[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 161 (Tuesday, October 25, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H7012]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    TUNISIA, LIBYA, SYRIA, AND YEMEN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Ellison) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, the changes in the Arabic-speaking 
countries over the last year have been astonishing. This region, which 
is home to over 300 million people, has been making unmistakable drives 
toward democracy, but those drives have not always been linear and 
smooth. There have been setbacks in advances. But as this region 
changes, the United States must also adjust to those changes as well.
  First, I want to congratulate the people of Tunisia on their historic 
election on Sunday. It was Tunisia's first free and fair election since 
gaining independence in 1956. Tunisians created a new paradigm for 
governance in the Middle East, and I hope this is replicated throughout 
the region. Tunisia, by the way, was the first country to begin its 
dramatic social change against a historic dictator.
  Last December, Tunisians said, ``Enough.'' They took to the streets 
to demand their rights, and they ousted a dictator and went to the 
polls just a few days ago to elect new leaders. More than 90 percent of 
registered voters turned out to vote--that's 90 percent. Long lines 
snaked down sidewalks and around street corners. People waited for 
hours to exercise their right to vote that had been denied to them for 
more than 50 years.
  It was also a well-deserved victory for a country that gave birth to 
the Arab Spring. Tunisians started a democratic movement that is slowly 
transforming dictatorships into democracies. The changes that are 
taking place in Libya are also irreversible. I don't celebrate the 
death of anyone, even a person as bad as Qadhafi, but Libya is 
certainly better off without Muammar Qadhafi. I am glad that the 
Transitional National Council will investigate the circumstances of his 
death, but the fact that he is off the scene gives Libya a new chance 
and a new lease on life.
  For 42 years, Qadhafi ruled Libya with brutal force and criminal 
neglect. The country cannot afford more conflict. It should embark on a 
national reconciliation process similar to the Truth and Reconciliation 
Commission in post-apartheid South Africa.
  That's not easy for a country that has endured so much bloodshed. But 
Libyans now have the opportunity to lay down arms and come together. 
Libyans will decide for themselves what kind of country they want to 
build. The Libyan people must decide what kind of example they will set 
for other countries in the region.
  I'd also like to turn attention to Iraq. I offer my congratulations 
to President Obama for keeping his promise to exit Iraq. No yellowcake 
uranium, no link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, and no weapons of 
mass destruction, and yet literally thousands of Americans' lives were 
lost, thousands of Iraqis' lives were lost, and perhaps $1 trillion was 
lost. It's time to go. I congratulate President Obama in his decision 
to leave.
  Syria's path toward change is also irreversible, but the outcomes are 
less certain. Bashar al-Assad's government has now killed over 3,000 
people. Countless others have been raped and tortured. This is not the 
model that will characterize the region's future.
  People like Tawakel Karman of Yemen are setting a new standard. 
Referred to as the ``Mother of the Revolution'' in Yemen, she recently 
won the Nobel Prize for her nonviolent activism, and I congratulate 
her.
  As people across the Middle East and North Africa struggle for 
democracy, the United States should do all that it can to help them 
reach that democratic condition that we take for granted. As Americans, 
we will remember our own long struggle for freedom and should be at the 
waiting to help others secure their democratic future.

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