[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 119 (Thursday, September 21, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H6911-H6917]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING SERVICEMEMBERS IN GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Reichert). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. WAMP. Mr. Speaker, as I rise tonight to begin this hour, I rise
with a very heavy heart, but with the most renewed sense of pride and
patriotism I have ever had as I honor the life of Sergeant David Thomas
Weir.
Sergeant David Weir died 8 days ago on the streets of Baghdad in
service to our country. He is from Cleveland, TN, where last night over
2,000 people showed up at the Bradley Central High School football
arena to honor a great American hero.
{time} 1815
I spoke with Sergeant Weir's mother and father 2 days ago, Lynn and
Jackie Weir, and it is just extraordinary to me that there are families
in this country that love freedom so much, love our country so much
that even in the most grief and sadness they could ever imagine or
experience, a hundred percent believe in the mission, the service, the
sacrifice of their own son to defend liberty for our Nation.
Lynn Weir told me that if he would have tried, and he didn't, to keep
his son from going, he could not have kept his son from going. He said
David Weir, from the time he was a little boy, wanted to serve his
country in uniform. He was a member of the 101st Airborne. This was his
career. This was his way of life. He leaves a wife behind, Alison; a
little 18-month-old son, Gavin, who does not understand what has
happened. But everyone else knows very clearly what has happened. A
great American patriot died doing what he wanted to do, which was to
stand in harm's way on behalf of our civilian population, as the
Greatest Generation did, as other generations have been called to, at a
time when there is a very real and imminent threat to our way of life
called the Islamic jihadists.
And Sergeant Weir goes to heaven, leaves this Earth, as others have,
in the most sacrificial way, answering the scriptural call that says
``No greater love hath any man than to lay down his life for his
friends.''
And I say to Jackie and to Lynn and to Alison and to Gavin, your
father; your husband; Chris, his brother; your son gave his life for
everyone in our country. We will never forget him. We will always
remember him. We hail his life, a sacrificial life of service to
others, putting everyone else above himself, believing in his mission
and his comrades.
His father said he talked to him the day before and he was so excited
about getting out in the streets of Baghdad because he didn't want to
be sitting behind a desk, because that was not what he was trained to
do. That was not what he volunteered to do. That was not what he was
prepared to do. He did what he went there to do, and it cost him his
life. And while his parents grieve, our State and our Nation stand
united, I believe, in their full appreciation of his life and his
sacrifice and his extraordinary courage and bravery.
On Monday, this coming Monday, I am honored to be with the family in
Chattanooga, Tennessee, with full military honors as we lay him to rest
in the national cemetery.
Thank you, Sergeant Weir, for loving our country so much that you
were willing to die for it.
Another friend from my district, Lieutenant Colonel Brett Hale, is
there serving in Iraq today. He is the commander of the Dragon Slayers.
He too is a patriot. His family is back home praying for him every day,
a wife and children.
He sent me an e-mail 10 days ago. I want to read part of it in my
tribute and our honor on the House floor tonight of these great
American patriots who volunteered to serve our country and make their
life secondary to ours.
He wrote me and said: ``If we could only get the truth communicated
to the public, they would know we have made great strides here in Iraq.
Weekly we are transferring responsibility for the security in many
provinces,'' and another one was transferred yesterday, ``and cities
back to the Iraqi military. While certain people want to say it is a
`civil war,' I want to tell you firsthand it is more about Islamic
jihadists crossing over the borders. They continue to attempt to
disrupt a young emerging democracy. The insurgents are capitalizing on
the inexperience of this government and directly causing the sectarian
violence and so-called fueling the fire. They get more and more
strength and resolve when they hear the discourse in our country. They
know it is only a matter of time before we give up because we perceive
the war in Iraq is too difficult.
``We all know anything worthwhile is not easy. Freedom is not free.
The Iraqis are trying to make it work. If we retreat, the terrorists
win. They win now and they win in the future when they have a safe
haven to plan, train, and operate and attack us again.
``It is our choice. We are either going to support our efforts to win
the global war on terror, or we are going to support those that want to
retreat inside our borders and wait for the next attack. We found out
on 9/11 if we retreat, they attack.
``Finally, why did we go to Iraq? Ask yourself why did we fight
Germany in World War II? Japan attacked us, not Germany. The same
principle applies. We couldn't take the chance then and we can't now.
Those that say otherwise are sympathizing with the enemy.''
That is from Lieutenant Colonel Brett Hale to me on the ground in
Iraq. What a patriot. As he says, the word is not getting out in this
country in a fair way of the progress that we are making. As General
Casey said, ``If we leave, they will follow us home.'' These threats
are real.
