[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17205]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       IRAQ'S RETURN TO NORMALCY

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, there is still a lot to do, but as we speak 
the Iraqi government is making progress. Iraqi police are rounding up 
kidnappers. The Kurds have captured 15 foreign militants in Kirkuk, 
including a key leader and an al-Qaeda affiliate.
  The number of Arab and other foreign fighters currently detained in 
Iraq continues to grow. Iraq's border police have apprehended more than 
60,000 foreigners in the past 7 months, most of them Iranians trying to 
enter Iraq illegally, and there are plenty of signs that the residents 
of Baghdad are finding a sense of normalcy amidst the transition to 
democracy.
  Five teams participated in the first Iraqi baseball tournament, 
including two female teams. Nightlife is returning to the banks of the 
Tigris River, and residents have started frequenting summer cafes.
  In Mosul the military is working with Iraqis to dig wells, renew 
archeological digs, build a laboratory and repair a hospital elevator.
  The Iraqi people are making progress despite the ongoing efforts of 
terrorists to drag them back to the dark ages of Saddam Hussein.

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