[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 8642-8648]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Burgess). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. McInnis) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, good evening to my colleagues. I appreciate 
the opportunity to address our group this evening.
  There are a number of different issues I want to talk about, but the 
issues I am going to talk about are going to focus on one thing, and 
that is America.
  I come back from a weekend in Colorado, spending time with my 
constituents out there, constituents of all different types of 
backgrounds. I can tell my colleagues that the morale in America, the 
patriotism in America I do not think could be stronger. These people 
that are against this war, I have some appreciation of some of their 
thoughts; but I want the Members to know that the people that are 
making all these anti-U.S. statements within the borders of this 
country I am absolutely convinced are a very small part of our 
population.
  I am very impressed, very impressed, with the amount of support, 
overwhelming support, for the troops of the United States of America. 
Thank God we are Americans. I feel so good about that. I want to tell 
my colleagues, on the back of my pickup I have a bumper sticker. My 
colleagues have all seen it before. A lot of my colleagues may have it 
on the back of their pick up or their car. It is pretty simple. It 
says: ``America, love it or leave it.'' That is not a bumper sticker 
that defies anybody's right for their freedom of speech under the first 
amendment.
  In fact, we know here on this House floor we have lots of debate on 
this House floor. We are very intense debate. It is one of the checks 
and balances in the government that we have of this country, but it at 
some point in time even on this House floor no matter how intense the 
debate is, with very few exceptions, at that point people on this floor 
I can say almost unanimously, almost unanimously, love this country, 
and I see no reason to be apologetic, no reason to be apologetic for 
saying to people if they do not love America, leave it. There are lots 
of choices in this world, but one does not have to go very far from 
American borders to understand that this is the one Nation of the few 
nations in the world that do not have a problem with people leaving. 
Our big problem is so many people want to come into this country 
because they understand the fundamental principles that have made this 
country so great, that have made this country stand out in world 
history as the leading country for democracy, as the country greater 
than any other country in recorded history, the country that has done 
more for its neighbors, as one of the few countries in history, after 
it goes to war or moves into other people's territory, as Colin Powell, 
our Secretary of State, so justifiably said the other day, the only 
time that the United States of America has kept territory in a foreign 
country was under a request for someplace to bury our soldiers.
  This country has got a lot to be proud of, and I carry that bumper 
sticker with a great deal of pride,

[[Page 8643]]