Mr. Speaker, I have been down here 4 weeks in a row as I have been in
Washington to try to go through the severity of these real threats
around the world and the fact that the jihadists are spreading like
wildfire through Europe. Read the book ``While Europe Slept.'' Read the
book ``Londonstan.'' You will know that through the mosques there is a
radicalization under way. Even the Pope can't speak of it because it is
not politically correct to say that fanaticism in religion is not good
for the world. It ought to be obvious. Regardless of what the religion
is or how many there are or what is politically correct, fanaticism
does lead to holy wars and the crusades. And we don't want that. We
want the mullahs and the ayatollahs to condemn suicide bombings. We
want peace and security for the world. We want our allies to have a
backbone and stand up and acknowledge the threat. We want our
[[Page H6912]]
President to go to the United Nations and say we can't appease other
countries. We have to stand behind security for all and freedom for
people and liberty everywhere.
We are all amazed in this country that from our own hemisphere to the
south, the President of Venezuela come to our country and says this.
Hugo Chavez is his name. In this country we call each other out of
respect. Even the people who just spoke, whom I couldn't disagree with
more. The people who just spoke are all talking politics. They are all
interested in the next election, not, frankly, the future of our
country and preserving liberty and standing up and meeting the
challenge of this generation. It is all for them about 47 days from now
in an election instead of ``I believe in my gut,'' standing up and
protecting our country. But despite that, because we are decent,
reasonable, we call them ``honorable.'' We call each other
``honorable,'' regardless of whether we agree or not.
I have got to tell you what the President of Venezuela did in this
country yesterday was dishonorable. It dishonored his nation. It
dishonors the people of his nation. It dishonors everyone south of here
in our hemisphere because what it does is it causes people in this
country not to trust or even like people who come into this country and
say what President Hugo Chavez said yesterday.
He said this: ``The devil was here yesterday. It still smells of
sulfur around here,'' he added. He said, ``The President of the United
States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking
as if he owned the world, truly, as the owner of the world.
``I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday's
statement made by the President of the United States. As the spokesman
of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the
current pattern of domination, exploitation, and pillage of the peoples
of the world.''
He said, ``The President of the United States came to talk to the
peoples--to the peoples of world. What would those peoples of the world
tell him if they were given the floor? . . . I think I have some
inkling of what the peoples of the south, the oppressed peoples, think.
They would say, `Yankee imperialist, go home.'
``I have the feeling, dear world dictator, that you are going to live
the rest of your days as a nightmare because the rest of us are
standing up, all those who are rising up against American imperialism,
who are shouting for equality, for respect, for the sovereignty of
nations.''
This was the President of Venezuela, in our country, saying this.
And let us praise a Democrat in this House named Charlie Rangel, whom
I seldom agree with. But, boy, do I appreciate his patriotism in
defense of our country and its traditions when he said this today. He
said, ``You do not come into my country, my congressional district, and
you do not condemn my President. If there is any criticism of President
Bush, it should be restricted to Americans, whether they voted for him
or not. I just want to make it abundantly clear to Hugo Chavez or any
other president, do not come to the United States and think because we
have problems with our President that any foreigner can come to our
country and not think that Americans do not feel offended when you
offend our Commander in Chief.''
Thank you, Charlie Rangel, for being an honorable Democrat who stands
united at this time of war.
Hugo Chavez is a troublemaker in a big way. He wants to work with
Iranian President Ahmadinejad. I watched his interview last night on
Anderson Cooper, and he calmly looked Anderson Cooper in the eyes, and
he gave a very warped view of history, not even willing to acknowledge
that the Holocaust took place. Completely in denial. You would have to
wonder where in the world he gets his facts or his view of the world.
This is a troubling time in American history. I say to young people
everywhere I go, the days ahead will be very, very difficult. We need
to be honest with them about this. But the character of this great
Nation was born out of the sacrifices, the courage, and the willingness
to face these challenges of our grandparents and our great-
grandparents. The Greatest Generation, they are the standard for
stepping up to meeting global challenges, and they gave us our
character. We didn't get our character by the big buildings or Wall
Street or wealth or even military power. We got it by sacrifice and
dedication and commitment and family, and they are the standard.
They didn't cower or retreat from these challenges. They stood up.
They faced them head on. They showed us what it took to preserve
freedom and extend it from one generation to the next. And we must do
the same thing. We must come together as a Nation.
I hate it that we are in the middle of this political campaign while
we are at war because it is not good for us to say the things we say,
even on the floor of this House. It is not good for Lieutenant Colonel
Hale and others to look back here and see the potshots being fired. I
hate it that over half of the Democrats in the Senate voted to remove
Saddam Hussein by force and almost half of the Democrats voted and now
they all say it was a mistake.
Let me tell you there has never been a pretty war. Never. There has
never been one perfectly executed, and you do not remove a genocidal
mass murderer with a picnic. It is ugly. And a brand new democracy
takes a while to develop. And it is tough. Tough. But thank goodness
that men and women in uniform will volunteer to go serve and carry out
this tough mission and extend liberty from one generation to the next.
These are difficult days. America needs to pull together.
I want to yield to my colleagues that have come tonight, two of the
people I respect the most in the House. First the gentlewoman from
North Carolina.
