[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 4465-4526]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




RELATING TO THE LIBERATION OF THE IRAQI PEOPLE AND THE VALIANT SERVICE 
         OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES AND COALITION FORCES

  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 561, I call up 
the resolution (H. Res. 557) relating to the liberation of the Iraqi 
people and the valiant service of the United States Armed Forces and 
Coalition forces, and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of House Resolution 557 is as follows:

                               H. Res. 557

       Whereas Saddam Hussein and his regime committed crimes 
     against humanity, systematically violating the human rights 
     of Iraqis and citizens of other countries;
       Whereas Saddam Hussein's terror regime subjected the Iraqi 
     people to murder, torture, rape, and amputation;
       Whereas on March 16, 1988, Saddam Hussein's regime had and 
     unleashed weapons of mass destruction against Kurdish 
     citizens, killing nearly 5,000 of them;
       Whereas as many as 270 mass grave sites, containing the 
     remains of as many as 400,000 victims of Saddam Hussein's 
     regime, have been found in Iraq;
       Whereas rape was used to intimidate the Iraqi population, 
     with victims often raped in front of their families;
       Whereas the regime punished the Marsh Arabs by draining the 
     marshlands, which created hundreds of thousands of refugees 
     and caused an ecological catastrophe;
       Whereas the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-
     338), passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 360 
     to 38, made it United States policy to support efforts to 
     remove from power the regime headed by Saddam Hussein;
       Whereas with the Iraqi regime failing to comply with 16 
     previously adopted United Nations Security Council 
     resolutions, the Security Council unanimously approved 
     Resolution 1441 on November 8, 2002, declaring that Iraq 
     ``has been and remains in material breach of its obligations 
     under relevant resolutions, including resolution 687 (1991), 
     in particular through Iraq's failure to cooperate with United 
     Nations inspectors''; and
       Whereas on October 10, 2002, the House of Representatives 
     passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against 
     Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243) and on March 19, 
     2003, the United States initiated military operations in 
     Iraq: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) affirms that the United States and the world have been 
     made safer with the removal of Saddam Hussein and his regime 
     from power in Iraq;
       (2) commends the Iraqi people for their courage in the face 
     of unspeakable oppression and brutality inflicted on them by 
     Saddam Hussein's regime;
       (3) commends the Iraqi people on the adoption of Iraq's 
     interim constitution; and
       (4) commends the members of the United States Armed Forces 
     and Coalition forces for liberating Iraq and expresses its 
     gratitude for their valiant service.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 561, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Lantos) each will control 2 hours.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde).


                             General Leave

  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and to include extraneous material on the resolution under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this is an important moment in our history. We are in 
the middle of a war the like of which has not been seen in recorded 
history. Everybody is a combatant, and the enemy works by night and 
works through cowardice. We do not see them. It is not like when Hitler 
marched through Europe with the blitzkrieg, where you could see the 
enemy. The enemy extends from New York City to Madrid to Indonesia. And 
if ever there was a time for this country, the United States of 
America, to be unified, as the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) 
said earlier, it is now.
  Now, there are two aspects to this issue that we have here today. One 
is the procedure by which we got here, and that is controversial and 
has evoked some harsh words. And the other aspect, the one that I 
choose to dwell on, is the substance of the resolution.
  The resolution, it seems to me, is simple, straightforward and one 
that everybody can support. It does four things. It congratulates the 
Iraqi people on withstanding the torture, the brutality, and the 
oppression that Saddam Hussein has visited on that country for so long.
  It affirms that the United States and the world has been made safer 
with the removal of Saddam Hussein and his regime. And I understand 
there are some who doubt that and wish to contest that. I would suggest 
to them that they look at Libya and they consider that Libya has given 
up its pretenses to have weapons of mass destruction, its capacity to 
develop nuclear weapons, and is rejoining the community of nations 
without a shot being fired. And anyone who doubts that that is not a 
direct result of our intervention in Iraq, seems to me, is not a very 
good logician nor a student of history.
  The other two things the resolution does is commend the Iraqi people 
on the adoption of an interim constitution. This, Mr. Speaker, is a 
miracle. You have Sunnis, you have Shiites, you have Kurds who have 
been at each other's throats for a long, long time. You have them 
coming together in a period of 9 weeks reaching a constitutional 
document. Not perfect, but a giant leap forward from where they were. 
This is an immense contribution towards democratizing the volatile 
Middle East, and they deserve recognition.
  And, of course, this resolution commends the United States Armed 
Forces and the Coalition for their valor and their courage in the war 
in the Middle East.
  Now, those things, it seems to me, everybody can support. And 
regardless

[[Page 4466]]

of our disagreements on process, regardless of our concerns about how 
we got here, I would ask, in the spirit of, dare I say, patriotism, 
sticking up for our country, never mind our ruffled feelings, justified 
or not, let us stand as one with our military people who are fighting 
this war, this strange, weird, deadly war, where all of us should be 
Americans, not Republicans and not Democrats.

                              {time}  1415

  Mr. Speaker, the vote in Spain was a great victory for al Qaeda, but 
it was simply a battle, it was not the war. The war will be a long, 
long war; and the voices of appeasement are being heard in Europe, but 
there are other voices, some from the past, voices like Churchill, 
voices like de Gaulle and voices like Roosevelt that caution 
resistance, resistance to tyranny. I would ask that Members read the 
resolution. It is very simple, very straightforward; read it and then 
put your bruised feelings aside and support it.
  If we want to go into bruised feelings, both sides have ample cause, 
we certainly do, being called, and I say this in sorrow not anger, 
crooks and liars and having it suggested that the war was started by 
the President. Those kinds of ideas are not conducive to getting 
together and embracing each other in the unity that must prevail if we 
are to win. We do not dare lose this war. What can we do to help win 
it? I ask Members that, and I ask my friends on the other side of the 
aisle to give it heartfelt thought and support this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the resolution we are considering today is deeply 
flawed. The way it was handled was meant to be divisive, and it has 
achieved that goal. None of us in this House knows if next January we 
will have a Kerry administration or a Bush administration, but we do 
know that whoever is in the White House must ensure the success of U.S. 
policy in Europe. Success in time of war requires cohesion and unity. 
We do not need a divisive, partisan resolution. This may be the way to 
prepare a Republican tax bill, but it is not the way to prepare a 
foreign policy resolution to win broad bipartisan support.
  Mr. Speaker, the conflict in Iraq should not be a partisan issue. The 
soldiers who are fighting in Iraq are Democrats and Republicans and 
Independents. The soldiers who are wounded and killed in Iraq are 
Democrats and Republicans and Independents. The families who grieve for 
their sons and daughters who died in Iraq are Democrats and Republicans 
and Independents. The citizens of this country who are paying for this 
war are Democrats and Republicans and Independents.
  Mr. Speaker, it is totally unacceptable that not a single amendment 
to this resolution was made in order. This was a Republican resolution, 
drafted with partisan intent by the Republican leadership. Many of us 
in this House who have been committed to and who have worked for a 
bipartisan foreign policy for decades know that this is a slap in our 
face.
  A resolution that commends our troops ought to receive the unanimous 
support of this body, but this resolution has been written specifically 
to prevent that result.
  Mr. Speaker, war is a time for shared sacrifice, a time when we are 
all united in a common struggle. This is not shared sacrifice. Some 
Americans are being killed, some are being wounded, some are asked to 
leave their families and risk their lives far from home; and some at 
the very top of the income scale are being asked to accept massive tax 
cuts.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution commends the troops, but it does not 
acknowledge the supreme sacrifice of many who are fighting. This 
resolution makes no reference to the more than 550 service men and 
women who have died in Iraq. It makes no reference to the thousands 
more who have been wounded. It offers no condolences to the families of 
those who have been killed. It makes no reference to the sacrifices of 
the families whose members are away from them serving in Iraq for many 
months or over a year. It makes no reference to the many civilian and 
humanitarian workers who risk their lives daily. It makes no reference 
to the contribution of our allies who have thousands of troops in Iraq, 
and it makes no mention of the death and casualties they have suffered. 
And it makes no reference to the Iraqi civilians who have lost their 
lives and suffered injuries, including dozens who were killed today.
  Mr. Speaker, there are other serious omissions in this resolution. We 
should spend our time today debating substantive legislation to fix 
these problems. The American people have not sent us here just to be an 
``amen'' chorus for this administration. There are serious problems, 
and we should be debating serious solutions.
  There is no mention in this resolution of the flawed intelligence 
that was the basis of the administration's argument for going to war in 
the first place. We should be debating the establishment of a truly 
independent commission to examine the shortcomings of U.S. intelligence 
and the way it was used.
  The members of this commission must not be appointed solely by the 
President, and the commission should make its findings known before 
Election Day. Only a truly independent investigation, and an 
investigation that the American people perceive to be independent, can 
bridge the credibility gap in our intelligence both here at home and 
abroad.
  The failure of this Congress to deal with the problems facing our 
intelligence agencies will ultimately harm our national security, the 
war against terrorism, and our fight against the proliferation of 
weapons of mass destruction.
  Mr. Speaker, we are commending our troops but we are not taking 
action that we can and should take to make their lives and to make the 
lives of their loved ones easier. The sacrifices being made by our 
National Guard and reservists in Iraq and elsewhere are extraordinary. 
Many National Guard and Reserve families have suffered serious 
financial losses because of the pay gap between their military pay when 
they are called up and their private sector pay. With longer rotations, 
Guard and Reserve families are facing dramatically increased financial 
burdens while their loved ones risk their lives far away from home. One 
of the consequences is a serious problem with reenlistments in the 
Reserves and the National Guard.
  My legislation, H.R. 1345, legislation that I introduced 1 year ago 
this week, would fill that pay gap. My bill would ensure that 
government and private sector employees can continue to defend our 
country without being forced to worry about their families facing 
financial disaster.
  Words of support for our troops ring hollow when substantive 
legislation to improve their conditions is sandbagged by the leadership 
on the other side.
  Mr. Speaker, I very much regret that this resolution in its present 
form is brought before the House today. This should be a time for 
bipartisan unity and cohesion, not a time for partisanship. This should 
be a time for us to deal substantively with serious problems we face in 
Iraq and in our foreign policy. This should be a time for us to take 
serious action to help our service men and women. All of us join in 
commending our brave men and women of our Armed Forces.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller), a leading member of the Committee 
on International Relations.
  Mr. WELLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution. Let us 
review and remember the history of Saddam Hussein, a history of 
torture, murder and massive abuse of human rights. Saddam was not only 
an aggressor against his neighbors, but he murdered his own people. 
This is an outrage against all humanity.
  Under Saddam Hussein, torture was widely used. Rape was a standard 
practice to intimidate and punish families,

[[Page 4467]]

an outrage against women and all humanity. Murder was common. 
Truckloads of bodies took away victims. Ethnic cleansing was practiced 
with precision and effective organization, again an outrage against 
humanity.
  The mass graves he created could barely hide the devastation of 
Saddam Hussein. Let us remember that Saddam Hussein was known in his 
own neighborhood, the Middle East, as The Butcher of Baghdad. Back in 
1998, Saddam Hussein made a poison cocktail for the town of Halabja, 
using a combination of nerve agents, mustard gas and conventional 
munitions to kill 5,000 innocent Iraqi civilians, again an outrage 
against humanity.
  And from 1983 to 1988, he went on an ethnic cleansing rampage against 
Iraqi Kurds, killing nearly 30,000 and wiping out 60 individual 
villages.
  If you were not marked for death, Saddam Hussein was a master at 
torture and these were his favorite tools of torture, electric shock, 
drip acid on victims' skin, gouging out eyes, pulling out fingernails, 
suspending individuals from rotating ceiling fans, and for those who 
spoke ill of Saddam Hussein, they ripped out those victims' tongues. 
This is all an outrage against humanity.
  There are over 400,000 unidentified bodies being unearthed in Iraq 
which call out for justice. I have a photo of a woman searching the 
remains of a mass grave for a loved one. Tell me this is not a just 
cause for freeing Iraq from Saddam Hussein.
  Mr. Speaker, this Congress, this President, and our American military 
men and women had the leadership, the courage, and made the sacrifice 
to liberate Iraq from the mad, mad man, Saddam Hussein. It was the 
right step to take for all humanity.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), our distinguished whip.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I will support this resolution. I will support it as an 
expression of our Nation's gratitude and pride in our men and women in 
uniform who have performed with brilliance and valor in Operation Iraqi 
Freedom. To date, 565 Americans have given the ultimate measure of 
devotion to our country in Iraq, including a young soldier from my 
district, Jason C. Ford who was killed just a few days ago by a 
roadside bomb, 2 weeks after arriving in Iraq.
  We mourn the loss of Jason and all other fallen patriots, and extend 
our most profound sympathies to their loved ones. We also pray for the 
full recovery of the more than 3,200 servicemen and -women who have 
been wounded there.

                              {time}  1430

  And to the approximately 110,000 Americans still in Iraq, we must 
offer this pledge: we will do everything within our power to ensure 
your success and safe return home.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution should have simply expressed the support 
of this House for our Armed Forces now in harm's way. Regrettably, 
however, the majority has handled this resolution in a manner which 
inevitably led to division. Our troops and the American people expect 
and deserve better. On a matter of the highest national importance, the 
majority has undermined the democratic process in this House, treated 
those who hold different views with disdain, and created a bludgeon 
where it should have built a bridge. This is the same approach that has 
guided the current administration's foreign policy and which has 
undermined our Nation's credibility and driven many allies away from 
us. This is a time to bring together, to consult, to be unanimous.
  Mr. Speaker, I share the view that the Middle East and the world are 
better off with Hussein in custody and his Baathist regime on the run. 
But our mission in Iraq has not been accomplished. Even as we speak 
here, a car bomb has rocked Baghdad and killed more than 20 people. 
This comes on the heels of attacks on our troops, civilians and even 
innocent worshipers. Success must be our only exit strategy. And only 
when our objectives are accomplished can we say with certainty and 
conviction that the world has been made safer. As today's events in 
Baghdad and last week's horrific attacks in Spain make clear, this war 
has not been won. Yet. But we send an unequivocal message to those who 
perpetrate such madness: we will not retreat from our objective to 
eliminate the source of terrorism and those who perpetrate it. The 
legacy of the men and women who have committed the ultimate sacrifice 
in Iraq demands that we do no less. It should also demand that we do so 
united, united by common resolve and not divided by efforts to achieve 
political advantage.
  Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, the debate on Iraq today I think confuses the American 
people. After all, one side focuses solely on parliamentary procedure 
or when they do on substance they focus solely on the tough times and 
the challenges that we face, which are very real. But its message all 
too often is devoid of any mention of progress. Sometimes it even 
suggests that we are not better off, we are not safer since Saddam's 
capture. However, the other side, Mr. Speaker, the side that I am on, 
talks openly of our soldiers' historic victories, how just 1 year after 
the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Saddam is in a dark cell, Osama 
is in a dark cave, and General Qaddafi is learning to play better with 
others.
  The good news for the American public is that soon they will not have 
to rely on the media or the politics from either side of the aisle as 
the troop rotations take place. The public will get to hear from the 
soldiers themselves, our hometown heroes. And the story that they are 
going to hear is moving, it is amazing, it is historic. On the sobering 
side, the public will hear of mass graves discovered and death cells 
shut down. On the thrilling side, they will hear about some of the 
things I saw myself when I was in Iraq just a few months ago. The 
public will hear of schools and universities that are open and 
operating, clinics and hospitals that are open and serving, and 
democratically elected governing councils that are open and governing. 
They will hear that well over 100,000 Iraqis now serve in the military 
and the police and that water projects and economic development are 
well under way. In Mosul when I was there, I saw a sign on the wall of 
the headquarters of the 101st which read: ``We are in a race to win 
over the Iraqi people. What have you done to contribute to victory 
today?'' The answer from our magnificent troops is clear, a lot, an 
unbelievable amount. And Lord willing, the public is going to hear more 
each and every day about just what these fantastic brave men have done.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, before yielding to the gentleman from 
Florida, let me remind the gentleman from Wisconsin that national unity 
and cohesion are not matters of parliamentary procedure. They are at 
the core of uniting the United States and the American people at a time 
of war.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Florida (Mr. Wexler), a distinguished member of the committee.
  Mr. WEXLER. Mr. Speaker, while I strongly support the brave American 
soldiers risking their lives to defend security and freedom, I rise in 
opposition to this politically motivated resolution because it is a 
farce and anyone who says otherwise is too blinded by politics to see 
the truth. The truth is Iraq was not an imminent threat to America. 
There were no chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons; and there was 
no link between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. The only mushroom cloud 
resulting from the war in Iraq is that represented by the Bush 
administration's barrage of deception and lies. While President Bush 
considers himself a war President, he is actually a self-made President 
of war. The President created the pretext for the war in Iraq. He 
planned for it before September 11, and he misused and fabricated 
intelligence to sell it to the American people. Instead of debating 
this empty resolution of praise for President Bush,

