[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 17 (Tuesday, February 5, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H347]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CONFIRMATION OF SENATOR CHUCK HAGEL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Jones) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, thank you very much.
  I want to thank President Obama for his nomination of Chuck Hagel to 
be Secretary of Defense.
  While we were home last week, I had the opportunity to watch the 
Senate confirmation hearing, and I was dismayed by the way many of the 
Republicans in that hearing chastised Mr. Hagel.
  Mr. Hagel is a man of integrity. The question from one of the 
Senators about, do you think the surge worked, and Senator Hagel was 
such that he didn't want to give him a direct answer. I would have 
said, no, it didn't work--1,200 Americans killed, I don't know how many 
Iraqis. And look at the country today. It's totally falling apart. But 
that was a question toward Senator Hagel.
  Mr. Speaker, the Iraq war was very unnecessary. It was manufactured 
by the previous administration, and there was a general, Marine General 
Greg Newbold, who had been working with the Department of Defense, who 
actually wrote an article in Time after the war started. And one of the 
points he made that I'm going to share with you, Mr. Speaker, is ``some 
of the missteps include the distortion of intelligence in the buildup 
to the war.'' The distortion of intelligence in the buildup to the war.
  In the history of Washington, if ever our government needed 
integrity, it's now. Chuck Hagel is a man of integrity. No one can 
question his integrity.
  I've had the privilege of knowing Senator Hagel since 2005 when I 
came out against the unnecessary war in Iraq. Senator Hagel reached out 
to me in support of my position and encouraged me in my journey to find 
out the truth, if it was necessary or not.
  His record speaks for itself. As a noncommissioned officer, he 
honorably served this Nation in Vietnam, earning two Purple Hearts, 
served on the Senate Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on 
Foreign Relations, as well as the President's Intelligence Advisory 
Board and the Secretary of Defense Policy Board. No one can argue Chuck 
Hagel's experience.
  Mr. Speaker, I know that Chuck Hagel is the right man to lead the 
Department of Defense through this very difficult economic time. He's a 
man that will uphold the Constitution and do what is right for this 
country. Our military and the American people need Chuck Hagel to be 
the Secretary of Defense.
  Mr. Speaker, before closing, I must say that, in my many years here 
in Washington, 18 years, I have never known a person with more 
integrity than Senator Hagel, and I hope that the Senate will pass on 
the confirmation of Chuck Hagel to be the Secretary of Defense because 
America needs him, our military needs him, and it's time for people of 
integrity to step up and help us fix this problem facing our Nation. 
And he will speak freely and honestly about what is needed to keep a 
strong military.

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