[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 23808]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO DESERT OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM

  (Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, we are about half way, maybe not half way, 
but we are at a critical juncture in our mission in Iraq; but the 
Democrats want to bail out now. They want to pull the rug out from 
under the President of the United States so badly that they are willing 
to strand the people in Iraq and even endanger our soldiers. I think it 
is outrageous.
  If we listen to the Presidential debates on the Democrat side, Dean, 
Kerry, Clark, it does not really matter what they say today, because 
tomorrow they will be saying the opposite thing. It is like a jam 
session of the first amendment without any responsibility to what your 
words are.
  But let us look at the situation in Iraq. We have a very successful 
military operation that is on balance. I do not want another American 
soldier or any soldier or any citizen to get killed, obviously. But we 
have done a remarkable job, and we have secured the country.
  Look at the situation of the citizenry. They are standing forward, 
they are in power, they are getting police forces in each town, they 
are getting a militia going. Look at the infrastructure of freedom that 
is emerging: 150 newspapers, health care benefits, electricity and 
water. All of this is happening. It is not the time to retreat and pull 
the rug out from under the people of Iraq or our military. Let us pass 
the supplemental.

                          ____________________