{time} 1830
Virginia Foxx is a new Member, but you would never know it because
she has got tons of experience, and she has been down here standing up
for what she believes, day in and day out. I want to yield to her on
this most important issue of global security.
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Tennessee
(Mr. Wamp) for organizing this event tonight, and the other ones that
he has mentioned. I think it is important that we stand up here and
explain to the American people things that they may not hear on their
local television station, and that we let folks know how strongly some
of us feel about what is happening in this world and what options we
have and what things we ought to be doing about it.
Mr. Speaker, the proliferation of Islam extremism and jihadism has
already inflicted our Nation with great pain; and it continues to grow
and spread. And it is our job to continue to fight these Islamofascists
on their land and on our terms. Any other option is unacceptable.
When the Islamic religion is perverted, twisted and turned into an
excuse for hatred, violence and the extermination of entire
populations, we must stand against it and remain steadfast in our
battle to eliminate this extremism.
This situation has been brewing for a long time. It is not something
that just happened overnight. It is a clash of ideologies. It is a
fight between freedom and democracy versus terrorism and tyranny. This
is a battle we cannot afford to lose.
To allow the terrorists to win would destroy America and modern
civilization as a whole. We must persist in rooting out terrorist cells
and those who preach hatred and death and continue to adapt to the
needs of the war on terror to ensure security, stability and freedom
throughout the world.
Make no mistake about it, this goal will yield a prolonged effort. We
must never forget the day America awoke to the frightening new world
where jihadists flew planes into buildings, killing over 3,000 innocent
civilians. While we have yet to experience another attack on American
soil, there are continuous plots that have been executed and others
that have been foiled. The bombing of a night club in Bali, the bombing
of a commuter train in Spain, and the bombings last summer in London on
the subway and buses are only a brief list of terrorist attacks that
have been planned and executed by Islamofascists.
Yet, through intelligence sharing, surveillance programs, and
effective antiterrorist initiatives, other plans have been foiled, such
as the attempt of shoe bomber Richard Reed and the
[[Page H6913]]
recent plot to blow up planes en route to the United States from Great
Britain.
Furthermore, due to the nature of their work, the greatest success by
those in our intelligence community will never be known. There is no
negotiating with Islamofascists who demand death and violence against
anyone who does not accept their warped world view. We must remain
vigilant against this very brutal and very real threat.
As I speak of the rising threat of Islamofascism and its role in the
global war on terror, I must object to the unbelievable and outright
deceptive speech of the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. While
we should be condemning such tyrannical leaders who preach hate and
destruction, I was stunned that he was given the opportunity to address
the United Nations, an organization whose resolutions he has repeatedly
ignored.
It points out again how dysfunctional the U.N. has become. He
mentioned that justice was a victim of force and aggression, which it
certainly was when he participated in the overthrow of the American
embassy in Iran in 1979 and held American hostages for 444 days.
He spoke of ridding the world of nuclear, biological, and chemical
weapons, yet he continually refuses to halt the production of enriched
uranium in Iran. He wants to rid the world of aggression and strive for
peace, even though he created a proxy war in Lebanon and continually
funnels weapons to Hezbollah.
I was astonished when he spoke of dignity for all human beings and
his longing for peace. These words are surprising to hear from a man
who has prayed for the demise of America and constantly calls for
Israel to be wiped off the map.
His biography reads like a horror novel, directing multiple
assignments while he was in elite military units and working with
Ansar-I Hizbullah, the violent Islamic vigilante group. His main goal
is the destruction of Western Civilization.
That speech was a complete farce. He has shown his true agenda time
after time, and one misleading speech at the United Nations will not
fool America or the world. While we witnessed the Iranian dictator
lecture us on freedom, democracy and justice, it is ironic that in his
own country this tyrant denies his own people the basic rights of
freedom of speech and freedom to assemble.
His speech focused on freedom, justice and dignity for human beings.
But as the president, he has done nothing to bring any of his so-called
goals to his own people. Women are denied rights of inheritance,
divorce and child custody, and use of their rights of self-expression
and economic creativity.
Basic rights are denied to the people of Iran, and that is why, even
with the soaring prices of oil, more than 40 percent of the Iranians
live below the poverty line. Today in Iran, dissent is brutally
suppressed and terror is the regime's only instrument of domestic or
foreign policy.
While he may resent us for being powerful, he does not realize that
the foundation of our power is rooted in the freedom of our great
people to pursue happiness, to innovate and to speak freely.
This tyrant accuses the free world that they are denying the people
of Iran their right to nuclear energy. Yet he forgets that the Islamic
regime is denying the great people of Iran their God-given rights to
self-respect and human dignity. He spoke of universal justice, yet he
denies the existence of the Holocaust.
This regime wrongfully portrays the war on terror as a war of
civilizations. Yet, he uses every opportunity to export its brutal
ideology violently to other nations. We are not at war with any
peaceful religion or civilization. We are at war with terrorists, and
terrorists' warped interpretation of religion.
