[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 13 (Thursday, January 22, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H478-H483]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUNSET MEMORIAL
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 6, 2009, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks) is recognized
for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I know that another legislative
day has come to an end and that sunset approaches fast in Washington,
DC. So tonight, I want to stand before this House with what I call a
Sunset Memorial.
You see, it is January 22, 2009, in the land of the free and the home
of the brave. And before this sunset today in America, almost 4,000
more defenseless unborn children were killed by abortion on demand.
That is just today, Mr. Speaker. That is just today, 36 years to the
day from Roe versus Wade. That is more than the number of innocent
lives lost on September 11th in this country, but it happens every day.
It has now been exactly 36 years to the day since the tragedy called
Roe versus Wade was first handed down. Since then, the very foundation
of this Nation has been stained by the blood of almost 50 million of
its own unborn children. Some of them, Mr. Speaker, cried and screamed
as they died. But because it was amniotic fluid going over the vocal
cords instead of air, we couldn't hear them.
All of them had at least four things in common, Mr. Speaker. First,
they were just little babies who had done nothing wrong to anyone. And
each one of them died a nameless and lonely death. And each one of
their mothers, whether she realizes it or not, will never be quite the
same. And all the gifts that these children might have brought to
humanity are now lost forever, Mr. Speaker.
Yet, even in the glare of such tragedy, this generation still clings
to a blind invincible ignorance while history repeats itself over and
over again and our own silent genocide mercilessly annihilates the most
helpless of all victims, those yet unborn.
Mr. Speaker, perhaps it is time for those of us in this chamber to
remind ourselves of why we are really all here. Thomas Jefferson said,
``The care of human life and its happiness, and not its destruction, is
the chief and only object of good government.'' The phrase in the 14th
Amendment capsulizes our entire Constitution. It says, ``No state shall
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of
law.''
Mr. Speaker, protecting the lives of our citizens and their
Constitutional rights is why we are all here. The bedrock foundation of
this republic is that clarion declaration of the self-evident truth
that all human beings are created equal and endowed by their creator
with unalienable rights, the rights of life and liberty and the pursuit
of happiness.
Every conflict and battle our Nation has ever faced can be traced to
our commitment to this core self-evident truth. It has made us the
beacon of hope for the entire world, Mr. Speaker. It is who we are. And
yet today, another day has passed, and we in this body have failed
again to honor that foundational commitment. We have failed our sworn
oath and our God given responsibility as we broke faith with nearly
4,000 more innocent American babies who died today without the
protection we should have given them.
So, Mr. Speaker, let me conclude this part of my remarks, this sunset
memorial, in the hopes that perhaps someone new who heard it tonight
will finally embrace the truth that abortion really does kill little
babies; that it hurts mothers in ways that we can never express; and
that it is time we stood up together again and looked to the
Declaration of Independence; and, that we remember that we are the same
America that rejected human slavery, and marched into Europe to arrest
the Nazi Holocaust; and, we are still the courageous and compassionate
Nation that can find a better way for mothers and their unborn babies
than abortion on demand.
And, Mr. Speaker, it is such an appropriate time to discuss these
things. Only a few hours ago, probably no more than 200 yards from this
well, President-Elect Barack Obama put his hand down on the same Bible
that Abraham Lincoln was sworn in and took his oath to the Presidency,
and he took an oath that made him President Obama. And I just would
remind the country somehow that we need to ask ourselves
[[Page H479]]
again, why do we respect Abraham Lincoln the way we do? Why have we
made a monument to him down at the Potomac River? Because, you see,
generations from now they will still be talking about Barack Obama
putting his hand on the Lincoln Bible.
