth Squad here tonight to talk about 
that.
  I asked my constituents in a recent survey what they thought about 
the National Security Agency's surveillance program. Over 2,000 people 
have responded to date. Slightly less than 80 percent support the 
program.
  Mr. Speaker, 80 percent is a huge number. That is a supermajority of 
folks, folks like you and me representing all kind of ideologies and 
political affiliations. Eighty percent want the NSA to continue to do 
their job so you and I can remain free from terrorist attacks.
  The American people, first and foremost, want to be safe in their 
homes

[[Page H488]]

and go about their lives without that fear again of another 9/11. They 
exhibit far more common sense than the media ever gives them credit 
for.
  One of our colleagues from the great State of Texas has a great 
saying that Texas could use a whole lot less of Washington and 
Washington could use a whole lot more of Texas. I agree. Unfortunately, 
some day I hope in the very, very far, distant future we may well again 
be attacked. That attack may well be much larger in scope than 9/11 
ever hoped to be. And on that day I hope and I pray that we can all say 
we did everything in our power we could do to prevent it. That is our 
responsibility. Do you not agree?

  It is our responsibility to give this agency the tools necessary to 
protect the American people from another terrorist attack. I am glad we 
are giving them those tools.
  It is our responsibility to see that they continue to have them so 
that you and I can wake up once again tomorrow morning in the freest 
nation in the world, free to be able to go about doing our business 
without fear of an enemy knocking at our door.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Thank you so much, Congresswoman Schmidt. I 
appreciate you coming and joining us tonight. Your stories are always 
spellbinding and very moving.
  And the story that you tell of your experience with your daughter on 
that fateful day is chilling. It brings back all the memories that all 
of us have and how thankful we all should be, are, can be of the 
incredible job that the first responders are doing all across this 
Nation, all across this Nation. So I thank you very much for coming and 
being with us.
  One of the privileges that we have, Mr. Speaker, as you well know, is 
to gain certain information, to be briefed on certain things that are 
happening around the world and certain activities that the American 
Government and American Defense Department are doing. Some of those 
things we can share, some of them we cannot share, but what I can share 
with the American people is this certainty.
  The fact that since 9/11 we have not had a major terrorist attack on 
the United States is not a mistake. It is not a mistake. It is not just 
by chance that we have, as Congresswoman Schmidt said, been able to 
awaken each morning and not really think about the possibility that it 
might happen again.
  There are men and women all across this Nation who are performing 
heroic tasks day in and day out, and we all should be incredibly 
grateful and appreciative of their efforts.
  I was pleased also to hear Congresswoman Schmidt bring up the NSA 
domestic terrorist surveillance project that is ongoing, a project that 
has been denigrated by many folks, a project that is frankly having an 
incredible effect on our national security and our ability to protect 
ourselves. It is a program that was put in place by the President and 
the National Security Agency. And Congress, the appropriate individuals 
in Congress, were informed, were in the loop, were given information, 
were told about it; and now some have kind of changed that story.
  But when it came to light in the public and there were discussions 
about whether or not it was the right thing to do or the wrong thing to 
do, it appeared to me that it was one of those issues that, as 
Congresswoman Schmidt said, our constituents believed in strongly. So I 
started asking.
  I hold a lot of town hall meetings, and I do a lot of speaking to a 
lot of groups back home, and when I do I oftentimes ask them. I said, 
if you had the opportunity as a nation, as the American Government, to 
know where terrorists were in terms of the use of a phone line, if you 
could know that and you were able to detect when they were making a 
telephone call from their home or from their cell phone into the United 
States, would you want to know what was going on in that conversation?
  Mr. Speaker, I promise you I have not had a single soul tell me that 
they do not think that that is what the government ought to be doing. 
In fact, what they say is, if we were not doing that, if we were not 
doing that, then we would not be living up to our responsibilities that 
we have as a government to do probably the most important thing that we 
do day in and day out as a Federal Government, and that is to protect 
our homeland, to provide national security.
  So I am certain that the support that we see for this program is 
universal around the Nation. And we are not talking about listening 
into an American citizen call to an American citizen call domestically. 
Remember what we are talking about. We are talking about known 
terrorist cells, known terrorist phone numbers, a known terrorist 
identity having communication with someone in the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud that we have the capability to detect that 
kind of communication, and I believe strongly, strongly, that my 
constituents, what they tell me is consistent with what folks believe 
around the Nation; and that is that we ought to continue that program 
and we ought to make certain that we are doing what we can do to 
protect our homeland.
  We have also the opportunity so many times to hear from world 
leaders, and today was a day that I will not forget very soon. We had 
the Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, come and he gave an 
address to a joint session of Congress. I was incredibly struck by so 
many of the comments that he made. And thank goodness they gave me a 
translation because my Italian is not very good. But I wanted to 
highlight a couple of the things that he said, because it just rings so 
true, and it talks about the incredible importance of what we as a 
Nation are doing, having done, and are doing now around the world.