``America, love it or leave it.'' And I can tell my colleagues there 
are a lot of people in this country, by far the overwhelming majority, 
they love this country, and they love what this country stands for, and 
they support the troops of the United States of America.
  I know we have got some people out there, and I am going to address 
some of their issues, some protesters out there that are not only not 
supporting the troops of the United States of America, but in 
California and in other places in this Nation, they are actually 
carrying signs that say: ``We support our troops as long as they shoot 
their officers.'' ``We support our troops as long as they shoot our 
officers.'' It is an absolute disgrace.
  We have other people who, for self-interest, frankly, on the 
Democratic side, very limited but on that side who are seeking the 
office of President itself who stand out there and say we need a regime 
change in this country.
  Let me tell my colleagues about the administration that we have, in 
my opinion, running this country. George W. Bush, I think he is doing 
an outstanding job. What President in history has had two wars, has had 
a September 11, has lost the Space Shuttle, was handed a bad economy 
and it is still going south? The strength of our President is second to 
none. The strength of our President is what will lead this country 
through this fog, and I can tell my colleagues that when the storm came 
in, when the conditions got nasty, we did not see our President anchor 
the boat at the dock where it was the safest. We saw our President turn 
that boat into the storm to guide people through the storm.
  In my opinion and I want to tell my colleagues in the opinion of 
Democrat and Republican, in my travels, in my calls, in my contacts 
throughout this country, Democrat and Republican admire the President 
that we have. They think this President is up to the job. They think 
this President is leading the country in the right direction. They 
think this President is doing the right thing in taking out of power 
the worst mass murderer in the history of the world and, by the way, 
the worst mass murderer of Muslims. Saddam Hussein has killed more 
Muslims than any other man known in recorded world history, and that 
effort to take him out is being led by our President.
  By the way, I do not want to downplay the assistance we are getting 
from our allies. I have time after time after time read in newspapers 
or heard people say this is the United States picking a fight. As 
Worley says in his song ``Have you Forgotten?'' which is the number one 
song on the country hits, after September 11 maybe we are out there 
looking to resolve this situation, but the fact is it is not the United 
States standing alone. In fact, if we take a look at the coalition that 
our President and his cabinet has put together, it is very impressive. 
Our long-time solid allies, Tony Blair and the British, and Tony Blair, 
if my colleagues want to take a look at an example of a profile in 
courage, we have got it right there. The British, the United Kingdom, a 
country that has long understood freedom, a country that has very 
judiciously, very judiciously, used their military might for good and 
just causes.
  And then we can go on to the European continent, and I hear people 
say this is a split between the United States and Europe. It is not a 
split between the United States and Europe. It is a split between the 
United States and the French, the United States and the German 
leadership, the United States and Belgium; but it is not a split 
between Europe. Jacques Chirac would like us to think that France is 
Europe. Jacques Chirac would tell the other countries in Europe that 
France is the ruling country of Europe and that when France speaks, it 
is as if it is the voice for Europe, and it is not. In fact, we have 
more countries in Europe that support the United States of America and 
our position than support the position of the French.
  Take a look at it. We can start with the British. We can go to the 
Italians. We can go to the Spanish. We can go to the Polish. We can go 
to the Netherlands. We can go to Australia. Throughout the world 
nations throughout this world and their leadership recognize that the 
mission undertaken by the United States and that willing coalition is 
the mission that is correct. It is the mission for the right cause, and 
it is the right time to undertake that mission.
  We have strong support, strong support amongst our allies. This is 
not the United States acting alone, although I will tell my colleagues 
that our country must always be prepared, must always be prepared 
because of our strength, because of our leadership, because of our 
history of democracy, we must always be prepared to act for the 
interests of humanity even if it means acting alone that we will find 
in our history. To the best of my knowledge, I do not remember anytime 
in our history that the United States has ever had to act alone. Why? 
Why does the United States not have to act alone including in the 
current war that we are involved? It is really pretty simple. It is 
because the causes that this country acts on, it is on the right side. 
It acts for the right reasons. It goes forward with the right 
intentions; and when we are right, when we have got the right cause, 
when we are headed in the right direction, it is easy for other 
countries to support us because other countries too, being right is not 
exclusive to the United States of America and being strong and having 
the might to help your friends and to help people that are under the 
wicked hands of somebody like Saddam Hussein, in my opinion it is a 
pretty easy decision to make. The French walked away from it. The 
Germans walked away from it. The Belgians walked away from it. But the 
countries that stood tall, that came out of that foxhole to take the 
fire to get rid of the evil empire over there, those countries are 
right too.
  This is a coalition of the willing, and I will tell my colleagues 
thank goodness we have got a President who is willing to stand up and 
take the heat, take the protest, take the derogatory remarks, take the 
editorials, take all the political correctness that they try to aim 
against him, and yet he has stayed steady as she goes. He is on course. 
He knows in his own mind what needs to be done to protect not only the 
United States of America but to protect the world.
  Right here on this House floor from this very seat, and I was sitting 
right out here and many of my colleagues were sitting right out here, 
the President said freedom is not a gift to the United States or 
exclusive to the United States; it is a gift to humanity, a gift given 
to the United States to carry out for humanity. That is paraphrased a 
little, but that is exactly on point.
  Take a look at what else we have with the President. Take a look at 
our team. Condoleezza Rice, recognized as one of the experts in the 
entire world on international affairs, and, by the way, I boast with 
some pride a Colorado product, she went to school in Denver, Colorado. 
Take a look at our vice President, Dick Cheney, very methodical, very 
experienced in these types of areas. I think one of the most well 
thought-out Vice Presidents this country has ever had. Take a look at 
Colin Powell, clearly, clearly recognized as one of the most respected 
men in the world. Dick Rumsfeld, the youngest Secretary of Defense we 
have ever had, the oldest Secretary of Defense we have ever had, 
somebody who fits the part in the Department of Defense perfectly, in 
my opinion.

                              {time}  2100

  We have got the dream team out there. We have got the team that has 
led this.
  Remember how in Afghanistan, Afghanistan now, not Iraq, but remember 
how with Afghanistan we were hardly into our mission, hardly into our 
mission, before some of the national publications, the national press, 
some of it, came out and said, oh, my gosh, the United States is going 
to face stunning defeat. The United States underestimated the power of 
the Taliban, that brought down the Russian empire when they came in and 
tried to take over, chased them out of Afghanistan, et cetera, et 
cetera, et cetera. They have done the same thing with Iraq.

[[Page 8644]]