{time} 1445
And I think that the significance of it and the symbolism is powerful
beyond words. But many voices will also ask, did he hold in his heart
those same truths that Abraham Lincoln held in his heart when he put
his hand on the Bible? And when he found the courage as President of
the United States in the days of slavery and the humanity within
himself to reach out to slaves that the Supreme Court said were not
human and that the tide of public opinion didn't recognize as
protectable under the law, I can say to you, Mr. Speaker, this is one
Republican that somehow hopes that history will find that Barack Obama
found an epiphany in his own heart and soul and recognize that these
little unborn children look to him now for help. And I hope that
somehow he can recognize that just as Abraham Lincoln was a good
steward of the deliverance and the hope that was so necessary to
protect innocent life in the days of slavery, that somehow Barack Obama
will understand that it is now in his place to have the hope and
deliverance in his own heart for these little unborn babies.
Mr. Speaker, I hope if nothing else that at least the President now
can remember that the Bible in which he laid his hand, the pages
beneath his hand, had the words written in red, inasmuch as you have
done unto the least of these My brethren, you have done it unto Me.
It is still not too late for us to make a better world and for
America to be the one that leads the rest of the planet, just as we did
in the days of slavery, from this tragic genocide of murdering 4,000 of
our own children every day.
Now, Mr. Speaker, as we consider the plight of the unborn on this
36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, maybe we can each remind ourselves
that our own days in this sunshine of life are all numbered and that
all too soon each one of us will also walk from these Chambers for the
very last time. And if it should be that this Congress is allowed to
convene on yet another day, may that day be the day when we will
finally hear the cries of innocent unborn children. May that be the day
when we find the humanity, the courage and the will to embrace together
our human and our constitutional duty to protect these, the least of
our tiny little American brothers and sisters, from this murderous
scourge upon our Nation called ``abortion on demand.'' It is January
22, 2009, 36 years to the day since Roe v. Wade first stained the
foundation of this Nation with the blood of its own children. This, in
the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Now, Mr. Speaker, since it is January 22, and since we have made a
great transition in this country, I feel as if it is also appropriate
for me tonight to say some words in tribute to one George Walker Bush
who had the courage, the commitment and the compassion in his soul to
stand up for these little babies who couldn't stand up for themselves.
A few days ago, George Bush made his last Presidential speech. When he
had finished, he graciously wished the Nation and the next President
success. He said good night. And then he asked for God to bless America
and all Americans. And he walked down the steps from the podium in the
hall in the White House as President of the United States of America
for the very last time.
And President Bush may be gone from us now, but there will always be
so many of us who deeply honor him, as I try to here this moment, for
the man he is and the President he has been to America.
As with many great Presidents, it will take a broader and more
developed perspective of history for most to truly comprehend the
purpose and impact of the Bush administration. Mr. Speaker, I believe
history, if it's unbiased, will be very kind to George Bush, not only
because of his achievements, but because of the obstacles that he
overcame.
In his Presidency, George Bush faced the catastrophic disaster of
September 11, the deadliest terrorist attack or any other enemy attack
against America in her entire history. He faced the calamity of
Hurricane Katrina, one of the five deadliest storms to ever strike
American soil. And then President Bush faced a worldwide financial
crisis demonstrated by the largest 1-day drop in the Dow Jones in the
history of the Nation.
Now, Mr. Speaker, any sane mind knows President Bush did not cause
any of those disasters to happen. And any honest mind knows that his
response to those disasters was due to trying to do what he truly
thought was the right thing for the country instead of what was right
for him politically.
There are, indeed, so many tangible threads to the noble legacy of
President George W. Bush. President Bush, first of all, gave gallant
and unwavering leadership to America, to our military forces and
freedoms's march in the world. The men and women in our Armed Forces
were honored to call President Bush their Commander in Chief. He
implemented the largest reorganization of our national security
apparatus in the history of our country. And for 7 years, the deadly 9/
11-scale terrorist attacks against our country that all the experts
said would follow September 11 were prevented.
The American people may never fully know the number of attacks on
America that were thwarted because of the intelligence gleaned under
the leadership of President George W. Bush. We may never know how many
lives have been spared because, in those uncertain and fearful days
following 9/11, President George W. Bush had the courage to defend us
all from the virus of jihadist terrorism, whose proponents believe it
is the will of God for America to be wiped from the face of the Earth.