                              {time}  1830

  So here are a couple of quotes from Prime Minister Berlusconi that he 
gave before Congress today. He said, Today, I am still grateful to the 
United States for the high price in lives you continue to pay in the 
fight against terrorism to assure our common security and defend human 
rights around the world. As I will never tire of repeating, when I see 
your flag, I do not merely see the flag of a great country. Above all, 
I see a symbol, a universal symbol, of democracy and freedom.
  What an incredible picture he draws of what I feel in my heart and I 
know that so many of my constituents feel about the symbol of our 
Nation and about the incredibly important work that we are doing as a 
Nation. To have a leader of another country stand up and say proudly 
that he believes strongly in the work that the United States is doing 
to fight terrorism and to commit once again his nation to that fight 
was just incredibly inspiring.
  Prime Minister Berlusconi also said, History has shown that the 
aspiration to democracy is universal and that liberty and democracy are 
contagious.
  It is just a reaffirmation of what we have talked about for the past 
number of years and how important this war on terrorism is and how 
important it is to plant the seeds of democracy around the world. This 
is what we are doing, and what that does is make it so that we as a 
Nation are more secure. We are not only more free, but we are more 
secure as democracy moves around the world.
  Here are a couple of other quotes from the Prime Minister. He stood 
here just in this Chamber today and said, Only democracy can provide 
liberty and only liberty can guarantee that individuals will be able to 
develop their talents, channel their energies, achieve their dreams, 
and conquer prosperity. The only possible road is to work together to 
spread democracy.
  Is that not an inspiring message from another world leader? The only 
possible road is to work together to spread democracy.
  This is the final portion of his speech that I would like to share 
with you, Mr. Speaker, and with the Members once again of the House and 
frankly with our citizens. This was incredibly moving. Many of us had 
tears in our eyes as he closed, and he said, Allow me to conclude by 
sharing with you a brief story. It is the story of a young man who had 
just graduated from high school. His father took him to a cemetery that 
was the final resting place for brave young soldiers, young people who 
had crossed an ocean to restore dignity and liberty to an oppressed 
people. In showing him those crosses, that father made his son vow 
never to forget the ultimate sacrifice those young American soldiers 
made for his freedom. That father made his son vow eternal

[[Page H489]]

