[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 18205]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                NATIONAL SECURITY AND WARTIME LEADERSHIP

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM DeLAY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 15, 2003

  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, despite our success in Afghanistan and Iraq, 
despite our many allies around the world, and despite our 
unquestionable leadership here at home, the wolves of terrorism are 
still on the lurk.
  Wherever they threaten, we must gird ourselves for battle.
  This war presents many foes on many fronts, but we fight it for one 
purpose: the security of American people.
  This week, the House considered one of the tools that will help us 
win this war: President Bush's ``Project Bioshield'' initiative. 
Project Bioshield, as you know, is a comprehensive program to research, 
develop, and acquire vaccines, drugs, and countermeasures to protect 
Americans from terrorism.
  It will streamline government-sponsored research of biological, 
chemical, nuclear, and radiological weapons and medicines to combat 
their effects. And it will authorize a special reserve fund to purchase 
enough of those countermeasures to respond to catastrophic terrorist 
attacks.
  Project Bioshield is another way to protect America, and further 
evidence that there is no difference between national security and 
homeland security. Both agendas are designed to win the war on terror 
and protect the American people from future attack. Thus, we will 
implement Project BioShield for the same reason we defeated the Taliban 
and liberated Iraq: Security.
  Without security, peace and prosperity will be difficult to find and 
impossible to preserve.
  Without victory in the War on Terror, no fiscal, domestic, or social 
policy will even survive.
  Those are the stakes, Mr. Speaker: the preservation of civilization 
and hope for peace in the world.
  One man who understands those stakes is British Prime Minister Tony 
Blair, one of the heroes of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the War on 
Terror.
  To show our appreciation for his courage and his friendship, we will 
welcome Prime Minister Blair to speak to a joint meeting of the House 
and Senate Thursday.
  The American people are safer today because of the support he gave 
us--and continues to give us--in Iraq . . .
  . . . just as they will be made safer by Project BioShield and other 
security initiatives here at home.
  And President Bush and this Congress will work to ensure we stay that 
way.
  Thanks to President Bush, vulnerabilities have been identified and 
addressed.
  Our nation is safer, stronger, and better prepared to meet the next 
threat, wherever it may emerge.
  Wartime leadership, Mr. Speaker, could not be better defined.

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