[[Page 4468]]

Congress should investigate the President's unconscionable misuse of 
power and manipulation of the truth.
  Despite this second declaration of ``mission accomplished'' in Iraq, 
history will tell the true story as it did in Vietnam. The mission is 
far from being accomplished, and President Bush will be judged harshly 
for the tragic events of the past year.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the 
distinguished gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I thank the gentleman from Illinois for yielding me 
this time.
  Mr. Speaker, as a political refugee from a brutal, sadistic regime, I 
know of the terrible crimes that dictators commit against their own 
people. Yet after talking to survivors of Saddam Hussein's regime and 
speaking with the teams who uncovered Iraq's mass graves, I was left 
speechless in the face of such atrocities. The Iraqi dictatorship 
indiscriminately slaughtered Iraqis but the women were among the most 
vulnerable. The notorious Fedayeen beheaded women in public, dumping 
their severed heads at their families' doorsteps. According to the 
September 2001 report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur, at 
least 130 Iraqi women were beheaded between June 2000 and April 2001, 
in just 1 year. The regime used widespread rape to extract confessions 
from detainees and would intimidate members of the opposition by 
sending them videotapes of the rapes of their female relatives. At 
times, family members were forced to watch those tapes.
  However, Saddam Hussein's legacy of terror knew no boundaries. Even 
small children were not spared the butchery as evident from the tiny 
skeletons found in mass graves throughout Iraq. In 1998, the evidence 
of the Iraqi regime's threatening behavior continued to mount and we as 
Members of the United States Congress in a unified manner 
overwhelmingly approved the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, calling for 
the regime of Saddam Hussein to be removed from power and replaced with 
a democratic government. By 2003 after 6 more years of Saddam's 
oppression, the death toll had reached frightening proportions. The 
U.S. could not watch idly and do nothing. As a Nation which stands for 
freedom, democracy and human rights, we were compelled to act. Today as 
a result of the President's resolve in Iraq and the courageous 
dedicated service of our troops, the Iraqi people are free.
  As Iraq's new female minister of Municipalities and Public Works said 
last week to us: ``On April 9, 2003, Iraqis were offered the 
opportunity to begin to dream their future.'' To determine if going to 
war in Iraq and liberating the Iraqi people was the right decision, 
just ask Dr. Khuzai, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council and 
National Council on Women. After being prisoners in their own country 
for 35 years, she told us: ``For the Iraqi women, the morale is so high 
that you can't understand it unless you go and see. All the Iraqis are 
very grateful to Mr. Bush and to the U.S. for liberating us from the 
dictatorship regime. We will be grateful forever.''
  Today, the United States is helping Iraqi women reintegrate 
themselves into Iraqi society and, indeed, the outside world. Toward 
this end, the administration has embarked on the Iraqi Women's 
Democracy Initiative to train Iraqi women in the skills and practices 
of democratic public life. It has also established the U.S.-Iraqi 
Women's Network, helping to mobilize the private sector.
  This is just the beginning. We will have a better, safer world for 
the Iraqi people, especially for the Iraqi women, and for all.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), the distinguished chairman of 
the Democratic Caucus and an important member of the Committee on 
International Relations.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. I thank the distinguished gentleman for yielding me 
this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I hear my colleagues now talk about human rights and 
brutality, and there is no question about that; but there is human 
rights and brutality in many parts of the world, and that has not 
caused American troops to intervene in those countries. One year after 
the U.S. invasion of Iraq, it is time to focus on the truth. Yet this 
resolution leaves out the administration's most important justification 
for the war in Iraq, weapons of mass destruction. This administration 
systematically misled the American public and Congress into believing 
that there were weapons of mass destruction and that we were under an 
imminent threat. According to the Carnegie Endowment For International 
Peace recent report, the administration systematically misrepresented 
the threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction by presenting the 
case as solid instead of expressing the uncertainty that existed in the 
intelligence assessments, and making the threat seem dire rather than 
minor by misrepresenting the inspector's findings.
  In fact, a report by the minority staff of the Committee on 
Government Reform found the administration made over 200 misleading 
public statements on the Iraqi threat.
  The truth is that this administration will not have the American 
people know what really happened with the intelligence until after the 
November elections, a year from today. Most importantly, this 
Republican Iraq resolution, crafted with no input from Democrats, makes 
no mention of the over 565 American men and women who gave their lives 
in Iraq to date and over 3,500 others who are wounded. I say we should 
honor those who gave their lives, not ignore them. This resolution 
should commemorate that ultimate sacrifice.
  In the wake of the recent attacks in Spain, it is shameful that 
Republicans are acting as dividers, not uniters. It is shameful that 
the Republicans without input from Democrats on a crucial resolution 
that could express our collective sentiment as we did after September 
11 seek partisan gain out of what should be a national embrace.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the 
distinguished gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Harris).
  Ms. HARRIS. I thank the distinguished gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 557, which 
reaffirms the morality and justice of Operation Iraqi Freedom. One year 
ago, our brave men and women in uniform began to liberate a proud and 
resilient nation from an unspeakable 30-year nightmare. They also 
delivered a clear message to terrorists and tyrants alike: the United 
States will not tolerate a regime that pursues tools of mass murder and 
destruction. Operation Iraqi Freedom reversed more than a decade of 
failed diplomacy which exacted a devastating price. Because the world 
permitted Saddam Hussein to violate 16 U.N. resolutions with impunity, 
the terrorists became convinced of our weakness. Meanwhile, Saddam 
continued to murder, torture, mutilate and rape men, women and children 
by the millions. After routing Saddam Hussein's forces from Kuwait in 
1991, we urged the Iraqi people to rise up and rebel against this 
brutal dictator. Then, because United Nations and international opinion 
required us to leave Saddam in power, we betrayed them.
  During the Pryce delegation's mission to Iraq last fall, we listened 
to the victims and witnesses describe the horrors of this wicked 
regime. Incredibly, however, the faces of the Iraqis with whom we met 
reflected a new hope, born from the blood, sacrifice, heroism, and 
successes of our troops. Even as they endure the attacks of the enemies 
of freedom, they know that by working together, we will win the 
twilight struggle for their future.

                              {time}  1445

  In the heart of the Middle East, we are replacing the oppression and 
despair that breeds terrorists with the freedom and hope that defeats 
them. Mr. Speaker, this stunning transformation is the very essence of 
the war on terror and let us not permit the rhetoric of an election 
year to obscure this fundamental truth.

[[Page 4469]]


  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Ackerman), ranking member of the 
Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia of the Committee on 
International Relations.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, this resolution is extraordinary, not for 
what it says but for what it deliberately refuses to admit. The 
President took us to war. An immediate nuclear threat was the bait. 
This resolution is the switch.
  In the aftermath of the war, we found no stockpiles of weapons of 
mass destruction, and with shifting justifications coming from the 
President and memorialized here in this Republican-crafted resolution, 
I cannot help but feel, as my constituents do, that we were sold a bill 
of goods. Not surprisingly, today's feel-good pep-rally resolution does 
not speak to these issues. What it does provide is the background music 
for justification revisionists.
  But since we have not discovered the promised stockpiles of weapons, 
we have a big problem. Not that our failure to find the weapons is not 
a big problem or that al Qaeda forces sneaking into Iraq is not a big 
problem or that nation building a place the size of California is not a 
big problem. The real problem is an utter lack of White House 
credibility. It is gone. Having not just cried wolf, but rabid wolf, 
this administration has lost its credibility with the Congress, with 
the American people, with the people of Europe, even with the people of 
``New Europe,'' and with the international community.
  And the credibility gap extends to the plans for what we would do 
after the war. We won the war. The Secretary of War makes good war. And 
for the peace we were assured, the American people were assured that 
there was a plan. In fact, there was. It was crafted by the State 
Department. It spoke to all of the issues and problems that we have 
come up with until today, and it was scrapped by the Secretary of 
Defense. So how are the American people supposed to believe that the 
current plan to hand over power to the Iraqis on June 30, ready or not, 
come hell or high water, will actually work when all the expertise the 
United States Government could muster in advance has been summarily 
dismissed? I have concluded that the administration's plans to get us 
into the war was bait and switch, and the plan to get us out looks like 
cut and run.
  Finally, I am deeply concerned that the war against Iraq has 
undermined our stated Bush national security doctrine on preemption. 
Surely we face a new and different world in the wake of September 11 
and we must think differently about how to win the war on terror, but 
preemption as a valid and legal doctrine for self-defense depends on 
imminence, an imminent threat to our national security. What we have 
discovered in Iraq is that there was no imminent threat and that our 
intelligence about Saddam's weapons was far from the mark. The 
administration has destroyed its credibility with the world community, 
and if by our actions we have transformed preemptive war into 
preventative war, then despite what today's resolution says, we have 
not made the world a safe place but a more dangerous place in the long 
run.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.
  I would just like to comment on the use of the word ``imminent.'' I 
wonder when the aircraft smashed into the World Trade Center, what was 
imminent. That morning? The day before? See, when we are dealing with 
suicide bombers, ``imminence'' is a rather difficult term to apply to 
circumstances. Sometimes by the time one finds out it is imminent, they 
are dead.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from 
Virginia (Mrs. Jo Ann Davis).
  Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support 
of this important resolution. It has been almost a year now since our 
brave men and women in uniform liberated the Iraqi people from the 
oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein. In doing so, our Armed Forces 
brought individual freedom to a people who have for decades only known 
persecution. Now they are proving just as impressive at rebuilding the 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, several of the previous speakers have said that the Bush 
administration falsely claimed that the threat posed by Iraq was 
imminent. The threat was not imminent. The administration made no such 
claim. The threat was it needed to be dealt with before the issue 
became imminent. Saddam's regime continued to try to kill our American 
and British air crews patrolling the no fly zone, people like the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kirk), who flew those missions as a naval 
reservist. The United States could not keep a potential invasion force 
on station near Iraq indefinitely, nor would we want our soldiers to 
have to fight at the height of the summer.
  With the ousting of Hussein from power, we have discovered the true 
horror and atrocities of this regime. As we look at the unearthed mass 
graves and reflect on the countless human rights abuses, how can we 
possibly question the legitimacy of this decision? The world is a safer 
place with the liberation of Iraq, particularly for the 25 million 
Iraqis who no longer have to live in fear of a brutal tyrant.
  We entered Iraq to free its people and plant the seeds of a 
democratic government, and that is precisely what we are doing. If a 
few years ago, one would have told someone, anyone, that in the year 
2004 the Iraqi people would be creating a constitution founded on 
democratic principles, I daresay that no one, no one, would have 
objected. Consequently, that is just what our decision has done.
  I commend the diligence of our Armed Forces in the reconstruction 
effort, and I am pleased with the rapid progress that is being made. 
The road is certainly not an easy one, but I remain confident in the 
ability of the Iraqi people, with the cooperation of the coalition, to 
rebuild their country and to create a secure and stable sovereign 
nation.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Brown), a distinguished member of the committee.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from California for 
yielding me this time.
  We all in this institution support our troops. We marvel at and 
applaud their bravery and their courage. It is not, Mr. Speaker, what 
is in this resolution. It is what is not in it. I suggest to my 
Republican colleagues that they meet with families of the men and women 
who are serving in Iraq, something many of us in this institution have 
done. They will learn how badly this administration has supplied our 
troops.
  There is no mention of the lack of body armor in this resolution and 
how the Bush administration has failed to outfit our troops. There is 
no mention in this resolution about the lack of safe drinking water for 
our troops, something that this administration has failed to supply. 
There is no mention in this resolution of cuts in prescription drug 
benefits to veterans that this administration has forced on those who 
have lived up to their obligation for our country. There is no mention 
in this resolution of the $1.2 billion underfunded for the Veterans 
Administration in the President's budget. There is no mention in this 
resolution of 558 courageous young men and women who have died in Iraq. 
There is no mention of the 2,788 soldiers and sailors who were wounded 
since President Bush dressed in his flight suit and declared, ``mission 
accomplished.'' There is no mention in this resolution of weapons of 
mass destruction. There is no mention in this resolution of the Bush 
administration's deceit in leading us to this war.
  Mr. Speaker, the best way to honor our troops is to supply the troops 
adequately, to protect the troops and make sure they are safe, and to 
fulfill the promises to our veterans. Something the Bush administration 
has failed to do. Something my Republican friends on the other side of 
the aisle have failed to address.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I was fascinated by the remarks of the last gentleman. We have been

[[Page 4470]]

checking records of people who have strong views on this subject, and I 
find the gentleman has voted 11 times to cut the intelligence budget. 
That is pretty consistent, and I give him an A for consistency. He also 
voted against the supplemental to provide the wherewithal for the 
troops to be fully equipped. And so, as I say, the gentleman talks a 
very robust military, but he does not quite follow up with supporting 
funding for our intelligence.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HYDE. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, the $87 billion, first of all, I 
voted to equip the troops in Iraq in the first vote. When the Bush 
administration failed with enough money in that budget to provide safe 
drinking water, to provide body armor, when the administration failed 
to do it, they had plenty of money to do it; yet it took them months 
and months and months to make our troops safe. That is why so many in 
this body said do not give the Pentagon more money, do not give 
Halliburton more money, do not give more money to the company that is 
paying Vice President Cheney $3,000 a week while he is Vice President 
of the United States.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman said what is not in our 
resolution. I will tell the Members what is not in. The 11 votes he 
voted to cut funds for intelligence, his vote against the supplemental. 
And so to talk out of one side of his mouth for a vigorous military and 
that they should be supplied, and then to deny them the wherewithal to 
do it, it seems to me is standing on two stools. It is a great way to 
get a political hernia.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. 
Kelly).
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this 
resolution, first to praise the efforts of our men and women in the 
military who have worked so hard and sacrificed so much on behalf of 
this country. I also want to take a minute to recognize the courage and 
resilience of the Iraqi women.
  Under Saddam Hussein, Iraqi women lived in fear. They endured years 
of great beatings, torture, under a farce of a legal system under which 
they had no rights. Does no one remember the pictures of the Kurdish 
people, dead, holding their babies in their arms, trying to shield them 
from the horror of a weapon of mass destruction in Iraq? Only Baathists 
were awarded the right to have medical care. Families were torn apart 
on trumped-up charges. Divorce was grounds for having their children 
taken away. Imagine a mother watching her child die because of her 
political beliefs. Imagine watching a husband leave for work one day, 
never to come back. Imagine walking down the street and having their 
children ripped from their hands.
  The persecution of women under Saddam Hussein was brutal and 
systematic and left deep and damaging psychological wounds. Women were 
afraid to walk down the streets. Girls were afraid to go to school. 
With the source of that oppression now removed great challenges lie 
ahead. Some estimate, for example, that over 70 percent of the Iraqi 
women are illiterate. They could not go to school.
  Somehow this battered and oppressed nation has to educate a new 
generation of Iraqi children. And in the face of that tough task, there 
is optimism in Iraq. For the first time in generations, they see an 
opportunity where only once they had terror. Where once there was 
depravity, there is excitement and hope in these women for the future. 
I have met with these women. I have talked with these women.
  The optimism is due to the United States' intervention and the 
selfless service of our men and women in uniform. In our Armed Forces 
stationed in Iraq, women stand alongside with men there and they serve 
as a model for the Iraqi women who aspire to that kind of equality on 
their own in their own country.
  The new Constitution of Iraq calls for almost a 25 percent 
representation of women. The Iraqi women themselves have asked for 40 
percent. Mr. Speaker, the resolution before us commends the Iraqi 
people for their courage in the face of unspeakable oppression. I 
commend the women of Iraq for overcoming that unspeakable adversity. I 
hope that everyone will back this bill.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Sherman), the distinguished ranking member of the 
Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human 
Rights.
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, we send troops into battle without body 
armor. Shame. Those troops come back deprived of the veterans benefits 
we promised. Shame. And now we deliberately divide the homefront for 
political advantage. Shame.
  Make no mistake about it. This resolution was designed by political 
consultants to generate the largest possible Democratic ``no'' vote 
which can then be the subject of political ads saying one of our 
Nation's great political parties does not support our troops. Shame.
  The world is better because Saddam is gone. But a fair resolution 
would acknowledge that we are worse off because 566 of our troops are 
now deceased and 3,254 were wounded. And we are less safe because our 
military is exhausted and overextended. Our international credibility 
has been mangled beyond belief. So the real threats to our security, 
North Korea and Iran, are able to make progress on their nuclear 
weapons programs. We are not safer now than we were a year ago because 
those who would develop nuclear weapons and smuggle them into our 
cities have had a year further to progress.