We need to protect the civilized world from the threat that these
people represent. Mr. Speaker, we suffered a setback on the war on
terrorism by allowing this terrorist a podium from which to address the
world.
And, again, I think that it is our place here in the United States
Congress to remind the world of who is the country that represents true
freedom, true democracy, true opportunity for people, and to continue
to bring this message to people and speak the truth, instead of
allowing people like that to come to this country and live in a fantasy
world that they live in.
Again, I want to thank my colleagues for being here tonight, and for
the other times that they have been here to bring this message to the
country and to anyone who is watching us. I want to turn the time back
over to my colleague, Mr. Wamp from Tennessee.
Mr. WAMP. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her service and
for her message tonight on this global threat.
Before I yield to the gentleman from Michigan, let me just remind
everyone here in the House of Representatives and anyone who may be
watching our proceedings tonight, Mr. Speaker, that regardless of what
some would have you believe, or even you may get filtered to you
through the national media, this war is with fanatics called the
jihadists, who, by their own charter and their own doctrine, want to
reestablish a caliphate for themselves and their rule that extends from
northwest Africa all of the way east, basically, to the Far East,
through Indonesia, above Australia.
And I say that because those are the words that were in the letter
that Zarqawi wrote to Zawahari before we killed Zarqawi. The top al
Qaeda leaders, in their own communication with each other, said, use
the infidels', the U.S., that is what they call us, presence in Iraq to
recruit insurgents and other terrorists to try to extend this
caliphate, reestablish the caliphate for radical Arab rule. So this is
an aggressive plan.
If we left Iraq tomorrow, the terrorists would not only win, but it
would advance their cause. And it is spreading. This is a real threat,
and it did not just start on September 11. That was one more attack. It
happened to be the largest. But it was not the first on American soil
or American sovereignty.
They tried to bring the World Trade Center down in 1993, and their
engineering did not work. We did not pay enough attention to it. But
they had hit our embassies, which is sovereign U.S. land in other
countries, time and time again, the same people.
It all started, Mr. Speaker, in 1979 in Iran, the sponsor of
Hezbollah, which has now exported terrorism and frankly stolen the
government of Lebanon from the Lebanese people and engaged in war with
Israel, and elected terrorist leadership in Palestine called Hamas. And
these terror networks are coordinating and spreading and the threats
are growing, and our way of life in the future will be at stake if men
and women do not stand in harm's way on our behalf.
And you may say, well, that is over there on the other side of the
ocean. But I will tell you when Hugo Chavez comes here and says what he
said yesterday, and he is coordinating and communicating with these
terrorist leaders from other countries, and identifying himself with
them, standing with them, wanting to be on their team, and he is in our
hemisphere, and through his oil he is trying to bribe and own other
South American countries by lending them oil so they will be obligated
to him, and he has a warped sense of reality, and comes and says these
ridiculous crazy things like he said yesterday, we have threats.
That brings us to the southern border. Because I will tell you, our
security in this country is critically attached to our ability to keep
people that we do not want in this country from coming across the most
porous place, and that is our southern border. I want to talk about
that again in a moment, but right now I want to yield to a Member from
Michigan who people from one side of the spectrum to the other here in
this House look at as one of the most knowledgeable, intellectual,
thoughtful, tough Members of the House, Thaddeus McCotter from
Michigan. I am so honored he came to the floor tonight to stand with me
and go through this Special Order. The gentleman from Michigan.
Mr. McCOTTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. For a moment there
I thought you were introducing someone else. But I appreciate the
compliment, however misguided it may be. We in America are so seemingly
secure in our rights, our liberties, our
[[Page H6914]]
God-given constitutionally recognized rights, that we too often
cursorily scan our Nation's foundational truths which secure those
liberties.
We also as a young Nation far too often have a disdain for history,
because since our inception, our eyes always have been fixed forward,
towards the progression of our Nation and the expansion of liberty to
our fellow Americans. We also, because of the size of our country and
its vast beauty, tend to overlook world geography and the relative
situation of other nations to each other.
We cannot do that any longer. We cannot ignore the mistakes of past
history. We cannot ignore the realities of geography. And we cannot
ever endeavor to forget our own history. As the gentleman pointed out,
we call each other in this house ``honorable,'' and rightly so. For we
are all people who have been elected to serve our fellow Americans.
And he rightly pointed out the remarks of the gentleman, the
distinguished and honorable gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel). He
could not have pointed to a finer example. Because Mr. Rangel not only
serves his Nation in this Chamber; Mr. Rangel also is a decorated
veteran who served his Nation in a foreign war.
I bring up history to Mr. Rangel because like the gentleman from
Tennessee and the gentlewoman from North Carolina, to Mr. Rangel
history has a way of revealing the elemental truths of a Nation to
itself however unwilling we may be at the time to recognize them, for
the very same Mr. Rangel who defended our Nation abroad, had ancestors
in this country who were enslaved by the government and the people of
this Nation.