Mr. Bush proactively protected America by taking the fight to the
terrorists. He dismantled their networks and toppled two dangerous
regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. Their collective population of 50
million now live in a freedom that they have never known before. How
can any of us forget the blue-tipped fingers on the hands held high in
celebration by millions of Iraqis who had voted for the very first time
in their lives in a nation that has not known freedom since before it
was called Babylon, Mr. Speaker? I truly believe one of the great
legacies of President Bush will be the kindled light of liberty in the
eyes of those who once recognized that their future could only be an
ever darkening, hopeless oppression. And now they are free.
Throughout his war on terrorism, and our war on terrorism, President
Bush often had to walk like a knowing lion, like a knowing lion, Mr.
Speaker, through the chattering of hyenas and endure the incessant
insults and thoughtless criticisms of those whose vision only reached
to the selfish partisan advance of the moment. But if those critics do
not devour themselves in the meantime, Mr. Speaker, some day they may
face the bared teeth of an enemy that will make us all wish the lion
still walked among us.
But because President Bush did not capitulate to the voices of
surrender and appeasement to terrorists, some of which came from this
very Chamber, Mr. Speaker, today victory in Iraq has come, and a
beachhead of freedom in the Middle East has been gained. And if that
beachhead is maintained and protected in the days ahead, it may serve
to inspire liberty in other nations in the Middle East and turn the
whole of human history in freedom's direction, that because George Bush
was once President of the United States of America.
President Bush was willing to fight, not because he hated what was in
front of him, but because he loved what was behind him. He loved
America. He loved freedom. And he loved the innocent.
Mr. Speaker, he was indeed a man of deep, abiding conviction and
compassion. He launched the PEPFAR initiative, the President's
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and treating malaria victims which has
brought lifesaving treatment and care to more than 10 million people
worldwide, mostly mothers and their babies, who would otherwise never
have had it. Mr. Speaker, I personally saw his tears when he looked at
the pictures of children born in Third World countries with their faces
severely deformed. I saw his tears again when he stood in the White
House and watched John
[[Page H480]]
Roberts be sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court
because he knew, Mr. Speaker, that the Constitution and its protections
of the basic human rights of life, liberty and property for all of
God's children would be safe in the hands of Chief Justice John
Roberts.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the noble and faithful legacy of George Bush
will be borne for generations to come by the judicial fidelity of John
Roberts and Sam Alito to the plain and timeless meaning of the United
States Constitution. Posterity will never be able to thank him enough.
President Bush also advocated fearlessly for human rights and for
religious freedom for the literally one-third of the world's population
that lives under oppression and human rights abuses. He doubled funding
for veterans and worked to protect free trade and enacted the largest
tax relief in an entire generation. He supported numerous successful
democratic revolutions in countries such as Lebanon, Ukraine and
Georgia, all in the belief that the surest hope for peace and the
protection of human dignity is still through liberty inherent to every
person.
And Mr. Speaker, even though, as we talked about earlier, unborn
children could never vote for George Bush, he stood unequivocally for
their right to be born and to one day walk in the warm sunlight of
freedom in America like the rest of us.
Now, Mr. Speaker, there are many reasons I will remember President
George W. Bush. I will remember him for his courage. I will remember
him for his patriotism, for his love of freedom, for his thankful heart
and his commitment to human dignity and protecting, once again, those
innocents that could not protect themselves. I will remember him
because he vowed to keep us safe, and he did. I will remember him
because he saw the greatness in America. And the greatness of America
always lived in his own heart. I will remember him because he
recognized that indeed there is a good and evil in this world. I will
remember him because he rejected the liberal intelligentsia's posture
that there was moral equivalence between murdering innocents to advance
an ideology and liberating the innocent to advance freedom. I will
remember him because he had both courage and conscience. And moreover,
he had the courage to follow his conscious. I will remember him because
he brought honor and dignity to the White House. I will remember him as
a man who loved and honored his Savior, his wife Laura, his daughters
Jenna and Barbara, his mother and father and brothers, his entire
family. He loved his family with all of his heart, Mr. Speaker. And I
will remember him for loving and holding the entire human family as his
very own.