                              {time}  1500

  And one party devotes a day of floor time to dividing our Nation 
during our war on terrorism. Shame. Just as that political party 
brought forward money for our troops in a supplemental and linked it to 
a giant welfare program for Halliburton and forced us to vote on it as 
a package. Now it attacks our patriotism when we said ``no'' to 
Halliburton, because they would not let us say ``yes'' to our troops 
and ``no'' to Halliburton at the same time. Shame.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the 
learned gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood).
  Mr. NORWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me this 
time.
  After listening to some of this debate, and I am sure it will get 
worse during the day as we deal with this politically, from a policy 
point of view, I would just like to take a minute and review what 
really we are talking about here. We are talking about a resolution 
that I cannot imagine any American, frankly, could not support. I mean 
we are simply saying that we affirm that the United States has made the 
world safer by the removal of Saddam Hussein. Well, I believe that 
pretty strongly.
  We are commending the Iraqi people for their courage and going 
through all they have gone through. We are commending the Iraqi people 
because they actually have an interim Constitution and a Bill of 
Rights. That ought to have been on the front page of some paper 
somewhere. And we are commending our troops. What is there to be 
against, against that? All of it is true.
  Do we want something else added to it? Well, I do too. And my 
colleagues will vote no because they did not get it exactly like they 
wanted it. I would like for this resolution to have commended the 
Commander in Chief of the United States. I would like for us to say to 
President Bush, thank God we have a man who has come along with enough 
backbone to stand up to the proliferation of weapons of mass 
destruction around the world and is willing to stand up to the 
terrorists. Thank goodness we do that.
  My colleagues spend all of their time talking about weapons of mass 
destruction. What this President has said to us about weapons of mass 
destruction is precisely what the previous administration said to us 
also. The difference is, we have a 9/11. And the difference is, we had 
a President that was willing and ready to act as we should have acted.

[[Page 4471]]

  Just think about it a minute. We knew he had weapons of mass 
destruction. We knew he had the ability to make weapons of mass 
destruction, did we not? We knew he used weapons of mass destruction. 
When I voted yes for the President, I thought he had weapons of mass 
destruction, but I was not by myself. Israeli Intelligence thought so; 
British Intelligence, German Intelligence, French Intelligence, the 
U.N., even Saddam Hussein thought he had weapons of mass destruction. 
Get off of that.
  We are doing the right thing to protect this world, and we are doing 
the right thing to protect our security here at home.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks), a distinguished member of the 
committee.
  Mr. MEEKS of New York. Mr. Speaker, I have nothing but praise for our 
warriors in Iraq, but I oppose the President's Iraq war.
  If this was a resolution praising our warriors instead of using them 
as a pretext for applauding the President's after-the-fact arguments 
for going to war, I would vote for it. If this was a resolution 
proposing ways in which Congress and the President will raise our 
soldiers' pay, improve their housing at home and abroad, ensure quality 
health care for their families and survivors, I would vote for it. If 
this was a resolution guaranteeing the greater benefits, job training, 
educational and employment opportunities for returning veterans, I 
would vote for it. If this was a resolution demanding that the 
President develop a real foreign policy agenda instead of a doctrine of 
preemption and preventative war, I would vote for it. If this was a 
resolution calling on the President and the Intelligence Community to 
come clean on why no weapons of mass destruction have been found, I 
would vote for it. If this was a resolution condemning the no-bid 
contracts by which private military companies like Halliburton have 
enriched themselves and whose contributions have fattened the 
President's campaign war chest, I would vote for it.
  But since this resolution is none of the above, I am compelled to 
vote against it. Since this resolution is steeped in hypocrisy and 
self-congratulatory bravado while refusing to address the false 
pretenses upon which the Iraqi war was launched, I am compelled to vote 
against it.
  Again, this is poli-tricks, again, as this resolution was crafted to 
divide this Nation, not bring this Nation together. No, none of us had 
an opportunity on this side to contribute anything to this resolution, 
if, in fact, they want to have any kind of unity.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3\1/2\ minutes to 
the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Illinois (Chairman Hyde) for authoring this very important resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, much of the dark and unseemly world of Saddam Hussein is 
only now coming to light, and it is significantly worse than many of us 
had thought. The fact that as many as 400,000 victims were 
systematically brutalized and raped and tortured to death ranks the 
Hussein dictatorship as one of the worst in modern history. Had the 
United States and coalition forces not gone in to liberate Iraq, there 
is no doubt whatsoever that the killing fields would have continued 
unabated and that tens of thousands Iraquis or more would have met a 
terrible fate.
  Mr. Speaker, on the issue of chemical weapons, we know that chemical 
weapons used by the Iraqis are not mere conjecture. Hussein used 
weapons of mass destruction and used them with impunity both in the 
Iran-Iraq war and he used them against the Kurds. We know for a fact, 
according to Human Rights Watch and many other organizations and the 
U.S. Department of State, that upwards of 5,000 Kurdish people died a 
horrific death from those chemical attacks. There have also been, as my 
colleagues know, a staggering number of disappearances, believed to 
range between 250,000 to 290,000.
  Mr. Speaker, the Armed Forces of the United States and our coalition 
partners have conducted themselves in Iraq with incredible valor, 
professionalism, and commitment. Our forces and those of our allies are 
peacemakers. We often talk about peacekeepers, soldiers who go in when 
the situation, while volatile, presents the opportunity to ensure that 
the combatants can be separated. Our men and women went into Iraq and 
they ``made'' the peace. They are peacemakers in a place in the world 
where peace was an oxymoron.
  The recently adopted interim Iraqui constitution, Mr. Speaker, will 
more likely get further worked once the new assembly is up and running 
next year, is historic; a constitution which articulates basic 
fundamental human rights and the rule of law in the Middle East. After 
Israel, which has an excellent constitution, we now have Iraq. And I 
think there is a great opportunity for democracy to break out and the 
rule to be respected and that also mitigates the danger of Iraq which 
now is a peacemaker itself to its friends and allies in the region.
  Finally, just let me say, a previous speaker talked about shame when 
it comes to our veterans and our men and women who are returning home. 
I chair the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. We have seen, since 
the Bush Presidency began, and it continues the trend line of the late 
1990s, more than a 30 percent increase in health care funding and we 
will increase it again this year, and we will do so significantly.
  President Bush has signed no less than 16 separate bills to enhance, 
to expand veterans benefits. The Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 was 
signed on December 16. There were seven titles to it, filled with very 
important provisions to enhance veterans benefits. The Veterans 
Education and Benefits Act contains a 46 percent increase in the GI 
Bill, 46 percent increase in college funding. I know, because I 
authored it. I was the prime sponsor of the bill. With no fanfare 
whatsoever, this President signed that legislation and 15 other bills 
into law.
  Mr. Speaker, I would hope that these trying to use veterans issues as 
a political football would cease on this floor today. We are trying, in 
a bipartisan way, to meet the obligations and the needs of our 
veterans. I stand committed to that. This party, and I would say to my 
friends on the other side of the aisle, to do so as well, we should all 
be pro-veteran, and we are matching our words and our rhetoric with 
funding and with responsive and responsible laws.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel), a distinguished member of the 
committee.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I am going to vote for this resolution, but I am going 
to do it with a heavy heart. I am going to do it with a heavy heart 
because this is obviously a politicized resolution. It is a resolution 
that was designed to make Democrats look bad. It is a resolution which 
Democrats had no input in whatsoever. It is a resolution that really 
smacks, I think, of hypocrisy, because when we look at the self-
righteousness on the other side, when we had a resolution on the House 
floor several years ago when Bill Clinton was President to support our 
troops in Kosovo, almost everyone on the other side voted no.
  I am going to vote for this because I support our troops. I am glad 
that Saddam Hussein is no longer in power, and I am glad that there is 
an Iraqi Constitution, and that is essentially what this resolution 
says. I believe that whether one believed that the war in Iraq was 
justified or unjustified, the fact that we are there now and we cannot 
cut and run because if we did, Iraq would surely be a terrorist state 
now if it was not one before, we really cannot cut and run.
  But I think my friends on the other side of the aisle really ought to 
build a consensus. Democrats should have had input into this 
resolution. Democrats should have been allowed to amend this 
resolution. If we truly want bipartisanship, then we really need to 
stand together.

[[Page 4472]]

  I am troubled that no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. 
I am troubled that it seems that our intelligence was not exactly up to 
snuff. I am troubled that the American people were not told the entire 
truth. But I think we have to come together to support our troops.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to say again to my friends on the other side of 
the aisle, we support our troops whether they are in Iraq, Kosovo, or 
anywhere around the world, and we have to stand together and say it, 
not play partisan political games.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the 
distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher).
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 
557. Americans should be proud that we are again confronting an evil 
threat to the Western world. We have done that before and we will do it 
again. We should be proud of our soldiers and we should be proud of our 
President.
  The last administration did nothing. What we are doing now is making 
up for what was not done 10 years ago. Ten years ago, we let 
Afghanistan be turned into a terrorist base. Ten years ago, we let 
Saddam Hussein continue his dictatorship and yes, the administration 
before the last, George Bush's father, deserves some of the blame for 
this; but for the 8 years of the Clinton administration, Saddam Hussein 
was murdering his people and aligning himself with the terrorists of 
the world. Yet we did nothing.
  Now, I remember voting for the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998. It passed 
this House by 360 to 38. Now, today, we hear oh, the President of the 
United States did not justify going into Iraq. Well, many of the people 
making that point voted for the Iraq Liberation Act in which section 3 
of the Iraq Liberation Act authorizes the President of the United 
States to remove Saddam Hussein by force. Yet this President is taking 
care of business, while the last administration did nothing. Finally, 
we have a President who is taking care of business, protecting our 
national security. And what do we get? What do we hear? Nitpicking and 
back-biting from day one.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to support this resolution because it 
indicates that America is standing proud again. We have a President 
that is providing leadership. We are courageous and we are going to 
change the course of history. By getting rid of Saddam Hussein, we are 
going to create a democratic Iraq and we are going to stick it out 
there. Nobody is going to force us to cut and run; no amount of 
nitpicking or back-biting will hurt our resolve. We are going to create 
an alternative for moderate Muslims throughout the world, and that will 
change history. It will take the power away from the radical Islam. We 
are taking care of business now. Let us support our troops and our 
President.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 minutes of my time to the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Hunter), the chairman of the House Committee on 
Armed Services, and 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Goss), the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence, for purposes of control.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), a valued member of our 
committee.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, first let me just say I rise in total 
opposition to this resolution. This is another resolution to deceive 
the American people. This resolution completely distorts and ignores 
the basis for this war and its costs.

                              {time}  1515

  This resolution never even mentions the more than, now, 
unfortunately, 560 Americans and countless others who have died in this 
war. This is really insulting, and it is insensitive.
  It also leaves out any mention of weapons of mass destruction, which 
was the rationale for this war. And it claims the war made the world a 
safer place. That ignores reality.
  We had choices. We had options. We did not have to go to war. In the 
last year, for example, 72 Members of this House voted for my amendment 
to the Bush administration's war resolution that would have rejected 
the unnecessary rush to war and instead strengthened our commitment to 
the United Nations inspections process.
  Now we have a resolution today that celebrates this war but ignores 
its cost, its cost to our soldiers, to our credibility, to our 
children's future. This pattern of deception and distortion must end.
  I tried to offer an amendment to this misleading resolution 
yesterday. It just expressed our deep sorrow for all those who have 
been killed in this war and pointed out the terrible toll this war has 
taken on our own security. The Committee on Rules did not even allow my 
amendment honoring the sacrifice of our troops or offering the truth 
about the war. Once, again, the debate is being stifled.
  What has happened to democracy in this body? Once again, this 
administration and the Republican leadership are attempting to trick 
the American people. And they are neglecting the very soldiers they 
claim to honor, the men and women who need health care, proper 
equipment, and veterans benefits, whose families need economic 
security. We must call them out on this and vote against this 
resolution.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this is the opportunity for Members of the Committee on 
Armed Services to talk about our piece of this important resolution, 
and that is, I think, the most gratifying part of this resolution, 
which I think we can all join together on and that is commending our 
great troops who have been carrying out this effort in Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, from the time when they spearheaded this drive up from 
Kuwait up through the choke points in Nasarea with the Marines out to 
the east and the Army, the 101st Airborne and the 3rd Infantry Division 
further to the west and worked up to those choke points at some places 
where RPGs were coming like volleys of high-tech arrows at those 
convoys of Humvees and trucks and tanks, to where they got up and went 
past the bridges before they could be blown, took the positions in the 
dams before the electronics could be executed to blow those places, and 
launched one of the most rapid-moving attacks in the history of 
warfare, with great heroism and great accomplishment, from those days 
to today when our troops are in this AO, this area of operation, not as 
much as attackers but in this case defenders of the new freedom of the 
Iraqi people, and hooking up pipelines and sanitary systems and getting 
children to school and opening up medical clinics, our people in 
uniform have performed heroically.
  The most important message we can send from the United States House 
of Representatives is, you did a great job, America's people in 
uniform. You did a wonderful job for our country. And what you are 
doing has great value and will enure to our freedom over the coming 
decades as well as the freedom of the world.
  So, Mr. Speaker, we stand together and even united in commending our 
troops. I am glad that my colleague, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. 
Skelton), is here as my partner on this committee to also commend the 
troops for the great job that they have done.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), a valued member of our committee.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, if the Republican leadership wanted to 
work on a bipartisan expression of support, we would have been able to 
get some place today. They could at least have had an opportunity for 
Congress to step back and examine what we have learned.
  We were prepared to win the war in Iraq. It was never an issue. A 
major concern is that we were not adequately prepared to win the peace, 
either in terms of equipping or staffing the occupation of Iraq nor 
preparing the American public for the full scope of the cost and 
consequences.
  Giving too much money to the wrong people to do the wrong things in 
Iraq is a legitimate object of debate, and I hope that we will some day 
have it.

