[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 23925]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           IRAQ SUPPLEMENTAL

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, as we debate the Presidential supplemental 
request for Iraq, one point I do want to address is the idea of placing 
some of the requested funds for reconstruction to Iraq in the form of a 
loan. I believe it is possible to do this considering the enormous 
assets of this country. I am not persuaded by the argument that we do 
not want to add to Iraq's current debt of $200 billion, which is 
largely owed to France, Germany, and Russia. I find it difficult to 
believe that if these countries truly want to contribute to the 
stability of the region, they would not seek to forgive a substantial 
portion of their debt.
  The American families sacrificed much to win the freedom in Iraq. 
However, we cannot expect Iraq to pay back funds first to those very 
countries that sat back and let our men and women undertake the risks 
to win the freedom in Iraq.

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