[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Pages 25700-25701]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             IRAQ PROGRESS

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I take just a couple of moments to comment 
on some of the activities in Iraq, especially in light of the donor 
conference that is underway as we speak. We know it is very important 
for the world to have a clear picture of the progress that is being 
made in Iraq today. My comments will really center, again very briefly, 
on that.
  Not very many Americans have heard of Karada Street, I would wager. 
Karada Street is Baghdad's busiest commercial avenue, and something 
truly remarkable is happening there. Iraqis for the first time are 
enjoying the fruits of economic freedom. Not even a bomb blast at the 
Baghdad Hotel just a few blocks away from this now very busy commercial 
strip has dampened the growing activity. A number of our colleagues 
have traveled and are continuing to travel to Iraq, and they come back 
with those encouraging reports that we are just beginning to hear about 
these days.
  Recently, ABC News reported that at one computer and data system 
company, trade is up 70 percent since sanctions were lifted in May. At 
the Al Farah used car lot, a 9-year-old Jeep sells for $1,000 less 
today than when Saddam was in power. Meanwhile, government workers at a 
Karada Street match factory have seen their salaries soar fivefold. The 
manager tells the news agency, ``Now my salary is much better . . . I 
can buy anything I want now.''
  There is much more. Portable generators are selling at discounted 
prices. Why? Because electricity has become more reliable. Indeed, 
washing machine and air-conditioner sales are brisk. In a particularly 
vivid example of how things have changed since the fall of Saddam, a 
local ice cream shop that used to serve almost exclusively Saddam's 
circle is now open to any local resident who comes in for that cold 
treat.
  All of these stories are out there and they all point to the 
dramatic, remarkable changes that are underway that are associated with 
tasting freedom for the first time in decades.
  One of the freedoms Iraqis have been most enthusiastic to exercise is 
the freedom to express their views. Pollsters for a new Gallup poll 
reported last week that Iraqis were pleading to share their opinions, 
and almost every

[[Page 25701]]

Iraqi asked to participate in the survey volunteered to do so. Gallup's 
director of international polling told reporters that once they started 
talking, the Iraqis ``went on and on.''
  It is not hard to imagine the exhilaration they must feel today, how 
their hearts must swell with the realization that they, for the first 
time in decades, are truly free--free from tyranny, free from torture, 
free from persecution, free to speak their minds and create a 
government of their own devising, for the people and by the people.
  For the first time in a generation, the Iraqi people live free of the 
tyranny of Saddam Hussein. They have begun to develop democratic 
institutions of government. They are pursuing economic policies on 
trade and investment that are more liberal than any other country in 
the region. The Iraqi people have begun replacing that old Saddam 
currency with the new, unified dinar. They will have in their wallets a 
powerful symbol of their liberation, money to save or to spend as they 
choose, without Saddam's face mocking their hopes.
  The Gallup poll I mentioned just a few minutes ago found that, even 
in Baghdad, the Iraqis want us to stay that course. That is because the 
Iraqis now have an opportunity, as do we, to change the course of 
history and bring peace and stability to the heart of the Middle East.
  For the sake of Iraq, for the sake of America, we must continue to 
fight for freedom. Our Declaration of Independence tells us that all 
men are created equal. Now, in Iraq, we have the opportunity to once 
again realize that essential truth.
  I yield the floor.

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