[[Page 4473]]

But, in the meantime, the most important unanswered question is whether 
the massive investment of the troops, the money, and the attention was 
best spent rushing to Iraq rather than concentrating on continuing the 
global struggle against al Qaeda and the other forces of terror.
  By delaying for over a year and a half the concerted efforts in 
searching out bin Laden, it has allowed al Qaeda and other terrorists 
to gain strength, to metastasize, making bin Laden almost irrelevant 
other than as a symbol of our policy failure. Our unwillingness or 
inability to launch a concentrated effort to mobilize global support 
when we had the entire world united on our side is a sad by-product of 
this administration's policies.
  We are long on celebration; we are short on analysis. We are long on 
talking; we are short on accomplishment. Congress's job is to know what 
is going on, define the policy, to fund the right things, and provide 
oversight. That is our job, and we are falling far short of the mark.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Schiff), my colleague and a distinguished member of the 
committee.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, 1 year ago this Friday, the President 
ordered the men and women of our Armed Forces into Iraq. They performed 
magnificently and have continued to do so despite an ongoing guerilla 
campaign, difficult conditions, and a shortage of protective gear such 
as Kevlar vests and armored Humvees.
  As we celebrate their courage and skill, we must also reflect on 
their sacrifice. As of today, 565 American troops have been killed in 
this war including United States Army Specialist Rel Allen Ravago, IV, 
one of my constituents.
  I will support this resolution because it includes language honoring 
our troops, but I am very concerned over what the resolution excludes 
and deeply disappointed that it was not crafted in a bipartisan manner.
  Our troops in Iraq are not representatives of one political party or 
the other, and those who seek to exploit their daring and sacrifice for 
partisan gain would do well to remember that.
  This resolution fails to address a number of serious issues that have 
arisen as a result of the war. Although the resolution before us makes 
no mention of it, this Nation went to war over intelligence that Saddam 
Hussein had both an existing arsenal of biological and chemical weapons 
and an ongoing nuclear weapons program. A year has passed, and we have 
yet to find evidence that this was correct.
  Clearly, we must look at the totality of the circumstances that led 
to such a colossal intelligence failure. This failure cannot be 
minimized or, in the case of this resolution, ignored all together. To 
do so does no honor to our troops who have been lost and further 
imperils our future.
  The planning for the post-war period of this operation was also 
deficient and based on a number of unsupported assumptions. Over the 
past decade and a half, our forces have been engaged more and more in 
post-conflict operations. Clearly we need to organize ourselves better 
to meet the challenges posed by post-conflict reconstruction.
  In the coming days, I will offer a House companion to a bill 
introduced in the Senate by Senators Lugar and Biden that does just 
that, and I hope my colleagues will support it.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentlewoman 
from California (Ms. Watson), my good friend and distinguished 
colleague.
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, for more than 200 years the men and women of 
the United States military have, through their valiant actions, earned 
a well-deserved reputation for courage, honor, and sacrifice in defense 
of liberty. The brave Americans now fighting and dying in Iraq are 
heirs to a legacy that flows from Lexington and Concord through 
Normandy, straight up to the present day. They should be very proud of 
what they have accomplished in Iraq, and they deserve our firm support 
as they continue to face danger there.
  I am sure that my colleagues who support H. Res. 557 are sincere in 
their desire to salute our troops. However, I feel they have committed 
a grave error by confusing the valor and the sacrifice of our troops 
with the misguided and misleading policy that sent them to Iraq in the 
first place.
  Members of Congress voted in good faith for a resolution on the use 
of force believing that Iraq was capable of unleashing deadly weapons 
of mass destruction. We were told that the threat was imminent and 
could directly impact our Nation's security. Certainly the people of 
Iraq had suffered from the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein, but this 
was not the primary reason given for the preemptive strike by the 
United States.
  It is good that Congress is on record listing the many atrocities of 
Saddam Hussein's regime. Saddam was a brutal dictator. That is not 
debatable. What is debatable is whether our actions in Iraq have 
improved the security of the United States and our allies. I therefore 
question the resolution's assertion that ``the United States and the 
world have been made safer with the removal of Saddam Hussein and his 
regime from power in Iraq.'' In fact, our laser beam focus on Iraq, 
with no proven connections to 9/11, has allowed al Qaeda to regroup and 
again unleash its destructive capabilities on one of our closest 
allies. Moreover, I believe our involvement in Iraq is a major 
contributing factor to America's declining image around the world, 
which Margaret Tutwiler, the administration's head official in charge 
of public diplomacy, admitted ``will take us many years of hard, 
focused work'' to restore.
  When the President announced on May 1 of last year that major combat 
operations in Iraq had ceased, I expected a quick draw-down of American 
troops and a significant increase of United Nations peacekeepers. 
Tragically, our Nation has lost more American men and women in Iraq 
after the President's declaration that major hostilities had ended. The 
total now stands in excess of 565 and is climbing.
  This resolution is disingenuous. In its place should be a 
straightforward resolution of commendation for those who fought 
valiantly and risked their lives to overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime. 
And condolences to those whose lives were snatched from them in this 
most unjustified conflict.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentlewoman 
from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), our last speaker.
  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, today we are asked to commemorate a 
preemptive war. President Bush told the world there was no doubt Iraq 
was concealing weapons of mass destruction, but this Republican 
resolution instead reinterprets history.
  It would have the American people believe that President Bush took 
our Nation to war because in 1988 Saddam gassed the Kurds while 
President Reagan appeased the Iraqi regime or because Saddam punished 
the Marsh Arabs by draining the marshlands while the first Bush 
administration watched.
  This resolution memorializes the horrors of a dictator to justify the 
flawed premise for preemptive war, but it fails to acknowledge the 565 
American patriots who sacrificed their lives. This resolution exploits 
the sacrifices of our troops, the suffering of the Iraqi people, all 
for partisan gamesmanship.
  Our Nation is at war. Our troops, their families, and the American 
people deserve honesty from this House and from the White House.
  We all support our troops. We all want a safer world. And the 
American people deserve the truth.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the rule, I designate each of 
the following three Members to control \1/2\ hour of time allotted to 
me under the rule: \1/2\ hour for the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. 
Skelton), \1/2\ hour for the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman), 
and \1/2\ hour for the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha).
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the greatest asset our 
Nation has known, those heroes, and they are heroes, that we call on 
every time when we need courage and effectiveness on the battlefield, 
the incredible American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines that 
reflect the best attributes of those who have served before them; and

[[Page 4474]]

they are a wonderful reflection of America across our country. So we 
thank them and we honor them.
  Like many Members, I have had the privilege of traveling to Iraq 
twice, this last time with our minority leader, the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Pelosi), and with the gentleman from North Carolina 
(Mr. Hayes) from the Committee on Armed Services.
  And what was clear is that our men and women are doing an 
extraordinary job in the most trying of circumstances. They are 
superbly trained, superbly led, and are just the finest force in the 
world. We owe them a great debt of gratitude.
  We also owe the same to more than 550 families of those who have 
given the ultimate sacrifice to our Nation in Iraq. But what was also 
clear in my trips, there was no effective or realistic planning done 
for the aftermath of the military invasion of Iraq. We did a superb job 
on the battlefield; but since that time, sadly, as I warned the 
President in two letters, September 4, 2002, and then one a couple of 
days before the actual invasion, I feared the outcome and I warned the 
administration in these letters about what the potential consequences 
might be of getting the post-war wrong.

                              {time}  1530

  Sadly now, we are seeing those consequences come home to roost, and 
some of the issues that I raised in those letters are sadly coming to 
pass today.
  While the Iraqis now have an interim constitution and we should 
congratulate them for that, it is no clearer now than it was back in 
November, when the timetable for transformation was laid out, who will 
take over on June 30. Now it looks like there will be no status of 
forces agreement negotiated before that time. Let me tell my 
colleagues, a status of forces agreement is very important because it 
can establish limitations. It could establish rules of engagement that 
make it more difficult for our forces to protect themselves.
  Perhaps most dangerously we see more signs of ethnic and religious 
strife, raising the possibility of a civil war in Iraq. I truly hope 
that does not happen, but the tensions are growing, and there are 
insurgents and foreign fighters who have fanned those flames. Today's 
most deadly and tragic bombing of the hotel in Baghdad seems to be the 
only recent sign of this. We need to do a better job in planning. 
Everything we have worked to achieve in Iraq will be undermined if we 
do not figure out who we are turning sovereignty over to on June 30 and 
how to manage the transition in a way that avoids civil war.
  These are dangerous times. This is not an easy day for our troops or 
for the leadership in our country, and that is why I raise these 
issues, Mr. Speaker. The security of the Iraqi people, the security of 
our troops, the stability in the region, and even our own national 
security depends on doing this right.
  I will support this resolution because I support the men and women 
who are sacrificing daily, and I support those families who are 
fighting the insurgency in making Iraq secure, but I urge the 
administration to do the hard planning, to figure out quickly what will 
happen after June 30 to hold off a potential civil war, and we cannot 
have that.
  We must not let last year's military victory become a long-term 
defeat because of more failures due to the tough planning ahead. June 
30 is a date that must be taken very seriously by our country. We must 
make sure there is a stable Iraqi transition, and that it works; 
because if it does not work, if there is civil war, all of the 
sacrifices of those young men and women in uniform, whether wounded or 
killed, and the families that have grieved and shared their burdens 
with them, will have been in vain. We really, really cannot afford to 
have that.
  So let us praise the troops. And every American should be proud of 
them as I am.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his 
thoughtful statement, and I yield for a unanimous consent request to 
the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Shaw).
  Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman, and I rise in support of 
this resolution, support of our troops and particularly pay my great 
admiration to the 124th Infantry, Bravo Company, that just returned 
safely to Palm Beach County, Florida.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 557 and to offer my 
gratitude to all the men and women who have worked, and who continue to 
work, so hard to serve their country in Iraq. In particular, I'd like 
to extend my respect and admiration to Captain Joseph Lyon and the 
reservists of the 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry, Bravo Company, who 
have returned home safely to West Palm Beach from service in Iraq.
  The contributions of these brave soldiers can be seen every day in 
the numerous improvements in the Iraqi economy and society. With the 
aid of the Coalition forces, the transfer of power to the people of 
Iraq is progressing smoothly. Iraqi forces are gradually relieving and 
will completely replace coalition forces in all aspects of the 
reconstruction.
  I am thankful to all who have helped the Iraqi people establish a 
stable and peaceful country. By doing so, we defend our people from the 
danger of Iraq returning to being a haven for terrorists. Today, Iraq 
is a safer place and is on the road to establishing their own democracy 
to serve as an example in the heart of the Middle East.
  I urge all my colleagues to support H. Res. 557.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Saxton), who is the chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities, who spends more 
time with the troops than he does with us.
  Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me the 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I have had the privilege of traveling to Iraq twice in 
the last few months to visit our troops and to thank them for the job 
they are doing, as well as to see firsthand the progress that is being 
made by both the Iraqis and the international coalition in providing 
security and growing stability to the Nation.
  I was amazed to see and hear some of the very real and significant 
success stories that our forces are accomplishing. When one travels by 
air, for example, over Iraq, it is easy to realize that 65 percent of 
the Iraqi people live off the land. Many are accomplished farmers, but 
others are being aided by the efforts of the American soldiers and by 
American generosity.
  In Iraq, the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture once ran a 400-acre farm 
not far from where Saddam Hussein was captured. It was called Saddam 
Farm, and it produced a harvest that benefited only Saddam Hussein and 
his family. Today, the Army is helping Iraqis establish the nation's 
very first cooperative farm on that 400 acres. Iraqi farming families 
are also being helped by the generosity of the American citizens who 
have donated some $20,000 worth of seeds, and the Army has distributed 
them.
  Throughout my travels in Iraq, I have found Iraqi children with 
smiles on their faces. It is remarkable to think that they are living 
in freedom for the first time. They know it and they like it. Like many 
children throughout the world, Iraqis enjoy the sport of soccer, and I 
have seen Iraqi children kicking soccer balls on the playing fields and 
vacant lots and empty streets. American troops have undertaken projects 
to give soccer balls to some of the poorer Iraqi children who may not 
be able to obtain for themselves. For example, the 501st Forward 
Support Battalion undertook one project and gave away 150 soccer balls 
to kids in Baghdad. The 101st Airborne also distributed soccer balls in 
the north.
  Perhaps the greatest and most noteworthy accomplishment that I have 
seen in Iraq, however, is the increase in the level of security and 
stability for the Iraqi people. Unfortunately, there are still those 
that want to see a free Iraq fail, but for our troops, many changes in 
the Iraqi lifestyle have been evident. In many other areas, security 
and stability are succeeding because of the efforts of the 
international coalition forces and the Iraqis themselves.
  Iraq's security forces have grown tremendously in the last year since 
they

[[Page 4475]]

were first created. The Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement now 
employs 80,000 Iraqis and 9,000 border enforcement agents, as well as 
to monitor the nation's 3600-kilometer border. More than 11,000 
experienced policemen now patrol Iraq, and another several thousand 
Iraqi policemen will join their ranks by the end of this year.
  There is still much to be done in Iraq, but the fact of the matter is 
that there are many success stories, many more than one reads in the 
morning newspaper or sees on daily television reports, and certainly 
many more than I have time to outline here.
  The successes I spoke of and the countless others not only are 
helping Iraq to become more stable, but they are helping Iraqis to 
provide for that security and stability. Ultimately, the sooner Iraq is 
run and secured by Iraqis, the sooner our great troops will come home.
  I am proud to stand here today and commend the Iraqi people for their 
courage and to say again thank you to our troops for a great job well 
done.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman, 
formerly from Missouri, now from California (Ms. Waters).
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Missouri for 
recognizing that Missouri, too, is the State of my birth, and I am 
delighted to be on the floor today with him because he has provided 
wonderful leadership for our caucus.
  Mr. Speaker, I came today to the floor to shame the Republicans and 
the President for politicizing this tragic war in Iraq. God bless our 
soldiers. They do not deserve to be made pawns in political 
gamesmanship. There are many Members who love and support our soldiers 
but refuse to be blackmailed into supporting this preemptive strike 
doctrine of this administration and to be used by this President. Just 
as President Bush is attempting to use the New York 9/11 scene as a 
backdrop in his political advertisement, this resolution is being used 
to paint the picture that this President is a tough leader, fighting 
terrorism and winning.
  Mr. Speaker, this President is not winning. Our country and the world 
is not more secure. Tragically, over 564 soldiers have died since the 
war began last year, and thousands more have been injured. The 
administration has spent $157 billion so far in this war, and even the 
allies who have supported him are being retaliated against.
  If my friends on the opposite side of the aisle were sincere about 
gathering us all together in a resolution to say to our soldiers thank 
you for your sacrifices, they would have done what was asked of them by 
the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) today: Pull this one-sided 
resolution off the floor, get Democrats involved, let us join hands and 
support our soldiers.
  This is the most divisive administration that this country has ever 
had, polarizing us, putting us at each others' throats. It is a shame, 
and I do not mind saying it on this floor today. You need to withdraw 
it.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the very distinguished 
gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon).
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Speaker, I thank our great chairman for yielding me 
the time. And, Mr. Speaker, if my colleagues in this Chamber have any 
doubt about the necessity of our war against the sadistic and despotic 
regime of Saddam Hussein, I urge them to look at this photo that I took 
with Iraqi girls during a congressional trip that some of my colleagues 
and I went on last December.
  If my colleagues take a close look at this picture, they will see 
bright, sunny faces of happy girls who look like they could live in my 
district or any of their districts around this country, but the sad 
reality is that a little over a year ago, these young girls were living 
under the ugly regime of a murderous dictator who would not hesitate to 
take their lives or the lives of their friends and family. In fact, 
from 1983 to 1988 Saddam Hussein wiped out 60 villages and murdered 
more than 30,000 Iraqi citizens with weapons of mass destruction. Human 
rights organizations continually received reports from women who said 
that rape was routinely used by Iraqi officials as weapons of torture, 
intimidation, and blackmail.
  Mr. Speaker, I do not know what would have happened to these girls if 
the United States had not acted against Saddam Hussein's ruthless 
Baathist regime, but I do know this much. Since the liberation of Iraq, 
more than 5.5 million children went back to school this year; 2,300 
schools which fell into disarray under Saddam's regime have been 
rehabilitated. School children have books, shoulder bags, notebooks, 
pencils, papers and desks to use for their studies; but, most 
importantly, they are now living free from Saddam's repressive regime, 
and they never have to worry again about being harmed by their 
tyrannical government, thanks to the strong leadership of President 
Bush and the heroic efforts of our men and women of the armed services.
  I cannot say enough about our troops who risk life and limb every day 
to bring freedom to these girls and to the other people of Iraq. I urge 
strong support of this resolution endorsing our troops.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Meehan), the ranking member of our Subcommittee on 
Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities.
  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the 
time, and it is unfortunate that this resolution has become so 
political because I think clearly all of us should have been able to 
sit down and come up with a resolution that would be united and that 
would send a clear voice to all of the world how much we support our 
troops.
  We are going to have 4 hours of debate, and there are so many 
important things we should be discussing, like the fact that we failed 
to provide our troops with critical protection and equipment that they 
need, from interceptive body armor to anti-jamming devices, to armored 
humvees.
  Yesterday, I met with Brian Hart, the father of Private First Class 
John Hart who was killed in Iraq last October when the unarmored humvee 
that he was patrolling in was ambushed and sprayed with bullets. Just 
days before his death, Pfc. Hart called his father and told him how 
unsafe he felt riding around in humvees that lacked bulletproof 
shielding or reinforced doors.
  The story of John Hart is all too familiar. A couple of months ago, 
the Defense Department stated that 29 American troops had been killed 
and 290 wounded on attacks on humvees. Now I hear they are not even 
tracking those numbers anymore, but I do know that of the 18 soldiers 
killed in Iraq from Massachusetts, 6 died in unarmored humvees or 
trucks.
  Look at this chart. Almost 80 percent of the 12,500 humvees deployed 
in Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom lack reinforced windows 
and doors. The evidence here is overwhelming that we have not gotten 
what our troops need fast enough.