The gentleman from Tennessee and the gentlewoman from North Carolina
and myself doubtless had relatives in the United States at the time of
the Civil War who were sworn enemies who endeavored to kill each other.
{time} 1845
Yet because of the foundational truth of this Nation, we stand here
today recognizing each other as honorable and joined in the peaceful
resolution of our political disputes, because where there is liberty,
there is a chance to transcend history to a better tomorrow. In our
Nation's history, we have always done so.
When we look abroad, we can go back to the past of that great
conflagration that emancipated a race and forged a more perfect Union,
to what we are trying to do today. For it is by remembering that in the
age of industrialization America could not endure half slave and half
free that we realize in an age of globalization our world cannot endure
half slave and half free.
When we face the grim contest, the unsought struggle in which we find
ourselves against Jihadist fascism, which is more akin to a death cult
than any governing political philosophy, we can trace the strain of our
own trials and tribulations to ensure more perfect liberty to ourselves
and to the efforts that young men and women of our military and our
State Department and others are trying to expand throughout the globe,
because we know that America's security rests in the promotion of
liberty.
We face an enemy that seeks to enslave the globe under its warped
worship of death. If we fail in the task before us in the Middle East,
if we allow the newly emancipated people of Iraq, the newly emancipated
people of Afghanistan, to be thrown to the wolves at their door, and
allow Iraq to evolve back into a state sponsor of terror, if we allow
the Taliban and its bloodthirsty ilk to again rule Afghanistan and turn
female parliamentarians back into property, slavery will have consumed
them, and our liberty will be imperiled.
When we look at the efforts of Ahmadinejad and Chavez, we see a
common union between oppressors. We see that the Iranian President
would seek to impose the oppression that he puts upon his own people,
and his common link with the Venezuelan oppressor of his own people. It
would be easy at this point in time to see Mr. Chavez is nothing but a
third-rate Castro clone, but he is not, because while Mr. Chavez may
seem to us to be a bit of a caricature, he is actually a very cunning
individual, as is the President of Iran.
The President of Iran, I believe, has a very good grasp of geography.
The President of Iran understands that while we have helped to expand
liberty on the frontiers of Iran in places such as Afghanistan and
Iraq, which have put nascent democracies on his doorstep, he needs only
to look to South America to see the conditions of poverty and
oppression that are rife within that continent and seek to prey upon
them by joining league not with duly elected democratic governments
that are out to better the quality of lives of their people, but he
joins hands with Hugo Chavez to attack the President of the United
States, to attack the United States of America, to distract both their
citizens, citizens of both countries, from the reality that it is they
who are oppressing them, not the United States, who is emancipating
them.
If we look at our southern border and the absence of security, the
comity between Mr. Ahmadinejad and Mr. Chavez is clear, and the danger
to our security becomes clear. If we have, as some reports lead us to
believe, indications of Jihadist fascism in South America, in Mexico,
in other places, that are willing to cross the border, or joining with
gangs to cross the border, it is painfully obvious to see that what the
President of Iran will do is export his version of worldwide slavery,
through the person of Mr. Chavez, with the assistance of the Cuban
dictator Fidel Castro, and try to utilize our lax and porous southern
border to help these individuals infiltrate the United States.
You see, we may not know geography, we may not learn the lessons of
history of how dictators band together to attack free people, and we
may be devoid of our own knowledge of our own responsibilities to each
other and to our fellow citizens, but our enemies are not. Our enemies
believe our strengths are our weaknesses. It is up to us to prove them
wrong.
For as every generation of Americans before us, when faced with a
challenge to their own liberty and security, have met that challenge
directly, they have defeated it, and they have expanded liberty to
their fellow human beings abroad.
I have no doubt we will continue to do the same, because as Americans
it has been our tradition, and it is our duty, and we have never
shirked from our duty as a free people.
Mr. WAMP. I thank the gentleman so much for his articulation of these
problems, and the potential threats. Clearly our hemisphere could
become a serious problem for us because of these relationships. If you
don't think it's a global problem, you should follow what has happened
in East and North Africa just in recent weeks where, in Somalia, one of
the top al Qaeda members on our watch list is put in charge of the
Government of Somalia.
The Sudan is a meltdown, there is a vacuum; Algeria, much the same.
Just last week, for the first time, our country established a U.S.
military command in northern Africa. Why? Because there is a vacuum in
leadership.
What interests do the terrorist networks have in a vacuum of
leadership? That is what they had in Afghanistan. The Taliban took over
Afghanistan because there was no leadership, and it gave them a
sovereign nation from which to operate.
Frankly, one of the elemental factors in my decision to vote to
remove Saddam Hussein by force was to make sure that in the heart of
the Middle East we didn't give them another sovereign nation from which
to operate, and we sure don't want to let them come into one of these
areas in northern Africa and take over a country like they did
Afghanistan.
You know, it was a crafty way that Hezbollah took control in Lebanon.
