[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 19889-19890]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          INDONESIA HOLDS FIRST NATIONAL PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

  (Mr. WILSON of South Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, last week Indonesians 
voted directly for the first time to elect their new president. The 
Charleston Post and Courier reported this marked ``a milestone on the 
road to democracy for the world's most populous Muslim nation.'' Both 
competing candidates were pro-American in the global war on terror.
  This historic election is another nail in the coffin of the lie that 
Muslim nations cannot become democracies. India, the world's largest 
democracy, has over 200 million Muslims. In Afghanistan, 10 million 
have registered to vote, despite threats from remnants of the Taliban 
and al Qaeda. The same will happen in Iraq.
  As Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said to the defeatists last week 
in this room, ``Above all, they risk underestimating the courage, 
determination of the Iraqi people to embrace democracy, peace and 
freedom, for the dreams of our families are the same as the families 
here in America and around the world.''
  Freedom and democracy are on the march throughout the Muslim world, 
and they are the greatest threat to the dark plans of terrorists who 
want to destroy American families.
  In conclusion, may God bless our troops. We will never forget 
September 11.

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