[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9077]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     UNITED NATIONS MUST CONDEMN MISTREATMENT OF U.S. POWS IN IRAQ

  (Mr. BELL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BELL. Mr. Speaker, I was a guest on a Houston radio show earlier 
this week; and during the course of the interview, the host of the 
program, Chris Baker, pointed out that Congress, along with the United 
Nations, has been rather silent on the issue of the treatment of 
American POWs in Iraq.
  While that is not all together correct, I know most of our attention 
here has been focused on supporting the troops and hoping for a 
successful and speedy conclusion to the conflict.
  Now that it appears the end is near, and there is cause for great 
optimism and excitement, we cannot lose site of the atrocities we have 
seen during the past 3 weeks. I know all my colleagues agree that the 
treatment of captured allied forces has been outrageous, and we must 
continue to speak up and insist that those responsible be brought to 
justice following the war.
  We must send a clear message that America and the world will not 
tolerate the mistreatment of our prisoners of war. We expect the same 
treatment for our sons and daughters that we afford enemy soldiers when 
they are captured. Please join me in calling for the United Nations to 
take immediate action to condemn these heinous acts of mistreatment 
against our POWs.

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