  A week and a half ago, take a look at what the headlines were saying. 
They were talking about retreat, some of them. They were talking about 
how the United States greatly misjudged this, the United States has 
slowed down so much, the United States has been stopped. They really 
clearly underestimated the strength of Saddam Hussein and the 
dedication to his tyranny in the country.
  How interesting a week changes these newspapers. Now, all of a 
sudden, they are out there saying this is one of the greatest military 
triumphs we have seen.
  The battle is not over, but the United States and our troops over 
there, and our troops in the United States, by the way, have done a 
tremendous job. And what is different about this than Vietnam? I can 
tell you, in this war and in, I hope, all conflicts in the future, when 
our military people come home, or when we see military people on the 
street, they will be recognized as heroes. I cannot wait to put my arms 
around some of these young soldiers when they come home, back home to 
Colorado or Mississippi or Texas or whatever State. We are so, so darn 
proud of them. That is why I do not have any reluctance at all, as a 
U.S. Congressman, I have no reluctance at all when I drive around to 
have a bumper sticker on the back of my pickup that says ``America: 
Love it or leave it.''
  I do not often get tears in my eyes. I do not know why it is, because 
I do have emotion, I have deep emotion. I have love, I have belief in a 
God, I have deep emotion, but I do not often tear up. But I have to 
tell you this weekend I teared up.
  What a wonderful thing our military did, not only what they did, but 
what it is representative of. I am talking about the rescue of our 
prisoner of war, Jessica Lynch. And what made me tear up when I read 
the words. Here she is: She has had her bones broken, she has been 
shot, I would assume she probably saw the execution of her fellow 
soldiers. What a traumatic event. Now she is a prisoner of war.
  All of a sudden, our soldier, our Jessica Lynch, and Jessica Lynch 
could be any soldier from any State, laying in that hospital bed, hears 
a racket, hears noise in the hospital. As the reports say, she puts her 
head under the sheet, and all of a sudden she hears a voice. ``We are 
United States soldiers. We are here to protect you and we are here to 
take you home.''
  Imagine that. Your name, Jessica Lynch. That is what first happened. 
``Jessica Lynch. We are United States soldiers. We are here to protect 
you. We are here to take you home.''
  Bless her heart. She sticks her head out of the sheet and she says, 
``I am an American soldier too. Do not let anybody leave me.''
  Jessica Lynch is a face, as I said earlier, you could put on any 
military uniform in our country. What is so neat about this story is 
not only the rescue, but the fact that an American soldier never leaves 
an American soldier behind. We always go back and get our people, and 
we will continue to go back and get our people.
  But what is really significant about this is what it says, what 
America will do for another human being. And it is not just restricted 
to the soldiers. I can tell you that there are a lot of citizens of the 
country of Iraq that, once they know we are really there and that 
Saddam Hussein is really gone, they will feel the same comfort of 
freedom and the same comfort of security that Pfc. Lynch felt when her 
fellow soldiers came to take her home.
  What a neat story. And what a neat story about what the American 
fighting man and woman has done for a country many, many miles away 
from the border of our own.
  Sure we have a lot of self-interest in this. We do not want a mass 
murderer like Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction. We do 
not want the worst killer in the history of the world, that has been 
the worst killer of Muslims, one of the worst mass murderers ever 
known, we do not want him to have those weapons. We know this 
individual has gassed his own people, 60,000 people in one incident; 
and, thank goodness, yesterday we drove a stake through the heart of 
his lead officer in charge of those kinds of programs, those programs 
of ricin, of nerve gas, of mustard gas. He died yesterday. We drove a 
stake through his heart, and Saddam Hussein is not far behind.
  So, sure, we have self-interest. We know what would happen in Iraq. 
If we did not handle Iraq today, it would be North Korea tomorrow. We 
realized in this generation, through the leadership of our President, 
and, frankly, through the leadership of most of us on this House floor, 
we recognized the time to stand up, the time to fight, had arrived.
  We were not like the French, that said negotiate, negotiate, 
negotiate. We were not like the Germans, that, for political purposes, 
for self-serving political purposes for the office of the president, 
ran and hid.
  The United States stood up, and our men and women stood up; and we 
stood up, as I said, not just for our own self-interest and the 
interests of the world to rid them of this person, but we stood up for 
the values of freedom, the values of democracy, the values of just 
fundamental, basic human rights for the people of Iraq. We stood up for 
the people of Iraq.
  It is the American soldier, the British soldier, even the Polish 
soldier and the Australian soldiers, that got out of that foxhole and 
have come into Iraq to give the people of Iraq the basic and 
fundamental principles of human rights, of human decency, of freedom, 
freedom of some expression.
  We have got an awful lot to be proud of. And this rescue over the 
last few days, man, am I proud of those people. Look at these soldiers 
here. They went to work. And look at the success, the successes that we 
have had.
  Sure, we are going to take more casualties. This thing is far from 
over.
  And we will rebuild this country. Not under the guidelines of the 
French, not under the guidelines of the Germans, not under the 
guidelines of the Russians or the United Nations, but under the 
guidelines of the United States, of the British, for a short period of 
time, and then under the guidelines of the people of Iraq.
  This Nation and our willing coalition will allow the people of Iraq, 
for the first time in many, many, many moons, for the first time in 
many, many, many years, to allow the people of Iraq to have a real 
government that represents them, a government of the people, by the 
people and for the people. And that would not have happened, that would 
not have happened if nations throughout this world had not been willing 
to stand up at the sacrifice of losing their own people. That would not 
have happened had we and that willing coalition not stood up.
  Imagine where we would be, imagine where the people of Iraq would be, 
5 years from now had this willing coalition not stood up. Imagine where 
we would be, just like Chamberlain should have imagined where we would 
be in 1938 with Hitler. Imagine where we would be 5 years from now if 
we followed the French philosophy or the German philosophy in dealing 
with the country of Iraq and dealing with other problems throughout the 
world where we have tyrants that have in their hands weapons of mass 
destruction. And they have used them time and time and time again, and 
they have continued to defy international law and they have continued 
to defy the international community.
  We are on the right track. We are fighting for the right cause. We 
have not only the finest military in the world, we have the finest 
military in the history of the world, and every member of our military, 
whether you are stationed domestically, whether you are sitting out 
there on a ship, whether you are in transit, whether you are in South 
Korea, whether you are in the Philippines or Kuwait or Iraq, every 
member of the armed services of the United States of America can wear 
that uniform proudly. And I want every one of you to know that my 
colleagues, all of us here, we are so, so deeply indebted to and so 
proud of you.
  The symbol of what you will carry to the next generation is that this 
Nation is willing to stand up for what is right and stand against what 
is wrong. There

