[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 18956]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 4 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, as our forces persevere in Iraq, working to 
stabilize and rebuild this country which has been devastated by a 
violent, oppressive regime for 35 years, we continue to be flooded in 
the press by charges of America being an imperialist empire. Such a 
charge is wrong.
  The United States is indeed the lone super power in the world. 
However, this was not our goal. We now have the job that most countries 
do not want, and a burden that most are not capable of shouldering. We 
are requested to intervene in disputes affecting other countries. Kofi 
Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, is urging the U.S. 
to deploy troops to Liberia immediately.
  The fact remains that when security and influence is needed, it is 
the United States that is called upon to act. Given this fact, I 
continue to find it difficult to understand the charges levied against 
the United States, particularly with our involvement in Iraq. When we 
are facing a world where the majority of nations do not have the 
capability or the desire to ensure the safety and basic freedoms of 
individuals is not lost, we are then faced with a choice of whether or 
not to act.
  As stated recently in the Atlantic Monthly, ``The consequences of 
attack by weapons of mass destruction are so catastrophic the United 
States will have no choice but to act preemptively on limited evidence 
exposing our actions to challenge.''
  It is precisely that opportunity, to challenge a government's 
actions, that Iraq lacked for so long. Of course we read stories of 
protests in Najaf or other areas of Iraq. However, these protests 
represent the kind of free speech in a country for which less than 6 
months earlier a person would have been greeted with a gunshot to the 
head. The fact is that the United States freed people that other 
nations outside of our coalition refused to do. These nations were 
content to continue to allow Iraq to descend into a culture of 
violence.
  Today, the people of Iraq have the ability to choose a future of 
their own. We are helping them to rebuild, teaching them to police 
their citizens without torture, and teaching them to govern and rebuild 
a destitute economy. Yet we continue to encounter criticism of our 
efforts and strategy in a post-war Iraq, and the length of time to 
return the governing of Iraq to its people.
  Let us look at history for a moment. At the end of World War II, it 
was believed that the occupation of both Germany and Japan would be 
brief. However, the reality was that Japan's occupation lasted over 6 
years, and a directly military government in Germany lasted 4 years. 
Both situations faced humanitarian crises as a result of the war. Each 
nation's wealth was severely weakened, and a large percentage of each 
country's population was homeless; but reconstruction efforts resulted 
in functional democratic institutions. Constitutions were drafted with 
civil liberties that did not exist prior to the war in these countries. 
And today, both Germany and Japan are integral to the world economy and 
representative of the success of properly administered civil reforms. 
The situation in Iraq is not dissimilar.
  Our troops do face a continued threat by terrorists, and security 
situations are very tense. But looking at our history, what Americans 
have accomplished in the past, how much more vast are our resources, 
our ingenuity and our compassion, we are making progress in Iraq. The 
new governing council may soon be recognized by the United Nations, 
small provincial governments are operating in smaller Iraqi towns, mass 
media is available where only state-run news previously existed. We are 
giving the Iraqi people a chance.
  Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke before us recently. He said, ``How 
hollow would the charges of American imperialism be when these failed 
countries are seen to be transformed from states of terror to nations 
of prosperity, from governments of dictatorship to examples of 
democracy, from sources of instability to beacons of calm.'' He went on 
to say, ``Why America? The only answer is because destiny put you in 
this place in history in this moment of time, and the task is yours to 
do.''
  The United States did not ask for the world role in which we find 
ourselves. The simple truth is we are the ones that are willing and 
capable to bring about a positive change in the world; and with help 
from our friends and patience from our citizens, we will do just that.

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