gratitude to that country. The Prime Minister said, That father was my 
father and that young man was me. I have never forgotten that sacrifice 
and that vow and I never will.
  Incredible words from a world leader, who draws us a picture of a 
time 60 years ago, 50 years ago, when his father took him to a cemetery 
filled with American soldiers who had fought for his freedom. He tells 
us that he was asked by his father never to forget that sacrifice, and 
he vowed that he never would.
  The seeds of liberty, the seeds of freedom, the seeds of democracy 
that we plant around the world, we may never know when we will see the 
fruit of that planting. I wonder myself today whether there is an Iraqi 
man and an Iraqi woman who are telling similar stories to their sons 
and their daughters and that in 30 or 40 years we would be honored and 
privileged to have the Prime Minister or the President of a free Iraq 
come before the United States House of Representatives and tell that 
same story, as how they were inspired by their mom or their dad as they 
recognize the sacrifice that American soldiers made on their behalf. An 
incredible, incredible picture in words.
  I had the opportunity to speak to an American Legion group at home a 
number of weeks ago, and then another American Legion chapter came and 
visited my office just the other day. I was struck by something that 
they said. The American Legion's motto is, ``For God and country,'' and 
it is an appropriate motto: ``For God and country.''
  There is an American Legion division that was supposed to go to an 
elementary school, a public elementary school in our Nation and tell 
the young folks at the elementary school about the American Legion, 
about the history and their heritage. They were called a couple of days 
before their visit, and they were told, no, we cannot have you come; we 
have been threatened with a lawsuit because of your motto, ``For god 
and country.''
  Mr. Speaker, I am just struck by the incredible diligence of all the 
men and women who fight for our national security, all of the men and 
women who have fought for our national security, and they recognize 
over and over and over again that freedom is not free, that there is a 
price to pay.
  Then I am struck by so many individuals it appears that want to 
destroy the roots that we have that brought about our national security 
and about our freedom, and I just appreciate so much the opportunity to 
stand before the House of Representatives as a member of the Official 
Truth Squad and bring these stories to try to invigorate and uplift the 
American people to be proud of our heritage, to be proud of the men and 
women who are serving us so remarkably around the Nation and around the 
world.
  I am pleased now to be joined by a colleague, Congressman Steve 
Pearce, who is coming and participating with the Official Truth Squad 
this evening, to talk about our national security, homeland security 
and bringing some truth and honesty to the debate that we have here in 
the United States House of Representatives. I am pleased to yield to 
Congressman Pearce.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I 
think your conversation is exactly correct, that right now in America, 
when I visit the troops in Iraq, the young men and women there ask me 
one question that I cannot answer, and that is, they ask how come my 
parents do not see the good things that I am doing on TV at night. How 
come they only see the bad things? Why is the press trying to mislead 
the public?
  So I appreciate your truth squad here where you begin to talk about 
the magnificent things that our troops are doing because, when I am 
there, our troops tell us that we are winning in the neighborhoods and 
the hearts of the Iraqi people and the hearts of people who distrusted 
us.
  I had three young men there from New Mexico. They call themselves the 
Three Amigos. They were telling me, when we were out on patrol the 
first days that we were there, and this was way back at the beginning 
of the war, they said that the people would peek out their window and 
open the window curtain and take a look out. The next week, maybe the 
window curtain was pulled open, the door still locked, the windows 
down. Gradually, the door opened up, and they would let their kids 
stand in the door and look at the Americans.
  Then they talked about the thing that I found in the Philippines when 
I was in the Air Force flying into Vietnam when you walk out among 
kids, and Asia and kids in other parts of the country, the thing they 
want to do is they want to touch the hair on your arm. So these young 
troops are saying, you know, the strangest things, the kids came out 
and the moms are holding them up to our face where the kids can see. 
They want to touch the hair on our arm. It was exactly the same thing I 
had experienced back in 1971, 1972, and 1973.
  It brings down to me the fact that these Iraqis had been told for 35 
years that the Americans will kill you. The truth is Saddam Hussein 
would kill them. He was always telling them an untruth; and when the 
truth was known, then the Iraqi people began to settle down.
  I would say also that, in this country, if there is a big issue 
today, one we as a Nation face, it is truth. It is the understanding of 
what objective truth is. It is the understanding of who can tell us and 
who will tell us the truth. So I appreciate the gentleman's efforts to 
bring some truth to this floor because often we have got our friends 
who come and they talk about special interests and are pointing at the 
other team. The truth is, the biggest special interest group in this 
body are the trial lawyers, and the biggest special interest group in 
the other body are trial lawyers. They are the ones that are getting 
the most influence here. Yet our friends seem to forget that they are a 
special interest group and they are causing great outcomes in 
legislation.
  So I appreciate the gentleman's efforts to bring truth to the floor 
of the House of Representatives and especially as it regards our troops 
because our troops are doing magnificent things as they are in harm's 
way every day. We as a grateful Nation should always take the time to 
say thank you, not only to the troops but also to families of the 
troops, for being willing to be the last wedge between tyranny that 
originates in the Middle East and freedoms that we are trying to export 
from this country. I think that we owe all of our families and all of 
our troops a good round of thanks from a grateful Nation.
  I salute the gentleman for his efforts.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman so much. I 
appreciate you bringing up truth again.
  The Official Truth Squad, we have got a quote that we oftentimes 
refer to that kind of gets to the heart of the matter. It is a quote 
from Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and what he said is that 
everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. So I 
appreciate so much you bringing truth to the fore, and there are some 
facts that oftentimes get distorted.
  One of them is that people talk about the decrease or the cuts in the 
defense budget, in the military budget and how on Earth can you 
continue as we are doing right now by cutting those folks that are 
protecting us. In fact, Mr. Speaker, if you look at the numbers, there 
are not any cuts at all, and there are not any cuts appropriately 
because we are in the time that we are in right now and the budgetary 
authority, which means the amount of money that is able to be 
appropriated to the military in 2000, was $287 billion; in the next 
year, 2001, $303 billion. It does not look like a cut to me: 2002, $328 
billion, and you see as we go out 2003, $365 billion; the following 
year, $376 billion; and 2005, 2006, $411 billion.
  Now, the truth of the matter is that that budget is appropriately 
increasing in spite of what you hear from the other side; and, in fact, 
you hear oftentimes some claims from folks on the other side of the 
aisle who say that we are not making any progress in national security, 
we are not making any progress in Iraq. I am always fond of bringing 
charts and pictures because I think that they speak so much louder than 
words.
  This one is a phenomenal one. We are transitioning in Iraq, in the 
political environment, in the economic environment and in the military 
environment; and one of the transitions that is occurring is the 
transition of force levels of the Iraqi Army. What they are doing is 
momentous work over there.