[[Page 8645]]

is a lot to be said in that message. And that rescue this weekend, it 
made all of us feel good.
  But take a look at what it meant on a broader basis. That is what we 
are doing for the Iraqi people. We are freeing the Iraqi people. We are 
going to bring stability to that country. We are going to bring 
economic bliss. These people are going to get to enjoy material things 
we take for granted in this country. And it is in large part due to the 
leadership of our President, and in large part due to the dedication 
and sacrifice of our military forces, and in large part, in large part 
due to the patriotism of America to the average Joe and the average 
Jane on the street that say, America will stand for what it believes, 
America will help its allies, America will help its friends, America is 
a country that will go into history, into the future as well as our 
past, as the finest country in the history of the world.
  And I am proud of it, and I am proud to have that bumper sticker on 
the back of my pickup, ``America: Love it or leave it.''
  I want to mention a couple of other things. I am not trying to 
trivialize or treat lightly the difficulties that we have had with the 
French. I know that lately there have been efforts to change the word 
from ``French toast'' to ``freedom toast,'' or figure out some other 
name on the menu, and not to do this or that with the French, and I 
understand that. There is a lot of anger back here.
  There is a lot of anger with the American citizens about a country 
like France. It is kind of a luxury society. They get the benefits. 
They get the benefits of a lot of security that is provided by their 
neighbors. They get the benefits of a capitalist economic society. But 
they get the luxury of never having to come out of the foxhole.
  But I have got to tell you, last week I did become aggressive in one 
area dealing with French products. I found out, and for the sake of 
open disclosure, my district is in the mountains of Colorado. We have a 
community in Colorado named Marble, Colorado, for obvious reasons, 
there is a marble quarry up there in that community. That quarry has 
provided marble for many things, including some of the steps here at 
the Capitol, many of the monuments, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It 
is a very fine marble.
  In discussing a call instituted by them, in discussions with some of 
the people in this company, which, by the way, is owned by the Swiss, 
and the other marble company in this country, there is one owned by the 
Italians, they said, ``Geez, do you know who supplies the tombstone for 
the Department of Defense to put over the graves of our fallen 
soldiers?'' Of course we did not. The French.
  When I heard that, I took it personally. I think it is wrong. I think 
it is inappropriate, considering what the French Government has done to 
this country, how they have kicked sand in the face of their friend; 
how in a time of adversity, they put their ship safe in the harbor and 
threatened our ship out there and our willing coalition.
  We can handle it without them, but they left us. They left us when it 
was the most important time for them to be with us, that is when they 
left us.
  Now I find out that our Department of Defense is purchasing the 
tombstones that we place over the graves of our fallen soldiers from a 
French company.
  I have asked the Department of Defense, as the contract comes up for 
renewal in July, at least the Swiss were neutral, and the Italians are 
part of the willing coalition. The Italians have been a great country. 
They understood the evil we are dealing with. These are the kinds of 
countries that should be rewarded, not the French.
  It is the same thing when we go and rebuild Iraq. The French should 
not be rewarded for their belligerent attitude, for the fact they hid 
as far down in the foxhole as they could get from the tough fight 
taking place outside the foxhole.
  So I wanted to explain to some of my colleagues, this is not just 
trying to take a cheap shot or for some other reason to bring out this 
issue. The fact is, American soldiers should not be buried under 
tombstones purchased from a French company.
  I want to visit for just a few moments, and then probably the most 
exciting part of my comments tonight are some of the letters that I 
want to read to you from some of our soldiers, some of the thoughts 
about this conflict, this war we are engaged in.