Go in with some money backed by Iran, money and oil revenues, and
basically put people to work, make them obligated to you. Frankly, it
is the same kind of thing that Castro did years ago with communism in
Central and South America. Meet them at their point of need, make
friends with them, and then put them to work for your way of thinking,
dictatorial; speaking of imperialism, repressing all human rights. You
know, I tell you what, I daresay that people in Venezuela don't have
the right to speak there as Chavez spoke here in just the most blatant
way. These threats are real. No one, no one likes war.
[[Page H6915]]
John Stuart Mill said this: War is an ugly thing, but it is not the
ugliest of things. He said the decayed and degraded state of patriotic
feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. He said a
person who has nothing for which they are willing to fight, nothing
they care more about than their own personal safety, is a miserable
creature, who has no chance of ever being free, unless those very
freedoms are made and kept by better persons than himself, end quote.
Those better persons are the men and women in uniform of our Armed
Forces, who every single one volunteered to serve our country; whether
in the Guard, Reserve or Active Duty, every single one of them
volunteered to stand in harm's way on our behalf.
The President of the United States believes deep in his soul that
this mission must be carried out and completed, and I agree with him.
It is so important, especially right now, with all of these voices in
the world and all of these people jockeying for legitimacy and
position, that we are not in retreat, that we follow through on our
commitments, that we don't leave the people of the Middle East
wondering if America has all of a sudden, for the first time in 230
years, lost our heart, lost our backbone, our resolve.
We can't afford to fail in Iraq. No matter how you voted, or no
matter how many mistakes have been made, or no matter how you spin it,
we can't afford to fail. We can't afford to retreat. We can't afford to
leave early. There is a lot at stake. The enemy is real. The enemy is
all over the place.
I am a member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee,
have been since we established the Department of Homeland Security.
Some things I can say, some things I can't say. There are a lot of
people in this country we don't want here, because we are free, because
there are 2,000 miles along the Mexican-U.S. border, because there are
5,500 miles along the Canadian-U.S. border, because there are 12,000
miles of U.S. coastline, because there are 328 million people that come
across our land border crossings each year, because there are 71
million people that come in through our international airports from all
over the world. There are 157 land ports of entry.
We have a lot of people coming and going from this country, and now
there are a lot of people in this country that, the truth is, we don't
want them here; that because we are a free country and they haven't yet
done anything wrong here, we don't remove them. We don't line them up
and ship them out until they do something wrong. But I have got to tell
you, we are watching them, because the threats are real.
Hezbollah is the A team in terrorism. They are the source of the
conflict between the Lebanese, well, actually, between Hezbollah and
Israel in Lebanon, because they pirated the country from the Lebanese,
not their fault. That was a huge conflict 2 months ago. Thankfully they
are not warring today, but that is Iranian-based, started next door to
Iraq, still the source of the terrorist insurgents into Iraq.
These threats are real, they are global, and we have to watch our own
southern border.
Let me continue on the southern border. There is a lot of talk about
immigration reform, and we need to continue to carry it out. But I will
tell you, the American people just want to see that southern border
that I mentioned was 2,000 miles long secured. But one thing that we
haven't had much help in is the word getting out of what has happened,
because I want to tell you, as a member of that subcommittee, what has
happened in the last 12 months, because there has been a serious effort
under way to secure the southern border in the last 12 months.
Last week our chairman, Hal Rogers from Kentucky, gave testimony to
our entire leadership at a hearing, and I attended it, that is really
compelling. One of the most important things that the Department of
Homeland Security has done is they ended the policy that had evolved
from 20 years back that was known as catch and release, and replaced it
with a new policy called catch and return.
Now, catch and release said that if you were an illegal immigrant
coming across our southern border, and you were apprehended, you would
be arrested for a misdemeanor charge of illegally entering the United
States and released on your own recognizance depending on your open
court date, and people obviously would not come to court. So thereby
people would gain into our country and disappear into our country and
probably get a bogus Social Security card so that they could be hired
by somebody, and that would constitute the 12 million illegals that we
have here now.
We stopped that policy. In the last 60 days, 99 percent of aliens
apprehended along the southwest and northern borders are detained and
removed from this country. So catch and release was replaced by catch
and remove. A year ago, it was 34 percent were sent back to their
country of origin. Today it is 99 percent, a huge change in the
culture.
Now, let me tell you what that act says, and the gentleman in the
chair knows that better than anybody because of his background. It acts
as a deterrent. What you want in law enforcement is not a perfect
system that catches every single person every single time; you want a
deterrent that is raised a level at which it keeps things from
happening because most of the people get caught.
This is an effective deterrent, because word has spread back through
Central and South America that if you go to all the hassle of getting
to the southern border, and then somehow you get across, I am going to
tell you in a minute that is not as easy as it used to be either, and
you get caught, you will not be released into the United States of
America. You will be held and then sent back to your country of origin.
Once that word spreads, a whole lot less people come because they don't
want to go to the hassle and the risk of dying or being injured or
whatever, and then not be released into our country.