[[Page H490]]

  In fact, what this chart shows is that in August of 2004 there were 
only five Iraqi battalions in combat, and you see the steady continual 
increase, and what many folks will not tell you is that in January of 
2006, just a little over a month ago, 98 Iraqi Army battalions in 
combat.
  What does that mean? That means that American soldiers, American men 
and women who have been serving in this war on terror and protecting 
your freedom and mine, can begin to come home. That is what that means. 
So we are making progress along those lines.
  To give some other identity to the kinds of progress that is being 
made over there, this is the statistic that I just mentioned in August 
of 2004, only a handful of Iraqi Army battalions were in the fight. Now 
there are nearly 100, but it goes on.
  In July of 2004, there were no operational army division brigade 
headquarters in Iraq, and today, eight brigade headquarters. Thirty-
seven battalions have assumed battle space.
  In July 2004, a little under 2 years ago, there were no operational 
special police, commando, public order, mechanized police or emergency 
response units. Under the Ministry of the Interior in Iraq, not one, 
not any of them; and in less than 2 years, today, there are 28 such 
battalions in the battle.
  November 2004, there were about 115,000 trained and equipped Iraqi 
security forces. Today, over 227,000, nearly a quarter of a million 
trained and equipped security forces and others, if you talk about 
local police, individuals.