                              {time}  2115

  First of all, I think the protests in this country, the anti-American 
troop attitude, the expressions by Presidential aspirants that we need 
a regime change, and some of our colleagues on this House floor way 
over on the left side, objecting to what is happening here, that is not 
representative of the majority of the people of America. I do not take 
away, to an extent, I do not take away the right for debate. I think it 
is so fundamentally important for the checks and balances of our 
country. I do not take away, even if I disagree, I do not take away the 
right, if somebody disagrees with me, to debate on this floor or to 
walk in a protest. But as my colleagues know, there comes a point in 
time where we as a team must act together. There is a saying around 
here: politics ends at our country's borders. In other words, in 
Congress, we have always said, look, when we go to battle outside, like 
a family, like a family dispute, when we step outside the family home, 
when we step outside the borders of this Nation, we must act as a 
Nation. We must act as a family. We must speak as a family. Let the 
politics and the debate stay within our borders.
  Unfortunately, a small number of people, especially when we consider 
it in proportion to the population of this Nation, or if we consider 
even a more accurate number, if we consider the number of protests in 
proportion to the percentage of this country that supports our forces 
and supports the difference between right and wrong and the just cause 
of which we are engaged, it is minuscule. These protestors are really 
not representative of the majority of America.
  I want to tell my colleagues, where they cross, in my opinion, where 
they cross the line of patriotic and unpatriotic. I do not think that 
one can say somebody is unpatriotic, for gosh sakes, because they 
protest. I do not think that is unpatriotic. As I have said earlier, 
there is freedom of speech. But there is at some point where one 
carries that protest to that line or one crosses that line where it 
does cross the line between being patriotic and unpatriotic. And let me 
come back to my remarks that I made at the beginning, and that is those 
protesters, disgraceful, what they have done. Those protesters, and I 
have pictures of it right here, those protesters that carry signs out 
there that say, we support our troops, we support our troops, as long 
as they shoot their officers. Those are the kinds of people that my 
bumper sticker applies to. If you do not love America, get out of it. 
Leave America.
  And I am not ashamed, I am not concerned about standing up here and 
saying to my colleagues, in my judgment, and I think in the judgment of 
many people of this country, it is unpatriotic for one to stand out 
there when our forces, when our young men and women throughout this 
country and overseas, overseas actually taking bullets or being scared 
to death or being asked to carry out a mission so that we have the 
freedom to protest, that one would dare have the audacity, the 
unpatriotism to carry a sign that says, ``I support our troops as long 
as they shoot their officers.'' Those people, in my opinion, have no 
place in our society. They do not, thank goodness, carry behind them 
much support. It is very limited. But it is so disgraceful in its 
public display, so disgraceful in its public display that I come to the 
House floor this evening to condemn as unpatriotic that particular sign 
and those people who do not support the troops of America.
  In fact, every protester out there, many people, by the way, who I 
would describe as luxury, the life of luxury. They are not taking 
bullets. They are not worried about their security. We all go to sleep 
tonight not worried about our security. We all go to the grocery store 
tomorrow not worried

[[Page 8646]]

about whether there is food there. We have less worry about medical 
conditions than other people in the world because we have such a fine 
medical establishment. We do not worry about whether our kids have a 
school to go to in the morning. We really have a life of luxury. But 
that life of luxury in large part is given to us by the dedication of 
the American forces, by the dedication of the American forces that are 
willing to risk everything they have, including their own lives, so 
that we have that life of luxury.
  It is my humble opinion that when those forces hit the field in 
combat, that the signs of protest ought to go down and those signs that 
ought to go up is ``God bless the American forces.'' God bless our men 
and women who are willing to go out there, not for their own self 
interests, but for the interests of the country that they love, for the 
interests of America. For the interests of America's interests. For the 
interests of America's allies. For the humanity, for the interests of 
humanity; in the interest of freedom, of freedom and the export of 
freedom. They are willing to go out there and put their lives on the 
line.
  We know, we know, many lives, many lives have now been lost in the 
last couple of weeks as a result of carrying that torch, the torch of 
America's gift to its people, and the gift of its people to America, 
and that is freedom and democracy. Yet we have people, people in our 
own circle, people in our own camp that not only do not help gather 
firewood for the fire, but have the audacity to carry a sign, carry 
lots of signs that say, we support our troops when they shoot our 
officers. That is going too far. That is going over the line.
  I know when I get back to my office this evening I am going to have 
lots of phone calls, primarily from these kinds of people, yelling at 
me that I am an unpatriotic American. How dare they, as if I have no 
freedom of speech, but how dare I question their motives when they 
carry a sign that says ``We support our troops as long as they shoot 
our officers.'' Well, I say to them, save your time. It is a waste of a 
phone call. Instead, think of that bumper sticker that I have on the 