But the most touching thing I will forever remember him for, Mr.
Speaker, was his tender and compassionate heart toward those whose only
plea was mercy. It is something that God remembers about him, too, Mr.
Speaker.
Like George Bush, Winston Churchill was used of God to protect the
world from falling under the sway of a hateful ideology for what might
have been generations. In the election that followed, the voters turned
Churchill out of office. And when the press asked him, now what do you
think, Mr. Churchill? He spoke words that I hope can speak to the heart
of President Bush.
Mr. Churchill said, the only guide to a man in this life is his
conscience; the only shield to his memory is the rectitude and
sincerity of his own actions. And it is very imprudent to walk through
this life without that shield, because we are all so often mocked by
the failure of our hopes and the upsetting of our calculations; but
with this shield, no matter how the fates may play, we march always in
the ranks of honor.
And Mr. Speaker, like Winston Churchill, in the hearts of so many of
us, George Bush will always march in the ranks of honor.
Now there are so many things I wish I could say directly to this
President as he honorably steps away from public life and embraces the
next great task God has for him on this Earth. Mr. Speaker, if I could
just talk to him face to face, I think I would just say something like
this, I would say, Mr. President, I encourage you to remember that
popularity has been and will always be history's pocket change. It is
courage, it is courage and love for humanity that are history's true
currency, and these will always be the transcending hallmarks of your
Presidency.
Mr. Speaker, I would say, thank you, Mr. President, for protecting
the citizens of the United States from the dangers of jihadist
terrorism. I would say, thank you, Mr. President, for protecting my two
little babies, Joshi and Gracie. Thank you that they will live in a
brighter, more hopeful future because you were once President of the
United States. And then, Mr. Speaker, I would simply say to him, Mr.
President, don't worry too much about America. You left us strong in so
many ways, in the ways that really count. And I hope you will remember
the words quoted by one of the wisest and most loving and noble
Presidents as he spoke of America in the last line of his own inaugural
address. He said, an angel still rides in a whirlwind and directs this
storm.
God keep you forever, sir.
That is what I would say to him, Mr. Speaker.
And with that, Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to Congressman Mike
Pence for such time as he may consume.
(Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. PENCE. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, it is very humbling to follow words of such eloquence
and passion. But I will do my best in a few minutes. The old book says
if you owe debts, pay debts; if honor, then honor; if respect, then
respect.
And when I heard that the gentleman from Arizona had organized a
modest tribute to the 43rd President of the United States today on the
House floor, I felt this was such a moment to pay a debt of honor and
gratitude to a man with whom I did not always agree and as I sometimes
would joke at home, he almost always noticed.
{time} 1500
The time as a freshman I opposed the President's signature
legislation, No Child Left Behind, the time I and other Republicans
opposed other signature bills like the Medicare prescription drug
entitlement, this was a President who would let you know when he had a
difference of opinion, but always respectfully and never spitefully.
So I stand here today not as a vacuous apologist for George W. Bush.
I have occasionally been referred to as a thorn in the flesh to the
Bush administration, being a cheerful conservative on Capitol Hill who
was fighting against big government spending during the Bush years, but
I come here today, among other cherished colleagues, like the gentleman
from Iowa, simply to say I truly believe that this Nation owes a debt
of gratitude to George W. Bush.
I am struck, and I expect I will quote with attribution the gentleman
from Arizona's missive about popularity being the pocket change of
history. It is a wonderful line because it is my judgment, as Mr.
Franks just suggested, that when the fullness of time arrives and the
American people are able to see the contribution of this good and
decent man in the context of history, they will know that George W.
Bush served this Nation with integrity and with courage and was in
effect the kind of President that America needed during such a time as
this.
