[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6683-6684]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1745
 WHAT COULD AMERICA DO DIFFERENTLY TO PREPARE FOR ANOTHER SEPTEMBER 11?

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bonner). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, imagine if we could rewind the tape, we 
could rewind it back to September 10, 2001. We are sitting around 
looking at the world. We know that in 1993, the World Trade Center was 
bombed. We know that 17 Americans were killed when the USS Cole was 
bombed in Yemen. We know that two embassies in Africa have been bombed. 
We have withdrawn from Somalia.
  If it was September 10, 2001, and we were taking a sober assessment 
of the world, what would we do differently? Particularly what would we 
do differently as respects the events of September 11?
  Mr. Speaker, obviously we cannot rewind the tape ever, but the 
reality is we are sitting potentially on another September 10 date 
right now. We have been in this world for a long time. We are looking 
at a world where Saddam Hussein had 90 days from April, 1991, to disarm 
after withdrawing from Kuwait and after the U.N. action that we know of 
as Desert Storm.
  We know that in the 12 years that followed April 19, 1991, he 
flaunted the weapons inspection process. We know that weapons 
inspectors such as Scott Ritter quit in disgust. We know that it was 
criticized. We know that he went 4 years without having U.N. weapons 
inspectors. We know that indeed 17 U.N. resolutions have gone by.
  Our President has been very patient with the U.N. diplomatic process. 
It is too bad that it failed. It is too bad that maybe the U.N. could 
have stepped forward a little bit stronger during any of the time in 
the last 12 years, but that did not happen. Maybe the future of the 
U.N. should be debated in another Chamber at another date.
  The reality is Saddam Hussein has chemical and biological weapons, 
and has tried to get nuclear weapons. We know that he has murdered 
hundreds of his fellow men. We know that Amnesty International and 
Human Rights Watch estimates that there is something like 70,000 to 
150,000 people who have disappeared in Iraq, which is more than any 
other country in the world.
  We know that in the year 2000 they implemented tongue amputations as 
a way of dealing with their enemies. We know that he uses torture. We 
know that he drills people. We know that he rapes people. He films 
things like this and shows it to family members. We know that, indeed, 
he has killed some of his own family members.
  The message from the United States of America to the people of Iraq 
is that the enemy of Iraq is not the United States of America; rather, 
the enemy of Iraq is their own government; very specifically, Saddam 
Hussein.
  We in America stand against oppression. We in America stand for the 
liberation of the people of Iraq. We in America stand for our own 
homeland and national security, and we in America stand for our own 
troops, who at this moment are abroad and ready for action.
  I hope that in the 11th hour of this long process Saddam Hussein 
decides to step forward and save his country as he knows it and to help 
support another regime. I hope we do not have to pull the trigger; but 
should we need to do that, we will be successful. We will liberate the 
people of Iraq. We will do the right thing.
  Mr. Speaker, let me close with just saying that on this very critical 
hour in our history, we all say a prayer for our troops, and we all 
stand behind our troops. God bless America.

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