back of my pickup: ``America, love it or leave it.'' The intensity that 
I feel is not just with me. We see that throughout this country. People 
are so proud today to be Americans and our military people are so proud 
of their Nation and so proud of being in uniform for this country.
  I was at a high school not too long ago and at the high school one of 
the students asked me, he said, are they going to bring back the draft? 
I said, the draft, now that we have a little time out of the draft, we 
now realize it was probably the worst mistake we ever made in this 
country. Why? Because in the draft, keep in mind, we did not offer any 
choice. We would go to young men and women who had just gotten out of 
high school, maybe had started a career, say, being a mechanic, 
something that they really wanted to be, or going to college or doing 
something they really wanted to do, and all of a sudden their 
government was knocking on their door saying, whether you want to or 
not, you are being drafted, you have to leave your home, we are going 
to send you out in the military forces and we may have you painting 
ships or doing something they despise. Do you think our military is 
happy? Do you think morale in the military is good when we have a 
draft? It is not.
  What we have today is a different concept; and if you go back and 
look at the history in the articles about getting rid of the draft and 
so on, nobody estimated just what a tremendous success it would be, 
getting rid of the draft and having an all-volunteer force, men and 
women who want to serve this country, men and women who want to put 
that uniform on. Men and women who wanted to be where they were going 
to be sent by our Commander in Chief.
  I think we are going to see that reflected by any number of letters 
that I have right here, and I want to take a few minutes to read some 
of them. Our military, the morale in our military is as high as it has 
ever been, in part because of their deep, deep dedication to this 
country that has been so good to them and so good to all of us, in part 
because of the leadership of our Commander in Chief, and in smaller 
part because of the leadership of the United States Congress and 
elected officials and leaders throughout this country. We have come 
together as a family. We have spoken with a very strong voice, a voice 
that is recognized wherever those Stars and Stripes fly.
  Now, granted, we should not be distracted for very long by a few 
small groups of protesters that have, in an unpatriotic way, in a 
belligerent fashion, carried signs that say, ``We support our troops, 
as long as they shoot their officers.''
  I have really been moved by some of the letters that we have seen. I 
wanted to read a couple of them. I think they are so neat. As I have 
said before, I do not like to read from written text, but these are not 
my letters. These are letters that I am passing on to my colleagues. 
Let me start:
  ``We are the proud parents of two United States Marines.''
  By the way, at one of my events this weekend, I met the mother of two 
proud, I am not sure if they were Marines or Army officers or a 
mixture. Boy, was that mother proud. She stood up in front of this 
group, and she said, please, the best message I can take back to my 
sons, a son and a daughter, the best message I can take back to my 
children is that we in this country understand why they are fighting, 
that we in this country support what they are doing for us. She said, 
that is all that is necessary. You do not need to send a care package. 
She did say prayers, but she said prayer, and let them know that we 
understand why they are there and that we too have the deep faith in 
them and the love for this country that they have. It is pretty moving.
  ``We are the proud parents of two U.S. Marines. We will not bother 
discussing our political views, one party versus another. What we will 
say is we do not want our sons nor any of our sons and daughters, 
husbands, wives and grandchildren in our extended military family to 
die in vain. Like most, we pray for peace, but we are sick, literally 
sick. Why? Because we lived through the Vietnam era and saw firsthand 
how our vets were treated. We are so afraid it is beginning to happen 
again, and we are not alone. Nor are we the only ones who believe with 
all of our heart that the key to winning any war on terrorism will 
depend on how we here at home emotionally support our troops, 
regardless of politics. Vietnam proved how we defeated ourselves by the 
way we divided our own Nation and treated our troops. We never lost the 
battle in Vietnam, we lost the battle on the political front. We are 
beginning to lose again and the bullets have yet to fly.''
  Now, I should note that this letter was written prior to the 
engagement of the conflict, about 3 weeks ago. I would also note that 
the mother who wrote this letter is today, I am sure, so, so proud of 
the overwhelming patriotism and support that is being shown by the 
American people for her two proud Marines and all of those who have 
chosen to serve in our military.
  ``Our sons did not choose to become a United States Marine to kill 
people. They had dreams of a career, of travel, and of protecting us 
from the terror of things like 9-11 so that it would never happen 
again. Both our sons are the best sons a parent could pray for. The 
thought of having someone throwing animal feces on our military when 
they finally return home, hearing nothing but negative media about how 
Americans hate them and the war, and the thought of what we would do to 
the servicemen and women's spirit scares military families to the point 
of sleepless nights. The media, stronger than the White House itself, 
can help change that fear, can help it from becoming a reality. 
Everyone is quick to show the protesters out marching. What has been 
done to show those who support our troops? We are not marching on the 
streets, we are not screaming clever chants, we are not holding up 
signs or throwing blame or calling names. No, we military families, we 
are at home. We are boxing care packages to