And I say that, and I told the President not long ago that it was one
of the greatest privileges of my life that the first 8 years of my
career in public service would coincide with his 8 years in the White
House. I sensed a little emotion in his eyes when I said that, and the
bear hug that followed gave evidence of it. But again, it was not
because I always agreed with this President. It was because I saw when
it mattered most, George W. Bush did what he thought was right,
regardless of what the polls said, regardless of what may have been in
his personal interest.
I want to cite two specific examples and then close with a word about
the fundamental character of the Presidency and what character means to
the office.
The two occasions that will always be burned into my mind because I
lived
[[Page H481]]
them, I was here that day and in those days, were in effect a day in
September 2001 and another day in the latter days of 2006 and early
2007.
In September 2001, I scarcely need to say to you, Mr. Speaker, or
anyone looking in about the service this President rendered to America.
In what at least matched her darkest hour, as the buildings fell, as
the smoke was still rising from the Pentagon, as I had made my way home
to hug my small children at our residence in Arlington, Virginia, and
had worked my way back into this closed city for official meetings, as
I crossed the 14th Street bridge, the two Marine One helicopters blew
past me maybe 50 feet off the deck, and our President went back to the
White House that day. Shoulders back, he stood tall. A few days later
he would literally stand amidst the rubble of September 11 at Ground
Zero and drape his arm over a firefighter and speak into a bullhorn
words that would echo American resilience around the world, and the
Nation was no longer afraid.
I won't add any more to that because it seems to me in that moment
when my great grandchildren look back at these times, more than any
other aspect of George W. Bush's career, he will be judged in that
moment and he will not be found wanting.
You talk about approval ratings, I think it was following that moment
that a man who left office as one of the least popular Presidents in
our history was for a time the most popular President in American
history. But I can assure you, having spoken to him about it privately,
none of that mattered to him. It didn't matter to him that he was
unpopular. He did what he thought was right for the American people,
and he did it with courage.
The second instance, and then I will close. I was called over to the
White House, I believe it was in early 2007. His party has just
experienced devastating losses in the midterm elections. A few of us
who survived were invited over to the White House for a meeting with
the President. Everyone who was anyone in the punditocracy of this town
thought that the President would announce a retreat from Iraq.
The President called myself and about 15 other Members into the
Cabinet Room, members of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Armed
Services. He looked at us across the table and said I have counseled
with this general I am going to put in charge. His name is Petraeus. He
says he has a new idea about how we can put things back together in
Iraq. And he said I am going to give him what he is asking for, and I
am going to put him in charge because, and he said words I will never
forget, ``I've decided not to lose.''
As I told the President personally a year later, I believe in the
fullness of time when the history of this time is written, that will go
down as one of the most courageous decisions by an American President
in a time of war. All public opinion suggested, all of the polling,
rather, that was out, suggested a majority of Americans were ready to
get out, regardless of the cost. Let it go to seed, forget about the
sacrifices that have been made, but this President decided not to lose.
And he looked for a way to make it work and he went to the American
people. And as is undeniable today, the surge worked.
I believe the gentleman from Iowa recently mentioned that more people
have died in accidents in Iraq since last summer than have died in
combat-related violence. Is it still a dangerous place; certainly. Are
there challenging days ahead; of course. Is there lethal enemy there
and in the region; yes. But it is not the way it was in 2006, and that
is because of the character and resilience of this man.
So on those two occasions we saw character. I believe, even though I
disagreed with the President on the bailout last fall and again today
on the floor, I disagreed with the spending record, in those moments,
the character that shown through was a service to the Nation, and my
family was safer as a result.
Last thought. It has been a long time since the 1990s and people
forget how embarrassed the American people were by what happened in the
Oval Office by the predecessor of this President. And I have no desire
to revisit the sordid and lurid tales that were displayed before our
children during the last administration. But to me, the essence of the
Presidency is character, and George W. Bush showed the courage of his
convictions in defending this country and he also showed through his
fealty to his wife, through his integrity in office, the administration
of what it is to provide good and decent government and to be an
example to the American people and to our families and our children.