                              {time}  1845

  And the experience and the ability of the Iraqi forces has increased 
remarkably. In December of last year, 2 months ago, the Iraqi armed 
forces had more independent operations than did coalition forces. Mr. 
Speaker, did you hear that: more independent operations by the Iraqi 
forces than coalition forces. Remarkable.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to have a couple other folks join me; and 
fellow Georgian, Congressman Kingston, who has such great insight into 
national security and great service here in the House of 
Representatives, is here; and I appreciate his coming down.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Thank you, Mr. Price. I just wanted to say that I have 
the honor of representing the 3rd Infantry Division in Hinesville, 
Georgia, and in Savannah, Georgia, as well as the 1st Battalion 75th 
Ranger Regiment, and in all maybe as high as 20,000 troops from my 
district who have been in Iraq, the 48th Brigade, some coming and some 
going. But the thing that struck me as I went to Iraq in December is 
the amount of the turf, as you have mentioned, which has already been 
ceded to Iraqi security patrol.
  When we were there, 50 percent of Baghdad was already under Iraqi 
control. And last week, I had the honor of meeting with General 
Webster, who was in charge of the 3rd Infantry Division over there, he 
just got back, and he told me that number now in Baghdad is about 60 
percent. In Mozul, 25 to 30 percent of it is under Iraqi security 
patrol. And the government of Mozul, interestingly enough, is headed by 
a mayor who is a Sunni, and he has suffered personally. His family has 
been attacked because of it. Yet, at the same time, here is a guy who 
is still facing the wind and saying, let's get the job done, and not 
turning back.
  One of the things I know you and I have heard from folks in Iraq and 
in Afghanistan is, we want to know is America here to stay until we are 
up and running. I know there are a lot of Democrats who would like to 
pull out tomorrow, and I understand that. I wish all our troops were 
home from everywhere. But the message that we got from the folks over 
there is, we really appreciate what you are doing; we need you to stay 
until the job is done.
  And then as I have talked to the 3rd Infantry soldiers, it is the 
same thing: we have to finish this job. We just can't faint in the face 
of adversity. There are so many in America, the Michael Moores, the 
Cindy Sheehans, the fringe branch of the liberals that want us to cut 
and run. I think that would be such a huge disservice to all the troops 
who have died.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. If the gentleman would yield back to me for a 
moment, I think it is important to note that there are some in this 
Chamber who want to do just that, who say to pull out immediately. But 
as we both know, and our constituents and citizens around the Nation 
know, that is not feasible nor is it advisable.
  What is at stake, and I was telling the Members earlier, the Italian 
Prime Minister today really clearly defined what is at stake: if we as 
a free people in this world are able to plant liberty and democracy 
around the world, we increase our security. We increase our security.
  And I know that the gentleman would concur with that.
  Mr. KINGSTON. That is a message we hear from all over, particularly 
new Europe, emerging Europe, the Europe that had been 50 years under 
the Soviet bloc. They understand freedom, and they understand 
oppression. They do not take it for granted. They are not so anti-
American as the Germans and the French seem to be. They do not enjoy 
the U.S. kicking that so many of our fair weather friends over there 
do.
  But along with military progress in Iraq, there has been tremendous 
economic progress. As I was there looking down from the helicopter over 
the streets of Baghdad, I saw small businesses, traffic jams, people 
moving in and out of buildings buying things and so forth.
  There is a port in Iraq that under Saddam Hussein never was used. 
Today, it has 40 ships a month going into it. In terms of newspapers 
and banking, it is coming back. In 2003, there were 13 Iraqi companies 
listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Today, I think that number is 
somewhere between 60 and 80. That is a lot of progress.
  The GDP last year, I think, was something like $15 billion. Today it 
is $29 billion. A very small economy, but that is a huge step. The 
unemployment rate was something like 70 percent, and it is now 26 
percent. Still very high unemployment rate by our standards, but for 
the Middle East, pretty doggone good. I can tell you that the 
Palestinian Authority wishes their unemployment rate were that low.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. It is great that you are able to share those 
statistics, because what they do is show and demonstrate to the 
American people that in fact there is a plan and there is progress.
  We hear some of our friends on the other side saying there is no 
plan, nothing is happening over there that is making any progress. But 
the three-prong plan that you know about well is: one, military, which 
we have talked about; the other, economic, that you have so clearly 
identified with the increase in GDP, a 100 percent increase in their 
economy, the decrease in their unemployment, which is cut by two-
thirds, which is remarkable in terms of the progress there; and then 
there's the third arm, which is the political arm. And what we have 
seen, what the world has seen over the past year are three independent 
elections, each with growing participation by the Iraqi people. They 
understand what is at stake. They understand what is at stake.
  So for anybody to even have any sensibility about saying that there 
just isn't a plan or has not been any progress, just doesn't make sense 
to me.
  Mr. KINGSTON. There is one Sunni province that went from something 
like a 2 percent voter turnout in January 2005 to December 15, 2005, 
having over a 60 percent voter turnout. Lots of people risking lives to 
go to the polls and very enthusiastic about it. When you think about 
the 300 political parties, when here we worry about Democrats versus 
Republicans, but 300 different political parties electing 275 members 
of a new parliament to serve now for 4-year terms, it is going to take 
awhile to have a coalition government put together. Usually those 
things take two or three months to happen.
  But what I saw when I was over there is people wanting to put down 
the gun and pick up the pencil and pick up the paper and say let's move 
from the battlefield to the legislative chamber and debate this.
  There are so many challenges to starting a new nation, but what they 
need right now is the world community behind them. They do not need 
world criticism behind them. I think sometimes our disagreements with 
the administration's foreign policy has led us