                              {time}  1545

  And what bothers me is that the Army did not even begin to address 
this shortage until August 2003, 3 months after President Bush 
announced the end of the war in Iraq. The Secretary of the Army says 
that they will get this done by August; but as of today no new orders 
have been placed, leaving our troops, many of them, in this vulnerable 
position, in unarmed vehicles. August just is not good enough.
  For too long, the Army has dragged its feet because it failed to 
consider quick, effective alternatives to uparmoring Humvees like 
installing add-on armor kits.
  If we purchased more add-on kits and reached out to other vendors, we 
can get these Humvees armored now.
  Recently, 25,000 Marines deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and took 
with them 3,000 trucks and Humvees, all of which have been armored with 
protective plating. The Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Hagee, 
understood that installing temporary add-on kits provides a quick, easy 
alternative to uparmoring Humvees in depots at home. So Gen. Hagee 
purchased $9 million worth of add-on armor kits to outfit Humvees 
before he sent his Marines back into the battlefield.

[[Page 4476]]

  I have introduced a resolution urging the Defense Department to use 
whatever means possible to armor these Humvees as quickly as they can.
  If we truly want to support our Armed Forces, this would provide them 
with the critical protection and equipment they deserve!
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to 
let my colleagues know that all Humvees are manufactured unarmored. 
They are basically big Jeeps, and this Congress has been rushing to 
armor Humvees in the wake of the new threat known as the IED, the 
remotely detonated device. We put some $400 million in the last 
supplemental to pay for that armor.
  I just would say to my colleagues, it would have been great if they 
could have voted with us on that one because that is the funding 
supplemental that paid for the arming of the Humvees.
  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HUNTER. I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.
  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, that is precisely why I could not vote for 
it. We were supposed to have this money appropriated. We have troops 
over there in unarmed vehicles. It is inexcusable.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, the idea that you do not 
armor vehicles because it is not done already at the factory makes no 
logic to me.
  I would urge the gentleman to work with me to continue to armor them, 
because we are shipping steel in there now.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. 
Akin).
  Mr. AKIN. Mr. Speaker, just as an introduction, it seems to me that, 
to a certain degree, the other party doeth protest too much.
  The first thing I have been hearing about is complaints about 
intelligence information. Yet it was the other party, the Democrat 
Party, that under the Church Commission dismantled our human 
intelligence and has consistently done that. Over the 8 years Clinton 
was in office, they voted to cut the human intelligence budget 30 
percent and now want to complain about the fact that our intelligence 
information is not that good.
  This is also a party that cut the defense budget close to half and 
wonders why there is not some equipment sometimes. They cannot have it 
both ways.
  But I would like to focus, rather, about what was and what is now. 
What was, we saw. We saw the late-night knock of the secret police. We 
saw the torture chambers when I was in Iraq that used to exist. We saw 
the women that had been raped as a form of political coercion. We saw 
women that were not educated.
  Those things have changed. Because what is now is a society that is 
moving into a new century, a place where women can be educated, where 
no longer torture and murder and amputation are used as a tool to 
intimidate, and where we saw on the streets of Iraq people starting to 
emerge into a free civilization. There are all kinds of new businesses 
being formed.
  These are words from a brave Iraqi Parliamentarian, probably risking 
his life, talking about the new constitution. Some, he says, may say 
that the Bill of Rights is copied from the West. My answer: these 
rights and values are not exclusively the property of the West. They 
are universal and should be respected and implemented everywhere. We 
have put up a high standard so that the people of the future may always 
try to reach.
  I think that is a statement of our success. Americans have always 
succeeded when we invest in those tremendously important principles of 
our own founding, the belief that people are valuable. And we continue 
to attest to that by our presence in Iraq, by our brave soldiers there. 
They believe people are important, as opposed to the terrorists that 
say they are mere pawns.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
California (Mrs. Tauscher).
  Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding 
me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution claims to honor our troops, but it is 
nothing but a thinly veiled attempt to run a political campaign on 
taxpayers' time.
  We have the best military in the world. I am honored to represent the 
men and women of Travis Air Force Base in Congress, and I will always 
be grateful to all of our men and women in uniform for their 
patriotism, courage, sacrifice, and devotion to our great Nation. As 
Members of Congress, we must support them in word and deed.
  I have been to Iraq and the Persian Gulf twice in the past year to 
talk to our troops serving there and learned firsthand what they need 
to get the job done and return home safely. Forty thousand American 
troops were sent to Iraq without bulletproof vests, and many more still 
do not have reinforced Humvees to protect them from daily roadside 
bombs. But this resolution does nothing to get this critical lifesaving 
equipment to our troops.
  I am very disappointed this resolution does not offer condolences to 
the families of the 564 Americans killed in Iraq thus far, nor mention 
the 2,500 wounded in action.
  It is also hard to believe that these congressional leaders would 
consider a resolution that categorically reaffirms that the United 
States and the world are made safe by the removal of Saddam Hussein and 
the Ba'ath Party from power just days after the Spanish people buried 
more than 200 of their citizens in the worst act of terror in European 
history, and on a day, today, when a bomb blast killed dozens in Iraq.
  Instead of patting ourselves on the back, it is time to ask whether 
this administration's approach to the war on terror and the war on Iraq 
have made us safer. Two and one-half years after the September 11 
attacks, al Qaeda is more dangerous than ever. The war in Iraq removed 
a dictator, but has created a new front on the war on terror that did 
not exist before and has pinned down a large amount of our troops in 
the Middle East for years to come.
  Mr. Speaker, I will vote ``no'' on this resolution. I urge my 
colleagues to support our troops with action, not shameless political 
ploys, and do the same.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Forbes).
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, all too often the voices whining about what 
they find wrong with our planning, our troops, or our military tend to 
drown out their great successes. But when I went to Iraq, I found our 
troops were proud that they had liberated 24 million Iraqi people in 
just 3 weeks.
  The untold story of Operation Iraqi Freedom were the stories 
describing the logistics warriors who not only accomplished 
extraordinary things but who were often also put in harm's way to 
support the phenomenal contributions of our combat troops. Sometimes we 
just assume that food is going to get there and our ammunition is going 
to get there, but let me tell you some of the truly amazing logistics 
work that occurred during this conflict.
  The main supply line stretched 350 miles; and on any given time, 
there were 2,500 logistics and support vehicles on the road. There were 
2.5 million gallons of gas per day delivered effectively to fly our 
aircraft. We built the longest pipeline the Army has ever built, 220 
miles long. There were 66,000 pipe sections hand laid to construct that 
critical system, and it is still in service today serving the Iraqi 
people. We delivered 1.5 million liters of water a day successfully and 
effectively. A third of a million meals were served per day. Two 
million tons of spare parts and equipment were moved effectively every 
day.
  In particular, the tremendous effort of the Army's Quartermaster 
Corps, the home of which is in Fort Lee, Virginia, are reflected by 
these totals from the war: 186 million gallons of fuel, enough to fill 
the tanks of 40,000 cars; they served 53 million meals, enough to feed 
the entire population of New York State with three meals a day; 
provided 330 million gallons of water, enough for a daily shower for 
the half million residents of Las Vegas; and delivered nearly 8 million 
pieces of mail.

[[Page 4477]]

  With so much success and such an enormous effort, it should not be 
hard to find additional improvements to be made. But, Mr. Speaker, I 
think it is only fitting today that we stand up and pass this 
resolution to honor their great work.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Guam (Mr. Bordallo).
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Missouri for 
yielding me this time, and I rise today in support of our service men 
and women who need much more than the words we speak here today to help 
them in Iraq.
  As the fires from the most recent terrorist attack today in Baghdad 
burn against the night sky, I am moved to remember Army Specialist 
Christopher Jude Rivera Wesley, who died in Iraq, the first Chamorro 
casualty of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  I also want to take time to pay tribute to Army Specialist Hilario 
Bermanis of the 82nd Airborne Division. He joined the Army from the 
Federated States of Micronesia, and after losing both legs and his left 
hand fighting in Iraq, he has now become an American citizen. I visited 
him at Walter Reed Medical Hospital. One day he might even become a 
Senator, like Max Cleland, who also sacrificed for his country a 
generation before him.
  In my mind, this resolution affirms that we are yet to do everything 
that we can for our troops. We need the best technology to defend our 
troops and care for the wounded, the best diplomacy to make sure they 
do not stay a day longer than they have to, and the courage of our 
convictions to finish the job.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\3/4\ minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson).
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for 
yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, thanks to the leadership of President George W. Bush, 
the valor of the American military and the courage of our coalition 
partners, 1 year ago this week the liberation of Iraq started marking 
the beginning of the end of Saddam Hussein's brutal regime.
  My gratitude for this historic success is as a Member of Congress. I 
had the opportunity to go with the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. 
Skelton) and visit our troops in Iraq. Additionally, I am grateful as a 
veteran myself. I retired last July after 31 years of service with the 
Army National Guard, and I am so proud of what our active Guard and 
Reserve forces have done. But additionally, I am proud and grateful as 
a parent. I have three sons who are in the military of the United 
States, and one of my sons began his deployment in Iraq this week. We 
are very proud in the Wilson family of our contribution and the success 
of the American military.
  Some today have incorrectly accused the administration of saying Iraq 
was in imminent threat. In reality, the case for the war with Iraq was 
made precisely because Iraq was not yet an imminent threat. After the 
hard lesson of September 11, we can no longer wait until our enemies 
grow stronger and more deadly before we take decisive action to prevent 
future tragedies.
  Saddam Hussein posed a unique danger to the people of the United 
States and the world. He ignored 17 United Nations resolutions for over 
a decade, harbored and supported terrorists, and had used biological 
and chemical weapons on his own people, had a history of violent 
aggression against his neighboring countries, and attempted to 
assassinate a President of the United States.
  Today, Saddam Hussein's regime of terror has ended and the world is a 
safer place for it; yet we know the war of terrorism is not over. We 
need to remain vigilant to protect America's families by promoting this 
resolution today, and I urge its support. In conclusion, God bless our 
troops. We will never forget September 11.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me 
this time.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution, never opened for committee discussion 
and now closed to amendments, is perhaps a consistent way to mark the 
anniversary of an unnecessary war that was built on misleading 
statements, dangerous disregard for the facts, and dangerous policies.
  To a person, we believe that our military men and women have done a 
remarkable job in very difficult conditions, conditions like traveling 
in tactical vehicles that do not have steel armor, leaving them 
dangerously vulnerable to grenades, small arms, and roadside bombs. 
Soldiers in Iraq are hanging flack vests and even plywood on their 
Humvees in desperate attempts at protection, army officials are quoted 
as saying, and the casualties mount week by week.
  Republicans who choose to slime the records of opponents of this 
resolution would be better to turn the mirror on themselves. Many of us 
will be supporting a Democratic budget resolution that will back up our 
rhetoric with the resources needed to provide equipment, compensation, 
military housing, child tax credits for military families, and other 
necessities that are missing in the Republican budget proposal. Let us 
put our money where our mouth is.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\3/4\ minutes to the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Hefley), who provides all those quality-of-life issues to 
our uniformed services.
  Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time, and I rise today to support House Resolution 557.
  Under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi people lived in 
poverty and fear. During his 30-year reign of tyranny, he massacred 
tens of thousands of his own people, some murdered for their religion 
and some for their ethnicity.
  On March 19, 2003, the United States and its coalition partners 
launched the first air strikes of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 3 weeks, 
Iraqis in Baghdad danced and waved their country's flag as U.S. forces 
toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein, signaling the end of Saddam's 
brutal tyranny.

                              {time}  1600

  Operation Iraqi Freedom was a military success, courageously executed 
by American men and women in uniform. It was an operation of 
unparalleled precision and speed, and was carried out in a way that 
prevented widespread destruction of Iraqi's infrastructure, lengthy 
street-by-street fighting or a humanitarian crisis. Food and medical 
aid flowed into Iraq immediately after the troops and there was no 
``adventurism'' by Iraq's neighbors or other destabilizing action in 
the region.
  One year later, Iraqis are engaged in the enormous challenge of 
rebuilding their country after decades of neglect, and are working with 
the coalition toward the creation of a secure, stable, sovereign and 
peaceful Iraq. To date, in nearly all major cities and most towns and 
villages, Iraqi municipal councils have been formed, and for the first 
time in more than a generation the Iraqi judiciary is fully 
independent. More than 600 Iraqi judges preside over more than 500 
courts that operate independently from the Iraqi Governing Council and 
the Coalition Provisional Authority.
  Mr. Speaker, U.S. forces are handing the torch to the Iraqi people as 
they take control, form an army, build an effective police force, and 
develop a fair justice system.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this resolution. I have a lot of other good 
stuff to say, but my time has expired.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Green).
  (Mr. GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks, and include extraneous material.)
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise first and foremost to thank 
the men and women of the Armed Forces serving bravely in Iraq, 
Afghanistan and literally all over the world. I supported the 
resolution to authorize the war, and in the supplemental request I 
continue to support those troops and

[[Page 4478]]

their work, but I must express my continued concerns about the safety 
of the troops and the haphazard way the administration has proceeded in 
Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, we have no end game in sight. Our exit strategy is 
murky, and our efforts to help this fledgling democracy seem to be 
going nowhere. When this war began last year, it became clear our 
troops do not have the life-saving body armor and vehicle armor they 
needed. Even with the passage of the Iraq supplemental last November, 
there are still too many soldiers at risk, and we are experiencing 
increasing reports of street fire, mines and ambushes aimed at our 
troops. It is unconscionable that they continue to lack the protective 
gear they need.
  On yesterday's evening news, Houston's CBS affiliate KHOU reported 
there are still a number of Humvees in Iraq without bulletproof armor, 
and I will include for the Record the news report. In fact, there are 
Humvees on the streets of Houston that have more safety features than 
the ones being used by our troops, according to the report. These 
vehicles are intended to transport soldiers and defend them in the war 
zone, and the last thing we should hear is soldiers' complaints that 
their family's sedans are safer than the military's soft-sided Humvees.
  A year ago today, we started a war to remove an evil man from power; 
but in doing so, the lives of our troops are unnecessarily jeopardized 
by sending them into harm's way without proper armor and underequipped 
vehicles. Our troops are doing a dangerous job, and I hope the 
administration will correct these problems.