For that we owe him a debt, and I am pleased to rise today to pay some
small amount toward that.
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman from Indiana.
I yield to the gentleman from Iowa.
Mr. KING of Iowa. I thank the gentleman from Arizona. It is an honor
to stand here. And I reflect upon the time that Bob Hope and Sammy
Davis, Jr., and others were on Johnny Carson's program. George Gobel
was sitting there, and he looked around at the famous folks that were
on either side of him, and he had this look of discomfort on his face.
And finally he uttered: Did you ever think that the whole world was a
tuxedo and you were a pair of brown shoes?
Well, I am the brown shoes here on this floor today. As I listened to
Mr. Franks and Mr. Pence, Mike Pence who inspired me through the lens
of the C-SPAN camera well before I came to this Congress, and Trent
Franks who has continued to inspire me on a daily basis since I did
arrive in this Congress with him in January of 2003.
We are here today, and it is a great privilege, Mr. Speaker, to
address you and continue with the subject, and that is, let me say, the
capping of some of the contemporary dialogue on the history of the
Presidency of George W. Bush and the things that he has done and
contributed.
Now some have said and called for a long period of honeymoon in this
new administration because that's what we do in a free country. Well,
it is what we should do in a free country, respect for the office,
reverence, the sense of a new beginning. However, that is not something
that George W. Bush ever experienced, was not one minute of a
honeymoon.
From the moment that the polls closed on election night, the churning
began. And in the morning it carried on for 37 days while we sorted
out, through a recount process and a Supreme Court, both the Florida
Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court came forth with
rulings from all of those days that unfolded, 37 days, President Bush
has been under attack from the left, that developed a visceral hatred
for him that I could never connect with any rational thought process. I
just couldn't track the logic. So that has been an anchor that he has
had to drag and deal with. That was, I think, the hyenas that were
referenced by Mr. Franks, how this lion walked among them.
I am here to say thank you to President Bush for the things that he
has done when he has had his steady hand on the till of leadership, and
especially with our national defense.
I wasn't here in this town on September 11, 2001. I came the next
Congress, not that one. I was here for the beginnings of the
liberations of Iraq. I was here for more completion of the buildup in
Afghanistan. I have made six trips to Iraq and two to Afghanistan. I
have engaged myself in our foreign policy as much as I can possibly do
so. I have looked at the 50 million people between Iraq and Afghanistan
that breathe free today that had not breathed free before and would
unlikely have ever breathed free if it had not been for the solid,
bold, courageous leadership on the part of President Bush, our
Commander in Chief, who said our enemies will hear from us soon, and
they did.
I know there were Iowa guard troops on the ground in Afghanistan, as
well as many others, who guarded the polling places and guarded the
pathways to the polling places in a land on real estate that had never
seen an election before. Today, they have a government that is elected
of, by, and for the people, controlled by the people. It is a long
pathway to see Afghanistan where we would like to see it. But, Mr.
Speaker, it is positioned today in such a fashion that we can see some
light at the end of that tunnel and we can define the people in
Afghanistan as free and in control of their own destiny, however
precarious it might be with the enemies from without who are
infiltrating within.
[[Page H482]]
We need to continue to face those enemies with the vigor and the
courage and the patriotism and the nobility that our military from
Commander in Chief on down have done so each and every day since the
beginning of the operations in Afghanistan.
In Iraq, Mr. Speaker, I'm going to make this statement. This
statement is a general thank you to our Commander in Chief who issued
the order to liberate Iraq and sent troops in March 19, 2003, and that
is, Mr. President, I have looked at the metrics in Iraq and I have
examined the statistics that come from there.
{time} 1515
I have evaluated the benchmarks that were imposed upon the President,
Mr. Speaker--and with regard to the President, whom I hope catches this
message--that the 18 benchmarks that were imposed upon the President--
and he had to essentially sign the bill in order to maintain the
funding to continue the operations--those 18 benchmarks, Mr. Speaker,
16 of them are all completely or substantially achieved.