But it was so easy for so long that it happened so often, and we
ended up with 12 million. As a matter of fact, in July of this year
alone, our Border Patrol apprehended 66,000 illegal aliens along the
Mexican border, a staggering number in 1 month, 66,000 illegal aliens.
{time} 1900
But, guess what? That was 31,000 fewer than the previous year in the
same month. Word is getting out: we are not going to allow you to stay;
don't come here illegally.
Yet we are going to come up with, I believe before the end of this
year, not only strengthened border security in a meaningful way, which
is well under way with 6,000 National Guard troops. $21.2 billion has
been spent on the southern border in the last 12 months. $21.2 billion,
on everything from agents to detention beds.
We now have 13,000 agents and 4,000 new detention beds, 1,500 new
Border Patrol agents, for over 13,000 agents and 6,000 Guardsmen. That
is 18,000 people on the southern border, catching these people by the
minute and sending them home and getting the word out: you are not
going to be released into this country. It is an effective deterrent.
Things are changing.
But I do believe by the end of the year we are not only going to have
additional legislation to continue the fence, sometimes it is visible,
sometimes it is not because you can have a protective barrier by using
the latest in technology depending on the frequency of people coming,
but we are also, I believe, going to come up with some kind of a guest
worker plan, so that the work gets done in agriculture, in
construction, that needs to be done; but everybody is going to know.
You have got to identify yourself and have a real card, biometrically
certified, that this is you. Employers are going to have a period of
time to comply, or there will be serious enforcement. I believe we are
going to deliver this whole thing by the end of the year.
But the border is much more secure than it was a year ago. Tremendous
progress has been made.
More Members have come to join me. When the gentleman from Texas is
ready, I want to yield time to him, because few people have the
experience that he has, both in the law and being from the State of
Texas on this particular issue of border security.
Let me also say that the Department of Homeland Security is going to
roll out this month, in September, a multi-billion dollar border
security technology and tactical infrastructure program called SBI Net,
a program that is
[[Page H6916]]
committed to obtaining control of the borders within the next 5 years.
What they are doing now in the Science and Technology Directorate at
the Department of Homeland Security under the incredibly capable
leadership of Admiral Cohen is deploying finally all the abundant
technology that we have. Even Thomas Friedman, who wrote ``The World is
Flat,'' has had to amend his book to say, I overlooked a lot of
technology that exists in this country.
We are now taking that technology to the border to put it to use
through the Department of Homeland Security to secure the border and
biometrically certify people.
Now, we don't want a national ID card, but we want people who are
coming here to work to have a card that shows that is them. I believe
that is going to be part of this more comprehensive solution. I don't
want to even use the word ``comprehensive solution,'' because the
Senate passed a bill earlier this year that they called comprehensive
immigration reform that is going to cause many, many, many more
problems than it is going to solve.
So we don't want to be associated with that comprehensive approach.
We want to say that we want a guest worker plan with border security
and get it done, and we are getting it done.
Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Gohmert).
Mr. GOHMERT. I thank the gentleman. I appreciate the time, and I
appreciate your calling attention to so many of these important issues.
We have heard today that there is an agreement between the White House
and the Senate on the issue of interrogation.
It has amazed me, Mr. Speaker, that so many people that work here in
the Capitol, most of them down at the other end, have not understood
what really goes on. You would have thought, especially someone who had
been a POW, would understand what people like my hero, former POW Sam
Johnson, understands, that, as he has pointed out to me, Korea signed
on to the Geneva Convention, Vietnam signed on to the Geneva
Convention, they did not observe it at all. Yet we had people in this
Capitol saying, gee, we have got to be careful because it might cause
mistreatment of our troops.
All you got to do is look around, look at the news, read the news.
Our troops have been, are being, mistreated. When you stick a knife and
cut the guy's throat and head as he is screaming, that is not somebody
that observes the Geneva Accords. We don't do that kind of thing. We
never have, never will. But we are in a war for our survival.
One of the things that has probably amazed my friends on this side of
the aisle is we have heard even from a former marine lambasting current
active duty marines as being cold-blooded killers, as saying the
Defense Department is all engaged in this coverup. They need to give
credit where credit is due.
I spent 4 years in the Army, and I can tell you having visited troops
around different spots in the globe and the country, we have the best
fighting forces, men and women, ever in our history; and they deserve
better treatment than they have been getting. Oh, yes, we hear, oh, we
support our troops, and in the same breath turn around and lambaste
them.
So if it would be permissible, I would like to pay tribute to one
more. I did this last night, a man that won the Congressional Medal of
Honor for his bravery and heroism. I would like to pay tribute right
now to another gentleman. I have been asking for information on people
that won our Nation's highest awards, to pay tribute, as a contrast to
what some of our friends across the aisle have done in lambasting and
criticizing so unfairly our troops.
Tonight, I would like to recognize another true American hero. On
October 28, 2005, Dallas native Captain Joshua Glover was presented
this Nation's third highest award for valor in combat, the Silver Star
Medal.