[[Page H491]]

to be anti-Iraqi people, and I do not think the critics of the 
administration intend it to be that way, but that is the way it comes 
out overseas.
  So I think we have to say, you know, Democrats and Republicans, and 
Republicans versus Republicans, can disagree on our foreign policy in 
Iraq and the war on terrorism; but we have to stand behind the Iraqi 
people. It is in everyone's interest for Iraq to succeed. And this is 
the point we are at. We cannot go back and say, well, this is what we 
should have done in 2003, this is what we should have done here and 
there. You have to take the situation as it is today and from this 
point on how are we going to move through the future.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Without a doubt. I am so glad you joined us to 
talk about this, because that is what the Official Truth Squad is all 
about, bringing to light the truth of issues, but also understanding 
and appreciating and articulating what our constituents know, and that 
is that these challenges are not Republican challenges or Democrat 
challenges; they are American challenges. They are challenges we all 
have to face together.
  I know the gentleman joins me in just calling on our colleagues to 
step up, to recognize that the Iraqi people need our support now more 
than ever before, and to recognize that we have a lot of hurdles, a lot 
of challenges, but together we can overcome them, as can they.
  I appreciate the gentleman's participation tonight and his expertise 
and perspective to the Official Truth Squad.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Well, I appreciate being with you.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, we have been joined by another 
great colleague, a gentleman from Texas, another member of the freshman 
class and a great fellow who has participated in many of these Official 
Truth Squad activities, Congressman Louie Gohmert, a former judge and 
chief justice of the court of appeals in Texas. He has just great 
experience with this area of the history of national security, and he 
comes tonight to share some of his thoughts with us.
  Congressman Gohmert.
  Mr. GOHMERT. Well, it is refreshing to hear about good things going 
on in Iraq. Of course, we know that some have been concerned a civil 
war may be breaking out over there, but the truth is what this boils 
down to is they have been finding with the IEDs, these explosive 
devices that have been killing now both Iraqis and Americans, that that 
hasn't worked. They have seen we have a President with firm resolve; 
that we are going to stay the course and make sure the country is ready 
to stand on its own and then let her stand.
  So they realized they were not being successful in that regard, so a 
last-ditch effort you have terrorists from other areas coming in and 
blowing up their own precious mosques to try to turn Shi'a against 
Sunni. It is obvious that this is a last-ditch effort to try to divide 
the country, because it scares a lot of folks over there greatly to 
think about a democracy succeeding right in the heart of the Middle 
East. I mean, that could spread to Iran. Boy, that scares Iran. It 
could spread to Syria. There are a number of countries over there that 
it scares them because democracy, as the President has said, could 
change things, and those folks are right on each other's borders.
  If I could take you back to 1973, between my sophomore and junior 
year in college, I was an exchange student in the former Soviet Union. 
Back then we didn't call it the former Soviet Union, it was the Soviet 
Union, and I spent a summer there and associated with and dealt with 
college students there in Ukraine, where I was. And I developed a 
number of friends, one of whom was an engineering student, a smart guy. 
He spoke a little better English than I did Russian. Well, a lot better 
English than I did Russian.
  We had some wonderful conversations. Very frank, very honest 
discussions. And at one point he was saying, you Americans seem to not 
understand why we would cling to communism, but it is the best thing we 
have ever had. We have had two major wars on our own soil and we have 
had to divert most everything to defense just to protect ourselves. As 
he pointed out, you, on the other hand, you have got two major oceans 
protecting the east and the west.
  Think about that. That is profound. And that is something that will 
be written about the United States hundreds of years from now when 
someone writes about the rise and fall of the greatest Nation in the 
history of the world, that we had two major oceans. Now, I would say 
that is a blessing from God. That is what has allowed this Nation to be 
nourished and to grow without much threat of intervention from other 
countries because they had to cross two major oceans to get here.
  The thing that concerns me is finding out we are potentially allowing 
footholds on our own soil. We are giving up an advantage. I didn't 
realize we had other foreign countries managing, leasing, utilizing 
avenues of entry in our ports. But now we have one transaction that is 
up right now with the UAE, the United Arab Emirates. As some have 
pointed out, the UAE has been our friend since 9/11, and that is 
interesting in and of itself; but there is a transaction in question 
that has stirred up much of America, for them to purchase or lease 
terminals at six of our ports. So I think it bears looking into.
  If this goes through, of course they would be handling shipping 
arrivals, departures, unloading at the dock, and other security 
sensitive functions. Yes, we would still have our Coast Guard. Yes, we 
would still have American Customs at work. Some of us are aware that 
they do not always catch everything. We are a little sarcastic 
sometimes in Texas. But they may have containers sitting on their docks 
for a number of days. They will necessarily be aware of the manner in 
which our government inspects containers, how it selects the maybe 5 to 
6 percent that it actually x-rays, how it goes about selecting which 
container will be one of the maybe 1 percent that they actually 
examine.
  The current administration has looked at the issue and seems 
surprised that Americans are really upset about the issue.

