[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9659-9660]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            ON YESTERDAY'S COMMENTS BY THE DEMOCRATIC LEADER

  (Mrs. MILLER of Michigan asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, the comments yesterday from the 
Democratic Party's leader in the House should not surprise us. In case 
Members missed it, she said about Operation Iraqi Freedom, ``We could 
probably have brought down that statue for a lot less.''
  It seems that the Democrats' political philosophy has been reduced to 
a collection of publicity gimmicks. Why should we expect their 
Washington leader to understand the deeper meaning of Operation Iraqi 
Freedom? The American people seem to understand what the Democratic 
leader apparently

[[Page 9660]]

does not. This was not about a statue. To trivialize the suffering of 
our troops and the joyous liberation of our friends, the Iraqi people, 
is a sickening offense.
  Politicians in Washington can have a tendency to be cynical, I 
suppose, but I would have thought the joy in the faces of the men and 
the women and the children of Iraq as they trampled on the image of 
their tormentor would cut through the most pessimistic cynic.
  Mr. Speaker, the minority leader's comments were shocking and truly 
appalling.

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