The 2001 Naval Academy graduate received his award in Washington,
D.C. from the commandant of the Marine Corps, General Michael Hagee.
Glover received the award for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity
in action against the enemy while serving as 81mm mortar platoon
commander with Weapons Company and quick reaction force platoon
commander, 1st Marine Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine
Division, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on April 13, 2004, in
Fallujah.
That morning, First Lieutenant Josh Glover led and directed his
platoon through enemy lines to recover classified material from a
downed CH-53 helicopter. As the sun came up, they started receiving
incoming fire, including a mortar fire explosion that created three
casualties.
With wounded marines, Glover got permission to return to base. On the
way back, the convoy ran into between 30 and 40 insurgents hiding in
reeds, irrigation ditches and standing by the road firing from the hip.
As they plowed on, one of the Humvees was hit, wounding several more
marines, which also included one fatality.
Running on flat tires, the convoy made its way back to base, only to
be sent out again 7 hours later. Despite losing one of their own that
morning, Lieutenant Glover's marines were ready to go again under his
command.
About 15 marines were trapped behind enemy lines after insurgents hit
their amphibious vehicle with several rocket-propelled grenades,
killing one marine and wounding two others. Under heavy insurgent fire,
a rocket-propelled grenade, or an RPG, was shot at Glover's vehicle at
close-range and thankfully missed.
Glover and his marines found themselves up against a company-sized
Iraqi force along the enemy's main line of resistance where as stated
in the Silver Star citation: ``He repeatedly exposed himself to enemy
fire as he engaged enemy targets at point-blank range while directing
the rifle platoon's relief and coordinating recovery operations.''
Ultimately, Lieutenant Glover and his marines fought their way
through to the marines trapped and were able to get them and the slain
marine's body out.
When asked about the war, Lieutenant Glover humbly diverted attention
away from himself and said, ``I received this award because of
something we did as a platoon. I am really proud of what we
accomplished that day.''
He said, ``When you are in combat, I think you do it for your fellow
marines. You know you got 60 reasons why you have got to do it well.''
While the battle for which Glover was awarded was a success, he feels
the enormity of the price that was paid. ``I lost a marine that day, as
did another unit in the battalion. We cannot separate the victory from
the loss, and I think we need to do our best to make them and their
families proud.''
In addition to the Silver Star, Captain Glover has also received two
Purple Hearts, a Navy Achievement Medal and a Navy Commendation Medal,
both with combat distinguishing device for valor. He served three tours
in Iraq.
Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to stand here tonight and share this
story of heroism, bravery and humility. Josh Glover, like so many
others fighting alongside him, represent the best of the best. That is
the kind of story America needs to hear, not predetermined judgment of
our fine troops. They deserve our support, not just in lip service
that, oh yes, we support the troops, but are they ever a bunch of cold-
blooded killers. That is not support. That is both condemnation and
hypocrisy.
So it is an honor to stand here with my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, and
pay tribute to our troops. They are not only protecting freedom, they
are spreading freedom, and we ought to thank God for them, as we do,
and thank God for our freedom, thank God for our liberty, and thank God
for the opportunity all of us have to serve.
Mr. WAMP. I thank the gentleman from Texas. I want to yield again to
the gentleman from Michigan.
Mr. McCOTTER. Mr. Speaker, I know our time is short. I thank the
gentleman.
I wish to emphasize why, as the gentleman from Texas pointed out, our
border security efforts to date have been a good step, but they must be
increased.
History shows us that once before an enemy of the United States, the
communist Soviet Union and its Bolshevik dictators, joined league with
the communist Castro on the island of Cuba to plant nuclear weapons 70
miles off the United States shores.
[[Page H6917]]
What a sad irony in history it would be for the United States today
to see a dictator in Tehran join league with the oppressive dictator
Mr. Chavez in Venezuela to potentially place nuclear devises within
America's borders.
I think we should look back to what President Kennedy talked about
when he addressed the Cuban missile crisis in order to steel ourselves
for the struggles ahead. President Kennedy pointed out that America
does not keep its word only when it is easy. America does not keep its
word only when it is easy. And while the price of freedom is always
high, Americans have always paid it.
I am convinced that if we learn from the lessons of histories and
from the successes of individuals like President Kennedy, from his
commitment to defending this Nation, to the expansion of liberty, we
ourselves will see the day where both Cuba and Venezuela and the people
of Iran are free.
Mr. WAMP. I thank the gentleman, and in closing, let me say this. I
am not the most partisan person here at all. As a matter of fact, I
don't think either party has an exclusive on integrity or ideas. I grew
up a Democrat, and now I'm a Republican.
Argue with us about the role of the Federal Government in education
and whether it is best at the local level, the State level or Federal
level. Argue with us whether the health care system should be turned
over to the government or private.
But don't argue with us whether we are fighting these threats of
global jihadism and whether we unite anymore at the water's edge in
defense of liberty. Don't argue with us on that. Join us. Be patriotic
and honor the sacrifice and the legacy of the Greatest Generation.
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