[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 8756]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            IRAQI LIBERATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to support the actions of the 
world's greatest fighting force, the United States Armed Forces, which 
is currently about 360,000 men and women deployed overseas defending 
our freedom. Though the terrains may differ greatly, their overall 
objectives remain the same, Mr. Speaker. From the sweltering jungles of 
Colombia and South Korea to the barren moonscapes of Iraq and 
Afghanistan, U.S. forces put life and limb in harm's way to maintain 
the security of our great country. War is a concept not easily 
understood, never black and white, its ramifications always permanent 
and, of course, severe. The fighting men and women of the United States 
know the consequences of war, yet continue to place upon their 
shoulders this great mantle of responsibility. Though victory in war 
always comes at a price, our efforts in the Iraqi theater have yielded 
great success. Our Armed Forces have liberated thousands of Iraqis and 
have begun the delivery of much needed humanitarian support. Saddam's 
regime seems to be on its knees, ready to collapse. In what has been a 
historic campaign, U.S. Marines, a sea-based service, have marched 
inland to Baghdad in what has been the deepest land penetration ever by 
its air-ground team of planes, helicopters, troops and tanks. American 
troops have Baghdad surrounded. We have demonstrated an ability to 
insert troops deep into the city and the 1st Brigade of the United 
States Army recently renamed Saddam International Airport to Baghdad 
International. The evil and torturous regime of Saddam Hussein and his 
Baath party cronies seems to be at its end, all due to the valiant 
efforts of coalition forces. Though support for this operation has been 
great and widespread, we as a body have been forced to face the 
politics of war. We have been faced with a task of funding this war and 
making sure that our troops are supplied with the best equipment in the 
world. This week we must pass the wartime supplemental conference 
report as soon as possible in order to keep our military machine safe 
and, of course, efficient. We must also continue to show the world that 
what we are doing is right and for the benefit of our global safety. We 
must uproot Saddam and show the world the atrocities that he has 
committed. So far, the terrorist links have been established, Mr. 
Speaker. Al Qaeda terrorists fought against coalition troops in 
southern Iraq. Foreign nationals--Egyptians, Jordanians, Saudis, 
Syrians, Yemenis--were captured Sunday and led U.S. soldiers to their 
training grounds at Salman Pak. And, most convincing, raids of the 
Ansar al-Islam camps in northern Iraq revealed extensive al Qaeda ties 
for this group believed to have extensive, high-ranking connections 
with the Iraqi regime. As initial reports concerning chemical weapons 
become more clear, we will learn the truth behind Saddam Hussein's 
lies. All we can do is pray that the maniacal leader will think of the 
people, the 4.5 million Iraqi citizens, before he considers unleashing 
all this chemical arsenal.
  Mr. Speaker, after Baghdad is secured and the Republican Guard is 
completely destroyed, we will be faced with the task of reconstructing 
Iraq. But as eyes turn toward the U.N., many will turn to the rich oil 
fields of Iraq and the many ways in which their countries think they 
can profit from our military's work. Countries that denounced our 
actions will look for ways to get their hands on some of this Iraqi 
oil. France and its allies claim the United Nations is the only body 
with the international legitimacy to administer Iraq. But, Mr. Speaker, 
is it? The United Nations failed miserably in its supervision of 
Kosovo, Bosnia and Somalia. Until Bush stepped in last year, it had 
completely dropped any attempt to get Iraq to disarm. The United 
Nations has never successfully fostered a democracy. This is not 
surprising since many if not most of its members are nondemocratic 
countries and a police state like Libya heads the U.N. human rights 
commission.
  There is at least one group of people among whom the United Nations 
has no legitimacy. That is the 24 million Iraqis who have suffered 
under more than two decades of Saddam Hussein's rule. Iraqis have seen 
U.N. inspectors come and go. They have seen U.N. officials rush to 
Baghdad to confer with Saddam with no easing of repression as a result. 
They have watched as U.N. resolutions, including those obligating 
Saddam to respect human rights, go not just unenforced but are not even 
cited in passing by the United Nations.
  Again my congratulations to our Armed Forces and to our President. 
God bless them both.

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