                     [From KHOU.com, Mar. 17, 2004]

    Up Close: Military Leadership Little Soft on Vehicle Protection

                           (By Dave Fehling)

       As we approach the 1-year anniversary of the war in Iraq, 
     we're learning more about an additional risk to our troops 
     overseas. Thin-skinned vehicles not designed for combat are 
     currently being driven by hundreds of soldiers in Iraq right 
     now. And several service men have been killed, including one 
     from League City. 11 News looks at the shortage of armor and 
     the rush to fix what some call a deadly miscalculation.
       Last October, 20-year-old paratrooper John Hart phoned his 
     parents from Iraq and whispered words that shook them. He 
     felt exposed in his softsided humvee, the same kind in which 
     friends already had been killed or wounded in ambushes. The 
     vehicle offered less protection than the family sedan.
       ``We were thinking about how best to address it,'' says 
     John's father, Brian Hart, ``when we got news the following 
     week that John had been killed in an ambush.''
       John Hart was shot to death in his unarmored humvee, along 
     with Lieutenant David Bernstein, fifth in his class at West 
     Point.
       Diane Elliott lives in fear that her husband is also an 
     easy target in his unarmored humvee. ``A bullet came through 
     the humvee and through the back of his seat,'' she says. ``He 
     said there was a bullet hole, just barely missed his head.''
       That was the second time Army reserve Captain Roger Elliott 
     escaped death in a canvas covered humvee in Baghdad.
       The first time he got hit by a homemade bomb. ``They said 
     it hit the humvee, rolled off and hit the ground, and it blew 
     a big hole in the ground,'' says Elliot. ``Here's the humvee, 
     and screws and nails and everything flying, just goes right 
     through it.''
       Captain Elliott's Purple Heart arrived in an ammo box, 
     along with his wife's wedding anniversary gifts.
       Bullets, nails and shrapnel go right through the vast 
     majority of humvees in Iraq because they were designed to 
     transport soldiers, not to protect them.
       A factory near Cincinnati is the only plant in the world 
     that produces armored humvees. ``This is what we end up with. 
     Fully armored doors, armored perimeter, turret,'' says a 
     factory worker. ``Underbody capable of defeating a 
     landmine.''
       And windows that stop bullets. It's the kind of protection 
     soldiers are asking for, and dying for.
       ``It's maddening,'' says Brian Hart. ``It's absolutely 
     maddening.''
       Maddening for John Hart's father, for Roger Elliot's wife. 
     ``How could you not know you need armored humvees when you're 
     going into a war?'' asks Diane Elliott.
       And maddening for the parents of Texas National Guardsman 
     Nathan Feenstra who says their son was sent to Iraq with old 
     soft sided humvees, and without new bullet proof vests that 
     have saved an untold number of lives since the war began. 
     ``Basically, they're saying they've done all they can for 
     now, `It's too late for your unit, but we are preparing for 
     the next group going into Iraq,''' says John Feenstra. ``I 
     said that's not good enough.''
       The Feenstras write letters to military leadership, and 
     pray their son comes home alive.
       Brian Hart is pressing congress to press the Army to speed 
     up production. The plan in Ohio is boosting output. But some 
     lawmakers are outraged. And the republican chairman of the 
     Senate Armed Services Committee called the shortage of 
     armored humvees ``unacceptable.''
       The Army Vice Chief of Staff told Congress in September 
     more armored humvees weren't sent to Iraq because ``To be 
     honest, we just didn't expect this level of violence.''
       Back in May there were only about 235 armored humvees in 
     Iraq. The army now wants more than 3,000. But it's expected 
     to take until summer of 2005 before the Army gets all the 
     beefed up humvees it wants.
       To Brian Hart who made a promise to his son and to the 
     soldiers who brought home his son's body, that's not good 
     enough.
       The army says it's rushed all available armored humvees to 
     Iraq, and is sending 6,000 kits to toughen up standard 
     humvees. It's also speeding up production of new armored 
     vehicles.
       Meanwhile many soldiers are improvising, using steel 
     plates, rubber mats and sandbags to harden their humvees 
     against attacks.

  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield for the purpose of making a 
unanimous consent request to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach).
  Mr. LEACH. Mr. Speaker, the measure before us contains many 
consentaneous American thoughts: Recognition that Saddam was a despot 
of tyrannical proportions; support for a process of democratic self-
governance in Iraq; and, profoundly, appreciation for the sacrifice and 
commitment of Americans serving in our armed forces in these very 
troubling, indeed dangerous, times.
  But as widely accepted as these notions are, care must be taken in 
this debate to underscore what this resolution is not. It cannot be 
read either as a Gulf of Tonkin-like resolution giving the Executive a 
blank check for future actions or considered an indication of 
Congressional approval of executive action to date.
  Many in Congress, perhaps a majority, would be willing to vote for a 
more expansive resolution, but such is not before us today. 
Nonetheless, the subject matter of this resolution necessitates a 
review of what has transpired since the Congress, without my support, 
authorized military intervention in Iraq a year and a half ago.
  All of us recognize that Iraq is a judgmental quagmire. Thoughtful 
Americans are conflicted. The President has a case for the actions he 
has taken. But I feel obliged to make clear why I continue not to find 
it compelling and indicate, in as constructive a way as I am able, the 
problems that a lengthy occupation may yield and present a theoretical 
framework and the case for timely disengagement.
  Perspective is difficult to apply to current events or for that 
matter life itself. But it is important to attempt to frame the 
discussion of the war in which we are engaged in relation to our 
history, to the development of knowledge (particularly science), and to 
our relations with other countries.
  First our history. In the broadest sense the political history of 
America has encompassed four great debates. The first was the question 
of whether a country could be established based on the rights of man. 
The second was about definitions: whether the concept of ``man'' 
included individuals who were neither male nor pale. It took over a 
century, a civil war and suffrage and civil rights movements to bring 
full meaning to the universal language of the Declaration of 
Independence. With courage and sacrifice Americans finally came 
together to embrace the democratic notion that consent of the governed 
lacked legitimacy unless all individuals of all backgrounds had rights 
of citizenship.
  The third debate is about opportunity, whether individual rights can 
be protected if every citizen doesn't have a fair crack at the American 
dream. There are many on-going elements of the opportunity debate, 
which in the 20th century was symbolized by the New Deal initiatives of 
Franklin Roosevelt and the counter-weight of the Reagan revolution. But 
I would like to emphasize an aspect of this debate which gets little 
attention because it is taken for granted, and that is the role of 
public education. All young Americans not only have access to public 
education, they are required by law to attend public schools or 
comparable alternatives. As society becomes more complicated, 
educational opportunity becomes increasingly central to advancing 
social opportunity. And as we look at the narrow schooling provided by 
madrasses abroad it becomes apparent that how and what others teach has 
relevance to the security of Americans at home.
  The fourth debate is symbolized by Hiroshima and Nagasaki and 
revolves around the question of whether any right can be valid if it is 
not underpinned by a right to peace.

[[Page 4479]]

  In these debates the role of foreign policy is critical, and even 
when we've looked inward it has been with an eye to establishing a 
shining city-state on a hill, a beacon for all.
  The greatest legislated act in American and perhaps human history is 
the Declaration of Independence. The universality of its principles 
constitutes the cornerstone of historic American idealism in foreign as 
well as domestic policy.
  As architect of the Declaration, Jefferson--while never a member of 
Congress--was our greatest legislator. And as the architect of the 
Louisiana Purchase, he stands as our greatest diplomat-president. The 
precept implicit in the Declaration and the Louisiana Purchase is the 
notion of individual rights and collective decision-making by a people 
entrusted with the capacity to make sovereign decisions.
  Jefferson was the philosophical godson of John Locke, who borrowed 
from Thomas Hobbes the 17th century paradigm of a state of Nature 
where, according to Hobbes, life was nasty, brutish and short.
  Hobbes had a pessimistic view of human nature. Self-centered man 
could not escape from the jungle of human relations. Locke, on the 
other hand, was an optimist. He also assumed that man was self-
centered, but, unlike Hobbes, he believed that individuals were 
rational enough to recognize the necessity of accommodating the self-
interest of others. Civil society--the condition where rules would 
govern disputes and third-party arbitration would exist--was thus 
possible as well as necessary.
  Whether or not the theoretical constructs that political philosophers 
relied on three centuries ago have relevance to real life on the 
planet, then or now, the progress of science has made man's efforts to 
protect the rights of individuals and society more difficult today. In 
one of the most profound social observations of the 20th century, 
Einstein noted that splitting the atom changed everything save our mode 
of thinking.
  Physics has brought us nuclear energy and perhaps a way to help live 
a modern life without reliance on fossil fuels. Biology has brought us 
the capacity to extend the life of man by several and perhaps many 
decades. But just as splitting the atom has a dark side--nuclear 
weapons--splitting genes has ominous implications, too--the ability to 
manufacture diseases for which there may be no antidote. Hence the 
obvious: at no time in human history is there a greater obligation for 
people in public life to appeal to the higher rather than lower angels 
of our nature.
  This is particularly the case as the world has smallened and friction 
between peoples has increased in economics, politics and, most 
profoundly, religion.
  Perhaps the most thoughtful speech ever given in Iowa was delivered 
four decades ago by the Oxford historian, Arnold Toynbee. A decade 
earlier, Winston Churchill chose a small Midwestern college in Fulton, 
Missouri, to warn of the dangers of Soviet expansionism; an ``Iron 
Curtain,'' he said, had descended on Eastern Europe. Toynbee picked 
Grinnell College to chastise Marxists for shallowly looking at history 
through the lens of economic determinism and Americans for assuming, in 
part because of the civil rights movement then underway, that the most 
contentious issues in the world related to race. Toynbee argued that at 
this stage in history conflict would more likely erupt because of 
religious differentiations than economic or racial ones. As we look at 
the Middle East, at Northern Ireland, at the Balkans, at the divisions 
between Pakistan and India, Toynbee's observation appears to be 
vindicated.
  Expanding on Toynbee, Samuel Huntington of Harvard has propounded a 
theory of international relations over the past several decades that 
suggests that the next great wars are less likely to represent battles 
between countries than clashes between various civilizations.
  Given Toynbee's predictions and Huntington's civilization-clash 
paradigm, it is appropriate to return to Jefferson, who at the public 
level strove assiduously to protect individual freedom of religion and 
at the private level believed that what mattered most was not nuanced 
differences between religions or denominations, but the moral threads 
common to all creeds. In terms of guides to individual behavior, it is 
impressive, for instance, that the Ten Commandments underpin Islam as 
well as Judaism and Christianity. And the Confucian doctrine of 
``shu,'' which asserts that moral behavior should be premised on not 
doing unto others what one would not have done to oneself, is an 
inverted kind of Golden Rule.
  Despite the fact that history is rife with examples where religious 
differentiations have caused and intensified conflicts, there is no 
credible substitute for the constructive role of faith-based 
convictions. Conflict may be envisioned, but it can be constrained if 
individuals are taught the most esoteric of precepts: loving, or at 
least not hating, one's neighbor.
  Ironically, genocide, which is disproportionately a 20th century 
phenomenon, is about weapons of lesser lethality: machetes, bullets, 
poisonous gas.
  But if mankind can't prevent killing up close, the question must be 
pondered whether there can be any optimism that the world can avoid a 
cataclysmic exchange from afar of weapons of mass destruction, which 
would make the greatest crime of mankind to date, genocide, the second-
to-last crime in human history. It is simply a short stop from 
genocide--the killing one at a time of millions--to ``global-cide''--
the end in a single stroke of all life on the planet.
  In recognition of the 20th century's experience with Holocaust and 
other brutal genocides, from Cambodia to Rwanda, we have no choice 
except to change our mode of thinking. Man's instinct to hate must be 
curbed and social wisdom applied to the new challenges science has 
thrown at man.
  In this context, I want to stress a second challenge of science that 
has nothing to do with war and arms making but is clearly the largest 
foreign policy issue of our day. It is the problem of disease. In Iraq 
more than 500 Americans and perhaps as many as 20,000 Iraqis have been 
killed in the past year. But over the last two decades 20 million 
people have died of AIDS and 40 million are infected with HIV. In 
Africa, Southeast Asia, and Southern Russia, AIDS has hurdled well 
beyond the groups considered most vulnerable in the U.S. In many 
countries children are infected through mothers at birth and in several 
countries a 15-year-old girl is far more likely to have the disease 
than a 15-year-old boy. We simply must expand resources to stop this 
disease abroad before it stops our families at home.
  Not that everything in the world is dark or unraveling. Promising 
political breakthroughs are occurring between India and Pakistan; in 
the civil war in Sri Lanka; in Libya, where Muammar Khaddafi may be 
giving up a quest for nuclear weapons; and even with North Korea, as 
six-party talks unfold. Several of these bits of good international 
news are developing without a central U.S. role; several will require 
our leadership. My only advice to the Executive is to meet every 
positive step of others with at least two steps of our own. Progressive 
change from suspect leaders cannot be sustained if peoples of various 
societies are not convinced that America prefers extending carrots to 
applying bullying tactics. We simply can't wait for tomorrow to respond 
to good omens today. This is especially true of a country like Libya 
where backsliding is so easy. It may be more difficult with the hermit 
country--North Korea--simply because paranoia and anti-Americanism run 
so irrationally deep in the people as well as the government. But 
constructive steps, especially of a humanitarian dimension, can be 
taken.
  Iowa also has brought some good news to the world. In January I 
attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and a 
Conference on the Prevention of Genocide in Stockholm, Sweden. In 
conversations with Europeans the depth of anti-American sentiment 
becomes quickly evident. But when asked what state I represent, I was 
impressed with the sincerity of the positive responses when I indicated 
I was from Iowa. Everyone knew of Iowa because of the caucuses. In Iowa 
the caucus process seems a bit mysterious. In other states it is very 
mysterious, and in Europe it is a full blown mystery. But people in 
Europe were deeply impressed that individuals seeking the most 
important political position in the world had to come to the homes and 
schools and offices of private citizens who, with real care, reviewed 
their credentials and platforms.
  For many years I have had reservations about the caucus system 
because the ballot is not secret and because participation is not as 
large as in a traditional primary. But I feel obligated to reconsider 
and, as a Republican, must tip my hat to the Iowa Democrats for the 
thoughtfulness with which they advanced American democracy and 
spotlighted our values for the world. Abroad, people followed but did 
not necessarily identify with the individual candidates, but everyone 
was impressed with the process and the care with which citizens carried 
out their duties.
  It is instructive to put the current tension in transatlantic 
relations in historical perspective. With regard to the profoundest 
issue--war and peace--attitudes on each side of the ocean have come 
full circle over the five centuries of interaction.
  The U.S. was founded by immigrants seeking refuge from religious 
persecution and a spate of seemingly senseless wars among European 
countries and principalities. The new

[[Page 4480]]