[[Page 8647]]

our service people. We put yellow ribbons on our doors, on our trees, 
on our car antennas, Blue Star flags in our windows. We pray 100 times 
a day and light a candle. We are sending birthday cards, thank you 
notes of cheer to the members of the service whom we have never met, 
nor may ever, because they are our extended family in that military 
force.
  ``They need to know amidst some of this bad publicity, there are 
those of us who are grateful for their choice and sacrifice for us to 
live in the land of the free, and it is because of the brave that we 
have the land of the free. You may never read that in the headlines. So 
what can be done?''
  And she goes on to talk about how we can come together in our 
communities in their prayer and in their showing of support for our 
soldiers. And keep in mind, it is not just the soldiers that are on the 
front. Think of all of the supplies, all of the logistics that have to 
happen from people across this Nation, soldiers and citizens, civilian 
military employees, the prayer from us.

                              {time}  2130

  Look at all the supplies that have to be put together. Look at all 
our medical personnel. In Washington, D.C., we have servicemen, and 
when I say that, servicemen and servicewomen, we have service people 
who are now recup-
erating in our hospitals here in Washington, D.C., at our military 
hospitals. There are a lot of heroes out there.
  I get the deep sense in this country that this country has responded 
totally opposite of the response that we saw in the Vietnam-era war. 
This country has come to its feet. This country will recognize and has 
recognized, and will greet with great cheer and great love and great 
pride our American soldiers when they come home.
  This lady's concern about the Vietnam era and the way those service 
people were treated should be of no more concern. We have a few pockets 
of poorly educated, unpatriotic people who carry signs that the best 
way to support troops is to shoot their officers, but such a small 
fraction. We have a massive, massive amount of people that will stand 
in respect to these military people for the job that they have done and 
for the job that they will do not only today, but in the future.
  Let me move on to another letter. This one is from Petty Officer 
Lance Herdon of Brandon, Mississippi. I am just taking out a part of 
the letter. Frankly, some of the letters have some pretty emotional, 
private stuff for the family, but with this, I do not think they have 
objection to it being read.
  From the petty officer: ``As far as questions about the protesters, 
yes, I am angered about the protesters. But, that is why we are here. 
We are the very ones that give them the rights to speak freely. I still 
don't understand how the very people who speak so badly about us and 
what we are out here trying to preserve are the ones who use it the 
most.
  ``To answer your previous questions, I did watch the President's 
speech. There was about 20 of us glued to the television screen on the 
bridge. I don't understand what is left to show people. What I mean by 
that is the fact they have mass weapons of destruction and they refuse 
to destroy them. So that means that they could inflict serious harm on 
surrounding countries. Why should we not help the surrounding 
countries? I completely believe in liberating the people of Iraq. Give 
them one thing that we most often take for granted . . . freedom.''
  This 19-year-old petty officer says, ``Give them the one thing that 
we most often take for granted . . . freedom.'' It is something that is 
overlooked, a major right we hold as Americans.
  ``For everyone in Mississippi--keep on keeping on. Everyone's support 
has been monumental so far. There are a lot of people that think that 
this is not necessary, but I think of it as a responsibility to 
mankind.''
  This is coming from a 19-year-old petty officer. ``I think of it as a 
responsibility to mankind.'' The key word is freedom.
  ``I think that it is ironic that Abraham Lincoln was famous for 
freeing the slaves 200 years ago. I am on the USS Abraham Lincoln 
trying to free the people of Iraq. I am surprised no one else has said 
anything to that effect.'' It has been said, petty officer. ``I don't 
see how anyone cannot want to free the people of Iraq.''
  Another one here from a desert battlefield far from home, a U.S. 
military officer sent his wife a love letter describing how his wedding 
ring has soothed him. It reminded him of her, although they are many 
miles apart.
  ``Every day I find myself fidgeting with my ring. The smoothness of 
its surface calms me,'' Captain Scott Smith wrote to his wife, Kelly. 
``I can't fully describe what I'm feeling. I'm no poet, but its 
lightness, its beauty reminds me of you. Its hardness is a sign of your 
strength. Love, you are my rock. You are what I live for.''
  Think of the sacrifice, not only of these military men, but the 
military families, these young wives or husbands whose spouse is out 
there fighting for us. Think of the emotions.
  Do Members remember the songs from World War II? ``I'll see you in 
all the old familiar places,'' or ``Kiss me once and kiss me twice,'' 
that kind of stuff, it is all there. The love for these troops is so 
deep and so intense, as reflected by letters like this.
  Here is another letter: Army Pfc. Favio Melendez, Jr., with the 
Patriot unit from the 108th in Fort Bliss, Texas.
  He wrote to his wife:
  ``Dear Babe, my journey back home is about to begin. The war would've 
been halfway over by the time you get this letter. I love you and miss 
you. If anything happens to me, remember I'll always love you. I'll 
always be with you. Tell everybody back home thank you for the letters 
and for the prayers. I'll see them soon.
  ``Tell my parents they have raised a proud American son. Tell my 
sister to achieve her goals, for I have fought for them. Pray for those 
soldiers who have lost their lives for our freedom and pray for those 
who continue to fight to make the world a better place.
  ``I made a promise to you before I left, that I shall return . . . 
it's rough and tough out here, but I'll keep that promise.
  ``Take care of our son, and let him know who his daddy is. I'll see 
you soon. P.F.C. Melendez.''
  Here is another one, Brian Waninger to his wife Melena. ``Today has 
been eventful, as you can imagine. We are all fine. Have a prayer chain 
started. I know that it works. Pray for the President. He is a brave 
man to have made these decisions and I am sure that he will face 
adversity. He will need a lot of support to stay strong. I say, get the 
wives together and protest the protesters. The men of Charlie Company 
are in good spirits and proud to be here. Pass it on. I love you and 
you are on my mind constantly. Love, Brian.''
  I want to mention another one. This is an obituary. There is one line 
in the obituary that really stuck out. ``George A. Fernandez, 36, a 
member of the Army's Special Operation Command, died Wednesday after 
being shot in northern Iraq, the Defense Department said.''
  Think of this statement. This statement comes from his family. Think 
of the strength of a family to stand up and say something like this. 
They said he was the third generation of his family to serve as a 
senior noncommissioned officer.
  ``He served not only out of a sense of family obligation, but out of 
a sense of patriotic duty. He loved America and he was proud to be part 
of the Special Operations community.'' Fernandez was a native of El 
Paso, and he gave his life for the greatest country in the history of 
the world.
  I want to mention another group of people out there, and then start 
to conclude this. There is another group of people out there that are 
not even American citizens. They are called foreign nationals. Now, I 
know that it is real easy to bash illegal immigrants, and lately there 
has been a lot of that. A lot of it is deserved, I understand the 
debate. I am not trying to take sides in a debate, here.
  But I am saying that there are people who are not even citizens of 
this country who believe so strongly, who believe so strongly in the 
American

