[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 17 (Monday, January 29, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H961]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    PROTESTING IS ACT OF PATRIOTISM

  (Mr. COHEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, this weekend tens or hundreds of thousands of 
Americans came to Washington to protest the war. It was reminiscent of 
Vietnam, as so much of this war is reminiscent of Vietnam.
  What these people did was an act of patriotism and courage, 
exercising their first amendment rights and expressing their opinion 
that the policy of this administration and this country is wrong. As 
they protested, and throughout the weekend, American soldiers lost 
their lives. It is unfortunate that it seems that the calls of the 
people are not being heeded.
  It is particularly distressing, Mr. Speaker, to hear one of the 
Cabinet members suggest that people who disagree with the 
administration are lending aid and solace to the enemy. That is wrong. 
The first amendment is about free speech. The demonstrations, the 
protests that happened this week were correct. Samuel Johnson said: 
``The last refuge to which a scoundrel clings is patriotism.'' I think 
we saw people try to find patriotism to be the refuge rather than 
response to protests and analytical discussions of the policies in 
Iraq.

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