Americans sought to distance themselves from the violence and religious 
intolerance of the Continent. It was with the greatest reluctance that 
in 1917 a pioneer country, which had been convulsed with the magnitude 
of a westward moving Manifest Destiny, determined that blocking a 
Kaiser's ambitions called for intervention in European affairs.
  In the wake of a war trumpeted to end all wars, America retreated 
into political isolation in the 1920's. After inspiring its creation, 
we refused to join the League of Nations; and after expanding trade in 
industrial and agricultural products, we succumbed to economic 
protectionism in the 1930's. Only a direct attack on our territory 
caused us to enter World War II.
  Today, it is Europe which is looking inward, pre-occupied with its 
manifest destiny, political integration made feasible by a growing 
economic union. Increasingly secular Europeans desire to separate 
themselves from an America that appears to them to be too unilateralist 
and quick to go to war, too fundamentalist and thus blind to tolerance, 
and too simplistic to realize that conflicts with religious overtones 
are the most traumatic to manage.
  When speaking to constituents of the rationale for and against the 
Iraq War, I have over the past couple of years referenced a set of 
books that held particular currency in the 1960's: the Alexandria 
Quartet by Lawrence Durrell. Each of the four books describes the same 
set of events in inter-war Egypt from the perspective of a different 
character. While the events are the same, the stories that unfold are 
profoundly different, causing the reader to recognize that one person's 
perspective is at best a snapshot of reality. A clear picture cannot be 
pieced together without looking through the lens of a multiplicity of 
eyes and experiences.
  The Moslem experience gives substantially less weight than the 
Western experience to the two cataclysmic wars of the 20th century. 
Despite Lawrence's involvement in Arabia and the battles between Allied 
forces and Rommel's tanks, the engagements in the Middle East and North 
Africa were skirmishes compared with the struggles in Europe and the 
Far East. Not only do Moslems see the 20th century differently from 
Westerners, but Europeans and Americans have drawn different strategic 
parallels in the application of common experience to current challenges 
in the Middle East.
  In the immediate aftermath of the First World War, historians and 
political strategists in Europe rightly concluded that the European 
alliance system had been too rigid and the assassination of a 
relatively minor figure, an archduke, should not have precipitated a 
war of such devastating consequences. Hence European leaders in the 
1930's falsely concluded that historical wisdom necessitated initial 
accommodation with Hitler's adventurism. Too little flexibility caused 
one war; too little spine led to Munich. In the current context, 
President Bush sees himself as Churchill rather than Chamberlain, but 
Europeans see 9/11 as more analogous to the shots fired at Archduke 
Ferdinand than as a cause for a doctrine of preemption or war with 
Iraq, a war that could too easily spring into a clash of civilizations. 
Second guessing is always conjectural because history gives few second 
chances. Unlike football, downs aren't repeated.
  Accordingly, the challenge today on both sides of the Atlantic is to 
put debate about going to war behind and work together to figure out 
how we proceed from here. A lot of polite observations have been made 
that European leaders seem less angry about American decisions related 
to Iraq this year compared to the differences expressed during the pre-
war buildup. This may appear that way on the surface, but my sense is 
that European judgment, if anything, is more solidified and definitive 
today. Europeans may have become resigned that events have unfolded 
without their concurrence. By the same token, frustration that their 
advice has been discounted has caused anti-American anger to 
metastasize into anti-American smugness. Europeans believe that their 
skepticism has been vindicated by events. The stark good-versus-evil 
clarity that Washington policy makers seek appears to Europeans to be 
un-nuanced, unsophisticated, and unappreciative of differing judgments.
  Americans countenance criticism of our President and his policies by 
fellow Americans, but we are not so tolerant of foreign dissent. The 
assumption in Washington is that Continental leaders deliberately 
sought to undercut U.S. leadership in the world community and that, in 
particular, the refusal of the French and Germans to support the 
President's position in the Security Council and NATO has made matters 
more dangerous for our troops and reconciliation more difficult in the 
current post-war setting.
  On our side of the Atlantic, the sense exists that French and German 
political judgment has not only been at variance with American ideas 
but that a concerted effort was made on the Continent to triangulate 
the terrorist challenge and take advantage of America's dilemma. By 
distancing themselves from Washington, Paris and Bonn are seen to be 
encouraging the re-direction of Moslem discord. Whereas the rhetoric of 
Osama Bin Laden and other extremists was initially anti-Western, it is 
now more exclusively anti-U.S. The opportunity to transplant America's 
commercial as well as political position in parts of the world consumed 
with anti-Americanism appears not to have been lost on the European 
political-industrial elite.
  With all of the attention given to the new transatlantic tensions, 
the implications of the Iraq war on Russia have received short shrift. 
But the new European antagonism to America has not gone unnoticed in 
Moscow. The cleavage between Washington and Europe and the 
preoccupation of America with the Middle East clearly give Putin a 
freer hand to advance a less democratic and more nationalistic set of 
policies at home. This is one reason why it is so important that 
America and NATO demonstrate then can work together in such areas as 
Afghanistan, where strategic common ground exists.
  Likewise, the priority we have given to Iraq as well as North Korea, 
two charter members of the so-called ``Axis of Evil,'' means that we 
have been implicitly forced to subordinate trade and human rights 
issues with China. China's support, or at least not opposition, in 
international strategic affairs, has become so central to 
Administration policy makers that Beijing has been able to downgrade 
U.S. concerns about the historic shifts taking place in trade terms. A 
Chinese trade surplus with the U.S. that now exceeds $10 billion a 
month and an undervalued currency pegged to the dollar that makes 
flexible trade adjustments impossible are simply not being given the 
attention they deserve.
  Economics and politics have seldom been more intertwined. Yet 
underappreciated is the prospect that a protectionist backlash of 
1930's dimensions could develop if our political policies fail and our 
government loses respect in the world. Analogously, a political 
backlash could sweep the country if Washington doesn't develop 
institutional reforms to protect the political system from 
vulnerabilities to single-issue and special-interest constituencies. At 
a time when our foreign policy appears too attentive to ideological 
forces and too prone to rely on proxy empowered corporations to advance 
the national interest, Congress has an obligation to aggressively 
provide oversight of the contracting as well as intelligence judgments 
advanced by the Executive. Just as committees to review a new 
intelligence inadequacies are in order, so is a new committee to 
oversee government contracting related to operations in Iraq and 
Afghanistan. The professionalism and integrity of government decision-
making about issues of war and peace must be above reproach. The 
country can afford neither ideological posturing nor war profiteering.
  As for the dilemma of the moment, policy makers have been caught 
philosophically short. As mistaken as the overestimation of Saddam's 
WMD capacities was, the greater judgmental error may relate to the 
political pressure applied to the intelligence community on the issue 
of Iraqi complicity in the plane strikes on 9/11. Initially, the CIA 
straightforwardly noted that there was no credible evidence of Iraqi 
involvement. Then, under obvious pressure, it changed its stance and in 
presentation after presentation to Congress ominously suggested they 
had an ``evolving'' view of the role of Iraq, despite, to date, 
producing nothing of a definitive nature to show why the community 
changed its initial representation. Hence, the decision to go to war 
was against the backdrop of public opinion polls showing 60 percent of 
the American people believed significant Iraqi involvement existed in 
the 9/11 attack.
  Compounding this lack of forthrightness, where the intelligence 
community knew the situation but refused publicly to differ with the 
political decision makers, was a judgment showing doubtful 
understanding of Moslem attitudes. The notion that American forces 
would be welcomed in Iraq as a liberating force with the well-
intentioned option to reshape over time Iraqi political institutions 
was a mistake of profound proportions. Now, given the anarchy that has 
mushroomed in the country, Washington is swept by occupation analogies 
of World War II. Japan and Germany, it is noted, were occupied for more 
than five years after hostilities ceased. Hence, many are suggesting, 
we must be prepared to stay at least this long in Iraq.
  I have seldom been more apprehensive about an historical analogy. 
Japan and Germany were the instigators of war; their citizens

[[Page 4481]]

understood this. Iraqis don't see it this way. They see the U.S. as the 
aggressor. Images form Al-Jazeera portray a country under siege. In the 
Moslem world Iraq looks more like a police-cordoned West Bank than a 
great and ancient society on the move to a better life. Outsiders are 
viewed as unwanted intruders acting out of great power self-interest, 
unrespectful of the culture and values of the country being occupied. 
The irony that it is Shi'a clerics, not American statesmen, who are 
pushing for democratic elections at this time is not lost on the Iraqis 
or the Moslem world.
  More profoundly, I am amazed that pundits haven't caught on to the 
possibility that the only thing worse than being wrong in our 
intelligence assessments of Iraqi WMD would have been if we had been 
right and thereby taken the risk of precipitating a retaliatory BW 
attack against Israel or possibly an American city. Biological weapons 
in the control of petty potentates is mad science in the hands of mad 
men. To go to war against a country with BW weapons, especially if the 
initiator has no knowledge where they are, is to hazard more than a 
clash of civilizations; it is to instigate a potential challenge to the 
maintenance of civilization itself.
  In any regard, if a WMD rationale for intervention can't be 
established, we must not allow the democracy case to founder. To 
authorize an additional $80 billion for Iraq and not be able to find 
the means to conduct timely elections is preposterous.
  Legitimacy is critical for all countries. There may be times and 
circumstances in which the U.S. national interest requires action 
without a U.N. sanction. But the U.N. is ignored at great risk, 
especially when the international community is at odds with a nation 
state's policies. The U.N.'s help, for instance, could be significant 
at this point in facilitating elections and helping legitimize new 
governing structures. If a commitment to a time frame for democratic 
elections isn't soon forthcoming, the Administration may see an 
escalation of violence in Iraq led by the Shi'a in the South, thus 
adding to the traumas precipitated by Saddam's old henchmen and foreign 
trouble makers in the Sunni triangle to the north, where disorder is so 
prevalent today.
  The judgment call Washington must make is whether to employ something 
closer to a ``get in/get out'' strategy or one of prolonged occupation. 
Each approach caries risk, with the likelihood of a certain amount of 
disorder developing whenever the American presence is reduced. Whether 
that disorder becomes less deep with time or whether time allows 
anarchist forces to organize more vigorously and lay claim to a 
legitimizing nationalist mantle is conjectural.
  In the realm of policy timing can often be as important as substance. 
Just as Senator Dirksen once noted that a billion dollars here and a 
billion dollars there and pretty soon you're talking about real money, 
in foreign affairs a week here and a week there can soon add up to a 
policy dilemma.
  The difficulty of timing was underscored this week when some in 
Washington charged the newly elected Spanish Government with 
``appeasement'' for its announced intention to withdraw its forces from 
Iraq in the wake of last week's bombings in Madrid unless the U.N. role 
in Iraq is broadened. The language of appeasement may appropriately 
describe the lack of resolve of Western leaders when they refused to 
stand up to Hitler's growing power in the 1930s, but it may not be as 
fair to apply such a term to Spanish policy today. Indeed, doing so may 
carry irresponsible implications because fear of its connotations may 
make disengagement more difficult if the country or forces of an 
occupying power are ever under attack. For instance, if ``appeasement'' 
is considered the dominant potential issue, U.S. policy makers 
relinquish their sovereign discretion and instead could give terrorists 
the determinative say when we will disengage from Iraq. A few radicals 
could with relative ease launch a steady dose of terrorist attacks on 
our civilian and armed services personnel and ``force'' us to stay or 
then be in a position to argue when we eventually leave that they 
forced us out. That is why it is so critical that we lay out a basis 
for withdrawal that has nothing to do with the terrorist behavior of 
Iraqi radicals and everything to do with the establishment of a freely 
elected leadership.
  On the issue of the timing of the hand-over of civil authority I give 
less judgmental weight in the Iraqi circumstance to historical 
analogies to the post-war occupation of Japan and Germany and more to a 
personal anecdote about the manner the Vietnam war came to be 
concluded. Early in my career in Congress, I was invited to the Library 
of Congress to join a small group of historians to listen to a lecture 
by Henry Kissinger about the negotiations that led to the end of that 
war. The night before the lecture, I perused one of Secretary 
Kissinger's autobiographic tomes and came across a paragraph that so 
startled me that I asked him about it in the seminar that followed the 
lecture. Kissinger wrote that in December 1968, shortly after Richard 
Nixon had asked him to be his National Security Council director, he 
met with the President-elect to discuss the direction of the new 
administration's foreign policy. They determined together, he noted, 
that their policy would be to get out of Vietnam. So I asked him why 
they didn't just proceed to do that. Kissinger looked at me for a 
moment and then uttered words I will never forget. ``Young man,'' he 
said, ``we meant with honor.'' I then asked him if ``honor'' required 
escalation. ``Absolutely,'' he responded.
  In governance, judgment to be good must be timely. The course of 
history and attitudes toward America would be very different today if 
the Nixon administration had acted forthrightly on its own judgment. In 
Iraq, where we are fast becoming a magnet of instability rather than a 
force of stability, we must not hesitate. If the issue is democracy, 
let's hold elections with dispatch and use the democratic transition as 
the rationalization for deep troop reductions.
  If we maintain a heavy presence much longer our president could find 
himself in a dilemma of the kind Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon came 
to know too well. There are circumstances in life where the small can 
humble the powerful. This has the makings of one. Despite the 
overwhelming nature of our military victory and the courageous 
commitment and sacrifice of our armed forces, policies can fail if the 
timing of disengagement is wrong.
  This is why clarity of purpose and flexibility of response are so 
crucial. And why the neo-con mantra--``we must see this through''--
deserves review. Hasty withdrawal is problemsome; orderly, 
philosophically cogent decisions to wind down the military dimension of 
our presence in Iraq should, however, be our highest national interest 
priority. Democratic elections are the key. They can be held in 
relatively short order (at least by year's end; preferably earlier) if 
there is a will and commitment to do so. But the longer we heed the 
advice of those who want to hold onto power in Iraq, the harder it will 
be to avert increased terrorism here and abroad.
  Here I would like to return to what in most contexts must be 
considered a rather esoteric paradigm: the Hobbesian notion of a state 
of nature. Terrorism is a military or, more precisely, militant tool of 
anarchy. It is the desire of terrorists to make Iraqi society a social 
jungle, a state of nature where anarchy rather than law rules. 
Legitimacy of government in this setting can perhaps be precipitated 
but it cannot be imposed from the outside. Outside pressure is less 
convincing when it appears to be presented by a singular authority--
i.e., the United States. One of the reasons so many countries prefer a 
strong U.N. role is that such a role not only provides greater 
legitimization of intervention but greater legitimization of processes 
leading to a new government. U.S. slighting of the U.N. undercuts 
governmental legitimizing efforts and causes the entirety of the Moslem 
world to become more antagonistic to our country.
  For our part, we have gotten caught in a web of events we can 
influence but not control. In the end, legitimacy of any new government 
in Iraq will depend on consent of the governed. The only wise U.S. 
policy is to steamroll ahead with a constitutional framework of 
democratic elections with a pre-announced strategy of large-scale troop 
withdrawals commencing somewhat before or just after elections are 
held.
  In conclusion, let me suggest a corollary to Lord Acton's maxim that 
power corrupts and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely. The 
Leach corollary is that military power tempts and excessive power tends 
to tempt excessively. America's enormous military strength is critical 
at this stage in history. But while we are obligated to recognize that 
its maintenance is imperative, we must also realize that its 
utilization may not fit, and may indeed be counter-productive, in 
certain strategic settings. We have to use more than just our own eyes 
and rely on more that just our own expertise if in turbulent times we 
are to manage prudently the affairs of state.
  Analogies between all wars exist, but comparisons between Iraq and 
Vietnam are frail. What must be understood is not that Iraq could be as 
bad as Vietnam; rather, that it could be far worse. Vietnam, after all, 
involved no WMD issues; and while the North was predominantly Buddhist 
and the South Catholic, there were no implications of a world-wide 
religious struggle; nor of a conflict that might last many decades, if 
not centuries. The issue at