[[Page 8648]]

dream that they have enlisted in our forces. Now, somewhere around the 
range of 10 have given their lives, have been killed in the line of 
duty fighting for the United States of America, even though not 
citizens of the United States of America, because they believe in the 
principles and the values and the freedom and the fairness and the 
justice for all. They believe in what our great country has done for 
its people, and more importantly, more importantly, these people 
believe in what our country has done for the world and has done for 
others, our neighbors.
  A Guatemala native put off college to join the Marines. Lance 
Corporal Jose Gutierrez, 22 years old, rifleman with the Marines, born 
in Guatemala, held permanent U.S. resident status which he obtained in 
1991.
  Those people, those foreign nationals who signed up to serve in our 
military, those foreign nationals who have made the ultimate sacrifice, 
we need to know that the respect of this country goes well beyond our 
borders; that there are people throughout this world that would do 
anything to become American citizens, to help further the dream that 
our forefathers had when they first put this country together. Lance 
Corporal Jose Gutierrez was one of those. By the way, I should tell the 
Members that the United States now, in recognition of his sacrifice, 
made him in citizen of the United States.
  I want to put up one other poster. This is called ``Freedom''. I want 
Members to know I did not author this, but Fred Thompson, a U.S. 
Senator, former United States Senator, has a TV commercial, or has put 
this on the TV. I am not sure who the author is, but I did not do it. I 
think the words are so explicit and say so much.
  In conclusion of my remarks, I wanted to read a letter, but I wanted 
to go through this. Just go through with me.
  ``Freedom
  ``It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the 
freedom to demonstrate.
  ``It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom 
of press.
  ``It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of 
speech.
  ``It is the soldier who serves under the flag who defends the 
protester's right to burn the flag.
  ``Isn't it time now to demonstrate that we support our troops? Were 
it not for the brave, there will be no land of the free.''
  Finally, I want to conclude with a letter. This letter was written to 
``Mom''. The young man is from the State of Nevada. This letter was 
actually published in a newspaper.
  ``Dear Mom, it's really your decision to march if you want to or not. 
You are the one who has to decide if what we are doing out here is 
right or wrong. My opinion is not yours.
  ``I do, however, have things I would like for you and Grandma and 
everyone else at home to know.
  ``I am a United States soldier. I was sworn to defend my country 
against all enemies, foreign and domestic. People may not agree with 
the things we are ordered to do. I would like to address those people 
by telling them that terrorism is not a threat to us as Americans but 
to many other innocent people in the world.
  ``What type of country would we be if we didn't defend the rights and 
freedoms of others, not because they're Americans, but how about just 
because they're human?
  ``We live in a country where people feel secure with their daily 
lives. They do business like usual and don't worry about the thought of 
terrorism actually happening to them.
  ``The people of 9/11 thought the same thing. We now know that it can 
happen to anyone at any time.
  ``Yet as Americans we're afraid of losing our soldiers to defend our 
security. I can only speak for myself when I say that my life is an 
easy expense to ensure that my family and my friends can live in peace.
  ``I strongly believe in what we are doing and wish you were here to 
see for yourselves the honor and privilege that American soldiers 
aboard this ship are feeling, knowing that we are going to be a part of 
something so strong and so meaningful to the safety of our loved ones. 
Then you would know what this potential war is about.
  ``We will stand tall in front of terrorism and defeat it. We as 
soldiers are not afraid of what may happen. We are only afraid of 
Americans not being able to understand why we are here.
  ``I ask for your courage as Americans to be strong for us; I ask for 
your understanding in what we believe is right. I ask for your support 
in what we are sworn to do: defend our country and the life of all.
  ``We will succeed in our task and we will end the threat of terrorism 
in our backyard. We will also end the threat of terrorism in our 
neighbors'.
  ``We have to remind ourselves of what this country stands for: life, 
liberty, and justice for all. In order to maintain those rights, we 
have to stop this threat. I am proud to be here. I will be coming home, 
but not until I know that it is safe for all Americans and for everyone 
that I love.
  ``My family is first. My country is where they live. I will defend 
it.'' This is a 20-year-old Navy corpsman, 20 years old and writes like 
that.
  It is with a great deal of pride that I have that bumper sticker on 
the back of my pickup, ``This is America: Love it or leave it.'' I want 
all of my colleagues, when they go back, to know that the belief and 
support of the American people is behind the military forces of 
America; that by far the greatest majority of Americans feel good to be 
Americans. They feel proud of this Nation, and they not only feel 
honored by our troops, they feel that our troops are acting for a noble 
purpose.

                              {time}  2145

  And they see these troops as real heroes, not sports celebrities, not 
famous people, not Hollywood actresses but as real true heroes. And 
there frankly are a lot of people who have put down their signs in 
protest and have picked up signs supporting our force. Those people who 
are carrying the disgraceful sign that they support our troops as long 
as they shoot their officers are a disgraceful bunch. I guess you get 
some bad apples in every bushel. But the fact is we live in the 
greatest country in the history of the world. And I, for my own small 
part, feel very, very privileged, very privileged to have been born or 
to be a citizen or to have as fellow citizens people who have come into 
this country in the United States of America. Just take a look at the 
last words we have got: ``Were it not for the brave, there would be no 
land of the free.''

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