                              {time}  1900

  And I want to say about this President, he is the first President in 
at least 30 years to take seriously the threat of a foreign government. 
I know I was in the United States Army at Fort Benning, Georgia, back 
when the United States soil was attacked and Americans were taken 
hostage. That is an act of war. Under international law, you attack 
somebody's embassy, as ours was attacked in Iran, it is an act of war 
and it justifies defending yourself. And we did nothing. We begged them 
to let them go.
  And then later, because of a lack of leadership here in Washington, 
there was a failed rescue attempt that embarrassed us even further. But 
it sent a message that perhaps we do not have the stomach, we cannot 
handle these things. Perhaps if we had had an administration in 
Washington 30 years ago that took care of business when we were 
attacked, we would not be worrying about these issues now. But it did 
not and so we do.
  Some say, well, since the UAE is one of three nations to have 
recognized the Taliban as an official government, that that gives them 
concern, as it should. There are indications that the UAE also saw an 
opportunity for making money, and so apparently there were al Qaeda 
moneys that flowed through UAE systems.
  But this administration has done more to fight terrorism abroad than 
any perhaps in history. This terrorism is a relatively new phenomenon 
for our young country. But we have not done so well at home. And so it 
bears looking at even more closely.
  We need legal immigration. We need people legally coming across the 
border, willing to work. Most all of us were a result of immigrants, 
even being here. It is a good thing, if you are willing to work. But we 
need to secure our borders so terrorists do not come in.
  Now, since there is a war going on near our U.S. border, at our U.S. 
border, and some of us believe there have been insufficient efforts by 
the Federal Government to intervene and help our sheriffs and those 
that are trying to fight that war, it gets even more critical.
  I personally do not believe that this great Nation should be 
contracting out any rights to manage, operate, use,

[[Page H492]]