The 17th benchmark is provincial elections, which are scheduled for--
and we have no reason to believe they won't come off like the two
previous elections in Iraq and the ratification of the constitution in
Iraq--that date is January 31, just a few days from now. When that date
is achieved, we will be able to say, analytically and objectively, 17
of the 18 benchmarks set by this Congress have been all completely or
substantially achieved. The remaining benchmark is one that couldn't be
possibly achieved in the time frame that we have had, and that is the
one that sets up the Iraqi Security Forces to be completely independent
from U.S. coalition support. That means no communications, no intel, no
logistics, and no munition support coming from the United States other
than that that they would write a check for and buy from us on the
marketplace or the world. That's not something that you can do in a day
or week or month or a year, Mr. Speaker; it's something that takes
years to stand up a military that has that capability.
There are 609,000 Iraqis today in uniform stood up defending the
security in that country, and they've done so in such a fashion that
sectarian deaths in Iraq that were so serious that they numbered on a
monthly basis more than 2,000 in a single month--and I take you back to
about December of 2006, I believe that number was about 2,300 sectarian
deaths--and as the surge began and unfolded, those sectarian deaths
wound down to the point where there was a point last May where they
actually were so low that they were statistically insignificant. Today,
the sectarian deaths have been reduced by at least 90 percent.
Mr. Speaker, American deaths in Iraq. If you have a son or a daughter
that is serving in Iraq today or are concerned about their safety--and
this gives no solace to the people who have lost family members there,
that solace we offer to them in our prayers--but statistically, as we
have troops that are deployed to Iraq, they have been, since the first
day of July of last year, at greater danger of being killed in an
accident than by the enemy. That has held up from the first day of July
on, it stands today, and I pray it will stand for a long time. And I
would like to see those numbers of course get to zero. But whenever you
have men and women and machines moving, there are accidents. We lose an
average of 510 Americans a year on-duty deaths, 510. That's in greater
numbers now than the incidents of death in Iraq due to the enemy.
So we have made a lot of progress in the country. The Iraqis are
governing much of their own country. The provinces that they have taken
over the security have been significant. And additionally, we have
handed over the security of the Green Zone to the Iraqis on the first
day of January, and it hardly made the news.
Mr. Speaker, we have won the war in Iraq. George Bush's courage did
that, the decision he made did that. When he got advice from his Joint
Chiefs of Staff, the advice, which was, ``we can achieve this victory,
Mr. President; the advice that we have is let's redeploy from there.''
And the political advice was, ``declare victory and retreat from
Iraq.'' That was the echo of the incessant advice that came from the
political advisors. And the military advisors didn't say ``declare
victory,'' they just simply said, ``let's deploy out of there, we can't
win this war.''
President Bush looked for a way. And I sat in the Oval Office when he
pointed at the picture of Abraham Lincoln and he said, Abraham Lincoln
went through seven generals before he found his general. I've not been
there yet, I think I've found my general, General Petraeus. The
leadership that it took to have the courage to declare for victory in
the face of all the advice for defeat echoes in me on this day with the
leadership that it took for Abraham Lincoln, when every member of his
cabinet, when called together to ask for their advice on whether to
sign the Emancipation Proclamation, every member of the Cabinet said,
Mr. President, no. Don't sign it because you don't rule over the
slaves. You can't free the slaves because we don't occupy the south.
They do. They will decide whether or not the slaves are free and
they're not going to be released.
Mr. President, the next Cabinet member said, we have people fighting
for the Union that don't care about slavery. You're sending a message
that they won't like. So don't sign the Emancipation Proclamation. I
could go on with a series of reasons or excuses, but in the end, after
every Cabinet member said to Abraham Lincoln, don't sign the
Emancipation Proclamation, President Lincoln said, ``Well, gentlemen,
the I has it,'' and he signed the Emancipation Proclamation. And today,
we give great honor to the liberation of the people who were created in
God's image, all of them, those born and those not yet born, because
Abraham Lincoln understood the sanctity of human life.
