[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 20042-20043]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HOPE IN IRAQ

  (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, on September 29, an article in the 
Centralia Sentinel reads, ``Former Centralia policeman finds hope in 
Iraq.''
  Joe Phoenix ended his 11-year career in February to join 1,000 other 
law enforcement officers from the U.S. hired by the Federal Government 
to train Iraqi police officers. In a brief visit home he states about 
the Iraqi people, ``They are good people with good hearts and they love 
working with Americans,'' he said. ``They consider it such an honor 
that we come over here and that we leave home and work with them. I 
have had nothing but cooperation from the people I am working with.''
  About the current challenges he states, ``We are trying to get people 
trained and fortified so they can stand their ground. We need to get 
the Iraqi police in a better position to fight these guys.''
  And about the future, ``Right now it is dangerous and it is probably 
going to get worse between now and January. They are going to try and 
stop the elections and show people we are not in control, but that is 
not going to happen. After the elections, I think things will slow down 
and get better.''
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Officer Phoenix for his service. God bless him, 
and God bless the United States of America.

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