own any avenue of entry into the U.S., whether it is an airport, 
whether it is a bridge across our border, whether it is a road across 
our border, or whether it is a terminal in our seaports. That is just 
problematic.
  Now, the UAE has been our friend. They have been helpful to us in the 
war on terror, and we do want them as an ally. And I hope and pray we 
have a longstanding relationship with them that just brings us closer.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. GOHMERT. I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. I appreciate the gentleman's comments about the 
Dubai ports deal, because I know that you have received a lot of 
communication from home and I have as well. I tell you, it is one of 
those lightning rod issues that really people have this visceral 
reaction that we just ought not to be allowing a foreign government to 
have some type of operational control over our ports. And I tell you--
and I could not agree more.
  But I will tell you what I think is the wonder and the beauty of our 
system of government is that what we have is congressional oversight 
that allows us to get together, we did so just today in the Financial 
Services Committee, and ask the administration what, how did you reach 
that decision? Did we touch all the bases? Did we do all the right 
steps? Did we make all the right steps? The Senate has done the same 
thing and we will move through this process.
  And so I am heartened by a system of government that has checks and 
balances, that you and I serve in one of those branches, and it allows 
us to move forward and make certain that we understand what our 
constituents understand and that the administration understands what 
our constituents understand, and that is that port security is border 
security and border security is necessary for national security.
  So I appreciate you bringing that issue up.
  Mr. GOHMERT. Will the gentleman yield back?
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Please.
  Mr. GOHMERT. This is also part of an important process. Some people 
say, why would you come down and talk for an hour on the floor of the 
House? It is part of educating our colleagues with information we have 
gleaned in preparing to come here. It is part of educating the people 
that would bother to watch this on television. And we have picked up 
some facts. And it is important people understand there are changing 
relationships, one of the things that concerns us when we have a 
contract that deals with an avenue of entry into this country with a 
foreign country.
  After World War II, we had no better friend than France. They knew 
that they had their freedom, they got their country back over the 
graves of the brave men and women of the United States and other 
countries, they got it back for them. Our Americans died.
  Now, it hasn't been too many years later they have forgotten all 
about that. Now they call us imperialists. And I get a chuckle when I 
hear somebody from France saying we are imperialists, because if we 
really were, they would not be speaking French over there in their 
country right now, and they would not be running their own country and 
they would not be calling us names now.
  But anyway, they are. But it just shows an example of how things 
change with other countries, even some that have been dear friends.
  And I wanted to point out something else that we learned that helps 
people assess how close the UAE actually looks at issues like we do. So 
I went back, I think not only do words have meaning, but votes have 
meaning; and I have a bill pending that we have filed, the U.N. Voting 
Accountability Act, and we have got a lot of Republicans, I know, 
supporting us. I do not know that I have Democrats supporting us. But 
it basically says any country that voted against us more than half the 
time in the U.N. the preceding year gets no financial assistance this 
year. And then it gives the exception for national security, but to the 
President.
  But that caused me to say, well, I wonder how the UAE has voted in 
the U.N.? Well, I went back and looked. My staff has done a great job 
helping out. In 2002, the year after 9/11, there were 90 votes in the 
U.N. Of those, the UAE voted against our position 61 times, with our 
position, 13 times, abstained 13 times and was absent 3 times. Now, not 
exactly a real good, helpful voting record for the U.S.
  But in 2003, there were 85 votes in the U.N. UAE voted against our 
position 66 times, with our position they agreed 8 times, abstained 9 
times and were absent 2 times. Then I went ahead and put these up.
  We do not have 2005 records; those will come out from the U.N. on 
March 31, according to their own rules. But in 2004, the UAE, well, 
there were 79 votes in the U.N. in 2004. They voted with the United 
States 5 times. Oh, good friend, yeah. And then against the United 
States 62 times, abstained 10 times and were absent 2 times.
  So I think those are telling. And I think it is part of the 
democratic process that as Republicans we feel an obligation, I know I 
do, to come down and educate people on what it is we are looking back 
at.
  We know no government lasts forever. I know I left the bench because 
having three daughters, I just could not leave this world without 
trying to leave this country better than it was when we found it.
  I do not want to leave a country that is not secure.
  I do not want to leave a country that is overly in debt. And those 
are reasons, I know we have talked before with my good friend from 
Georgia, these are things we hold dear that are important to us. And I 
want to make sure that in the 100, 200, 300, whoever knows how many 
years from now when somebody writes The Rise and Fall of the Greatest 
Nation on Earth, it does not fall to us that we let things slip by 
giving people who may have liked us at one time a foothold on our soil 
that elevated into something that hurt us down the road.
  One other parenthetical. Of course, as an old judge, I am concerned 
about due process. And I heard the gentleman from Georgia talking about 
eavesdropping on foreigners calling in here. We know terrorists. By 
golly, if a terrorist is calling the United States, we need to know 
what they are saying.
  But on the other hand, when you look at due process within the United 
States, it has been so critical, it is so important to us. If you do 
not secure the borders and keep out people that want to come in and 
hurt you, then you are necessarily going to have give up due process 
rights within the United States to protect yourself and stay secure.
  I do not want to do that. I want to secure all our avenues of entry 
and make sure we do not give up due process rights.
  Of course, if you are a terrorist trying to phone home or phone into 
our home from your home where you hate us, then look out. We are going 
to be watching.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. I thank the gentleman from Texas so very, very 
much for enlightening us. And I think the take-home message here is 
that port security is border security and border security is national 
security. And that is something I think that the American people 
understand very, very clearly.
  And I appreciate you bringing the information about the U.N. votes. 
We have got, if you look at it, in fact, there are not many nations on 
the face of the Earth that support us as we would like them to in the 
United Nations, and we look forward to bringing that information to 
light.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to be a part of the Official Truth Squad, a 
group that comes down here almost every night and tries to bring some 
positive information about the United States, who tries to shed light 
on issues that are so often distorted here in the House Chamber.
  The most important thing is, I think, that we all are truly blessed 
to live in this wondrous Nation. This is a nation that has given more 
freedom and more liberty and more prosperity to more individuals on the 
face of the Earth than any Nation in the history of mankind; and it is 
our privilege, it is our privilege to represent a portion of that 
Nation here in the House of Representatives.
  I once again appreciate the opportunity to share some thoughts with 
my colleagues here in the House, and look forward to coming back at 
some point in the future. And I yield back the balance of my time.




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