President Bush made a similar decision when he said we are going to
declare for victory in Iraq and we are going to go forth with a surge.
It took that same kind of courage in the face of advice to the
contrary, and today we see Iraqis milling the streets in relative
freedom, building their country together. And it is a country that I
couldn't even go to a place like Ramadi or Fallujah a year and a half
ago because it was too dangerous, even with security. But I've been
back to those places and walked the streets of each of those towns and
heard the Mayor of Fallujah declare, ``We are a city of peace.''
There is a victory achieved in Iraq, and it's a victory that George
W. Bush deserves credit for. And this is also a man with a profound
moral understanding of when his life began, at the instant of
conception. And he has faced this issue with a number of big decisions
in the Oval Office, decisions that had to do with the executive order
that supports the Mexico City policy that forbids U.S. taxpayer dollars
from being extorted from our pro-life citizens--of which I am one--to
fund abortion services in foreign countries. That's an executive order
that's balanced precariously perhaps on the desk of President Obama
today. This man who called out for unity may not be doing so if he
signs that executive order.
President Bush supports the Mexico City policy. It has protected
millions of lives around the world and has protected the conscience of
American taxpayers. President Bush burned many hours examining the
embryonic stem cell research and finally decided the existing lines
would be allowed to be utilized, but there would be no new lines that
would interrupt innocent human lives with U.S. taxpayer dollars. It was
a difficult and careful decision that he made. It has protected the
lives of many little embryos. And I have held some of those snowflake
babies in my arms--yes, they are people, they're warm, they're bubbly,
they giggle, they laugh, they love just like the rest of us, having
been frozen for 9 years as an embryo. President Bush understood that.
There is a real humanity in this man. This is a pro-life President.
And right now, I can tell you that he's our last pro-life President
so far, the most recent pro-life President. This is the man who
appointed Justices Roberts and Alito, which resulted in justices that
understand the text and the original understanding of the Constitution,
who ruled to uphold the ban on partial birth abortion which has saved
lives in America, and it is one legislative victory that we have here.
[[Page H483]]
And this is the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. It is a profound
time. So I want to say, in conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I want the message
to be echoed to President Bush, thank you for the people in Iraq and
Afghanistan, that they can go to the polls and vote and breathe free
air and direct their national destiny and become our allies in this
quest for freedom, the right of every man and every woman and every
person to be free, the right to life that every man and every person
has. And I ask, Mr. Speaker, that the President also be thanked for his
stance for life and freedom.
I yield back to the gentleman from Arizona and thank him for his
indulgence.
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank the gentleman from Iowa.
Mr. Speaker, it has been an absolute honor to serve with Steve King
in this body. He and I came in as freshmen a little over 6 years ago.
And time has a way of getting away from all of us, but I just want him
to understand what a hero I think he is.
Today has been sort of a remembrance of heroes. We've talked a lot
about George Bush, we've talked a lot about Abraham Lincoln. In a
sense, it is so appropriate to do that on January 22, isn't it? Because
we are reminded that, just as America was used after 6,000 years of
rampant slavery in the world, we were the ones that had a moral
conflict with it. And yes, we had a little disagreement called the
Civil War over it, but we were used of God to change this tragedy of
slavery, and now it is at least discredited all over the planet. And I
believe that this country will be the country that will lead the world
to discredit this tragic practice of killing our children before
they're born.
And so, Mr. Speaker, I would just suggest, on this January 22, 2009,
that all Americans remember what makes us special. And what makes us
special is because we once held these truths to be self-evident: That
all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. And that to secure these rights, governments are
instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed. That's what made us special once. And if we look back to
those great foundational truths that made us the greatest Nation in the
world, our best days are still to come.
God bless George Bush. God bless Abraham Lincoln. God bless every
little unborn child trying to come to this country and to walk in the
freedom of American liberty. And God bless America.
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