[[Page 4482]]

the time was Communism and fear that if Vietnam fell, neighboring 
governments would topple like dominoes. In retrospect, the real domino 
lesson of Vietnam was about political decision-making. Once the 
patriotic flag was raised, stands taken, words uttered, one doubtful 
decision precipitated another, and the pride of politicians did not 
allow a change of course until the people demanded common sense 
reconsideration.
  In this context, there is an aspect of this resolution that deserves 
reflective review. It is true, as the resolution asserts, that Iraq and 
the world are better off without Saddam Hussein ensconced in power. But 
it is not necessarily true that our country and the world are safer if 
the overthrow of one thug leads to the creation of millions of rebels 
with a cause.
  It would be a mistake of historical proportions if respectful 
relations not only between America and the Moslem world but between 
America and its traditional allies were to rupture. We are obligated to 
see that they don't.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\3/4\ minutes to the gentleman from 
Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), a very distinguished member of the Committee on 
Armed Services.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 557 expressing the 
views of the House on the liberation of Iraq. Frankly, I find myself 
amazed that this resolution is the topic of such an extended and 
spirited debate.
  Who can seriously dispute H.R. 557's main points? The world is safer 
with Saddam Hussein in prison as opposed to being in power. If anyone 
questions that, let them ask the citizens of the two Muslim countries 
he invaded, the Kurds whom he gassed or the Shiites whom he butchered 
by the thousands. The Iraqi people should be commended for their 
courage in overcoming 35 years of oppression and they should be 
recognized for adopting an interim constitution and moving forward 
toward a democracy, similar to the same situation faced in our own 
Civil War.
  Certainly the United States military and our allies in the coalition 
deserve to be recognized for their heroic service and their valor on 
the battlefield and their continuing struggle in Iraq.
  The American people and our allies ought to also take pride in what 
we have done to improve the lives of the average Iraqi. Since the end 
of the war, 4.2 million children and 700,000 pregnant mothers have been 
vaccinated. Over 30 million vaccine doses have been procured and 22 
million actually delivered to Iraq. By the end of 2004, 90 percent of 
Iraqi children will have been vaccinated against polio, tuberculosis, 
and measles; 600 primary health clinics have been reequipped to provide 
health care, dozens of schools opened, colleges kept operational and 
the sanitation extended.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud of what America and Americans have done in 
Iraq. I hope and trust that pride is shared by Members of this House 
and every American.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Levin).
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, a number of Members have said this resolution 
is simply about commending the troops and the people of Iraq. If that 
were truly the case, this measure would enjoy unanimous support. On the 
contrary, in what it says and what it fails to say, it attempts to 
speak to the handling of the war. It glosses over the serious 
intelligence failures and serious misstatements by the Bush 
administration concerning Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
  It papers over the lack of preparation for the aftermath of the war 
as well as the initial failure to actively seek international support 
and continued lack of it. It ignores the equipment shortages that need 
to be addressed to protect our troops. It fails to make any mention of 
the 565 U.S. soldiers who have died in Iraq, or the thousands who have 
been wounded, or the sacrifices of their families.
  The resolution before the House today does not bring credit to this 
institution. It tries a well-used tactic to divide and conquer. 
Instead, it is a case of dividing and losing: dividing this House when 
it is a subject that needs unity and losing further credibility for the 
Republican House that does not even try to act on a bipartisan basis.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would just remind my colleagues if I am reading the 
same resolution they are, this resolution and I quote, commends the 
Members of the United States Armed Forces and Coalition forces for 
liberating Iraq and expresses its gratitude for their valiant service 
to our country. That is not a political statement, that is a 
commendation, and it should be from all of us, Democrats and 
Republicans.
  I do not read politics into that, and nobody else should.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\3/4\ minutes to the gentleman from Georgia 
(Mr. Gingrey).
  Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I represent Fort Benning, the home of the 
Infantry in Columbus, Georgia, and I rise in support of the resolution 
to pay tribute to those Americans serving in uniform who have brought 
liberty to 24 million Iraqi citizens. It is their courage, commitment, 
and endurance that made possible the unprecedented success that we have 
witnessed halfway across the world.
  While soldiers are hunting down leaders of Saddam's regime, Americans 
and Iraqis are working together to construct hospitals and schools and 
establish a new Iraqi government. As a physician, I know what it takes 
to provide health care for a large number of patients. That is why it 
amazes me to learn 52 clinics have been renovated and over 600 have 
been reequipped to provide primary health care.
  Mr. Speaker, I call attention to this chart which shows that more 
than 22 million doses of vaccines have been delivered to 4.2 million 
Iraqi children and 700,000 pregnant women. In fact, by the end of 2004, 
over 90 percent of Iraqi children under the age of 5 will be immunized 
against diseases such as polio, tuberculosis, and measles.
  In February alone, 800 tons of high-protein meals were delivered to 
malnourished children. Sadly, those who oppose us are not idle. I do 
not know how long the war on terrorism will last, but I know America is 
right and our military and humanitarian efforts must continue until 
this evil is eradicated not only in the Middle East but in the entire 
world.
  While we hope our allies will not abandon us when we face inevitable 
hardships, if necessary, we have the courage and the commitment to 
stand alone.
  Mr. Speaker, my prayers remain with the soldiers, sailors, airmen and 
marines deployed around the world, and with their families who wait for 
them at home with love and patience. I wholeheartedly support this 
timely resolution.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews).
  Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Speaker, in October 2002, I voted to authorize the 
use of force to remove Saddam Hussein, and I would again. I think it 
was the right decision for this country.
  I agree with the resolution statement that the world is safer with 
the removal of this leader from Baghdad; I believe it is. And the 
succession of changes that we have seen in Syria, Libya, and Iran are 
evidence of that.
  I went to Iraq in January and saw young people serving this country 
in uniform and the leadership that they showed us, and I was so proud 
of them. They have never let us down.
  I think today with this resolution we are letting them down. 
Leadership is about unifying people; it is about healing wounds; it is 
about bringing people together. There are many patriotic Members of 
this body who in good faith believe the world is not safer because 
Saddam Hussein is gone. I respectfully disagree with them, but we 
should have been able to come together today on the first anniversary 
of the initiation of hostilities and focus on the soldiers, sailors, 
airmen and marines and the guardsmen, and we should have been able to 
focus on what we agree on; and what we agree on is we respect their 
service, we mourn the loss of our dead, we are ready to heal those who 
have come home wounded, and then we are ready to debate the foreign 
policy of this country as to how we should go forward. We have let our 
troops down by this resolution, and it is a shame.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\3/4\ minutes to the gentlewoman 
from Michigan (Mrs. Miller).

[[Page 4483]]


  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, no one can ever forget the 
horrific attacks on our Nation of 9/11. Our lives changed that day; the 
world changed that day; and America looked for answers and we looked 
for justice. And we looked, most importantly, for leadership.
  I think the terrorists, recognizing the very limp response that 
America had made to terrorist activities during the 1990s, probably 
thought we would make a lot of noise, we would be out here rattling our 
sabers, and then go back to our comfortable lifestyles and that we 
would not respond in any meaningful way.
  Well, these cowards, these terrorists who prey on the weak and 
innocent, seriously underestimated the will of the American people, and 
they certainly did not understand the political resolve of our great 
President George W. Bush, our President who understands that his 
constitutional responsibilities are to protect the homeland, to protect 
Americans.
  And so we went to Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban. We went into 
Iraq where we liberated the Iraqi people from the oppression of Saddam 
Hussein.
  Mr. Speaker, recently I had the opportunity to travel to Libya where 
we met with Moammar Qaddafi, and as we all know, he has opened up the 
borders to Libya to let the Atomic Energy Commission come in and 
voluntarily dismantle his nuclear program. Apparently he watched Saddam 
Hussein get drug out of a rat hole and thought this regime change is 
not all it is cracked up to be. Clearly the Bush doctrine is working.
  Mr. Speaker, we recognize the brave Americans who have lost their 
lives fighting for freedom, fighting the war on terror. We recognize 
that battle is not over yet. Every one of them is a hero, every 
American who puts on the uniform is a hero, and we thank our partners 
in the coalition as well. God bless them all, God bless our Commander 
in Chief, and God bless America.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Nadler).
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I support commending our troops, but I 
believe the war with Iraq did not make the United States safer. We know 
that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and no connection to al Qaeda 
which poses the real threat to the safety of the American people.
  We know that the war in Iraq diverted resources from the war against 
al Qaeda and the Taliban, which is staging a resurgence in Afghanistan 
today. We know that the war in Iraq alienated our allies whose help and 
intelligence we need to fight the real threat, the Islamic terrorists. 
We know that the war against Iraq makes it much harder to take action, 
perhaps military action, if necessary, to deal with the very real 
potential threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.
  After the administration misled this House, misled the American 
people, and misled the world about the nonexistent Iraqi weapons of 
mass destruction, who will believe us if we need to act against the 
real nuclear threat from Iran?

                              {time}  1615

  I believe this war made us less safe because it dealt with a phantom 
threat, not the real threat. It diverted resources from the real 
threat. This resolution is good in commending our troops, but 
untruthful in saying the war against Iraq made us safer. Therefore, I 
cannot vote for it.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I proudly yield 1\3/4\ minutes to the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Turner), a member of our committee.
  Mr. TURNER of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak on behalf of 
House Resolution 557. The U.S. investments in the war on terror and in 
Iraq are proving worthwhile and are making the world safer. As of 
February 2004, 44 of the 55 most wanted former Iraqi leaders are dead 
or in custody. The Iraqi people have created and signed an interim 
constitution guaranteeing basic freedoms, rights and protections to all 
Iraqis previously unrealized in Iraq.
  I visited Iraq in October and saw firsthand that Iraqis are much 
better off than they were under the oppressive regime of Saddam 
Hussein. Children are able to go to school without being taught 
government propaganda. Small businesses are able to open. Iraqi 
citizens have access to health care formerly denied to them, and once 
neglected infrastructure is being rebuilt. No one who argues against 
this resolution can deny that Saddam Hussein was an enemy of the United 
States and an enemy of the Iraqi people. The war on terror has 
encouraged nations to protect their national security, track down and 
arrest known and suspected terrorists, and to make ovations to the 
international community in order to create a more peaceful and stable 
environment.
  Last fall, the United States stopped a ship carrying nuclear 
components bound for Libya. Recently, Libya voluntarily turned over 
equipment from its nuclear weapons program to the United States. Had 
Libya kept these materials, they had the ingredients to create nuclear 
weapon capabilities. The 50,000 pounds of machine parts to enrich 
uranium is just a small portion of the material and information that 
they have turned over. Qaddafi himself has cited the fall of Saddam 
Hussein as a reason for Libya abandoning its nuclear weapons of mass 
destruction program. Can anyone have imagined a nuclear power as Libya?
  Libya's decision is an example of the administration's tough line 
against states that sponsor terrorism and have unconventional weapons 
programs. United States investments in Iraq are proving themselves 
effective. Iraq is a safer nation, as is the United States. I commend 
our Armed Forces of the United States and the coalition forces.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Becerra).
  Mr. BECERRA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the 
time. First and foremost, let us all begin by thanking and saluting 
each and every American soldier, more than 500 of whom have died, 
thousands who have been injured, and several hundred thousand who are 
on active duty today, for their service and continued service doing 
what they are commanded to do every day. But under the shield of 
commending our troops, the sponsors of this measure are trying to run 
through what I believe is a resolution that does really nothing to, 
one, equip our soldiers with the body armor they still need and the 
extra protection for the armored vehicles that they use in Iraq, does 
nothing to restore veterans benefits that President Bush's budget 
proposes to cut for health care for our veterans, does nothing to bring 
in meaningful assistance from our so-called coalition partners or the 
international community to help patrol the streets of Iraq and rebuild 
the nation and the billions of dollars it will cost. And this 
resolution does nothing to lay out the exit strategy this Nation will 
need to tell our troops when they will be able to come home and when we 
will be able to stop spending the billions of dollars every day abroad.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a resolution which can commend our troops, and 
should; but it does nothing to move the ball forward.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I would just take a minute to remind my 
colleague that every single soldier in Iraq has body armor as does 
every single civilian worker in Iraq and that the gentleman who just 
spoke voted against the very supplemental that sent that body armor to 
Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina 
(Mr. Hayes), who has spent so much time with the troops and is home to 
the 82nd Airborne, the All-American Division.
  Mr. HAYES. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I do represent Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base, the 
epicenter of the universe. I rise with great pride and admiration to 
support this resolution because of those troops.
  The tragic events in Spain last week and in Iraq today remind us that 
terrorism is an ongoing threat to people around the world. However, 
today we live in a world that was different just 1 year ago. The Iraqi 
people were living

[[Page 4484]]

under a tyrant, a brutal dictator who gassed his own people. The U.S. 
military victory in Iraq was unprecedented in military history. Our 
brave men and women in uniform liberated 24 million Iraqi people in 
just 3 weeks. Because of the actions and sacrifices of our troops, the 
regime of Saddam Hussein has been deposed and Iraq is on the path to 
becoming a free and prosperous nation.
  The U.S. military victory in Iraq was truly unprecedented. On March 
19, 2003, offensive operations began with air strikes against Iraqi 
leadership positions. Operation Iraqi Freedom was executed with a 
combination of precision, speed, and force that stunned our enemy. 
Soldiers and Marines, many from my home State of North Carolina, 
charged to Baghdad across 350 miles of hostile territory in one of the 
fastest military advances in the history of warfare. I am proud of 
those soldiers at Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base and other posts 
around this wonderful country. The Hussein regime fell on April 9. By 
April 15 after only 27 days of offensive operations, coalition forces 
were in relative control of all major Iraqi cities.
  I would like to highlight some of those military victories. Coalition 
forces carried out hundreds of raids and thousands of patrols seizing 
caches of enemy weapons and massive amounts of ammunition that can no 
longer be used against our troops or innocent civilians. As of 
February, 44 of the 55 most wanted Iraqi leaders are dead or in 
custody.
  In addition to bringing down Saddam's regime with great skill, 
courage and speed, we can also be proud that our military conducted 
operations with minimal collateral damage to the country's 
infrastructure. No neighboring countries were hit with Scud missiles, 
as was the case in the first Gulf War.
  Mr. Speaker, when I was in Iraq, Command Sergeant Major Gainey gave 
me the following quote: ``You have never lived until you have almost 
died. For those of us that have been deployed or fought for it, freedom 
has a special flavor the protected will never know.''
  God bless our troops and protect them.
  Mr. Speaker, I represent Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base and I 
rise in strong support of this resolution. The tragic events in Spain 
last week and in Iraq today remind us that terrorism is an ongoing 
threat to people around the world. However, today we live in a world 
that was different just one year ago. The Iraqi people were living 
under a tyrant, a brutal dictator who gassed his own people. The U.S. 
military victory in Iraq was unprecedented in military history. Our 
brave men and women in uniform liberated 24 million Iraqi people in 
just three weeks. Because of the actions and sacrifices of our troops, 
the regime of Saddam Hussein has been deposed and Iraq is on the path 
to becoming a free and prosperous nation.
  The U.S. military victory in Iraq was truly unprecedented. On March 
19, 2003, offensive operations began with air strikes against Iraq 
leadership positions. Operation Iraqi Freedom was executed with a 
combination of precision, speed and force that stunned our enemy.
  Soldiers and Marines, many from my home State of North Carolina, 
charged to Baghdad across 350 miles of hostile territory in one of the 
fastest military advances in the history of warfare. I am particularly 
proud of the soldiers, airmen, special operations forces and others 
from Ft. Bragg and Pope Air Force base in my district in North 
Carolina. The Hussein regime fell on April 9, 2003 and by April 15 
after only 27 days of offensive operations, coalition forces were in 
relative control of all major Iraqi cities, including Baghdad, Basra, 
Mosul, Kirkuk and Tikrit. Iraqi political and military leadership had 
collapsed.
  I would like to highlight some of our military victories. Coalition 
forces carried out hundreds of raids and thousands of patrols, seizing 
caches of enemy weapons and massive amounts of ammunition that can no 
longer be used against our troops or innocent civilians. As of February 
2004, 44 of the 55 most wanted former Iraqi leaders are dead or in 
custody, as well as thousands of other Baath Party loyalists and 
terrorists.
  In addition to bringing down Saddam's regime with great skill, 
courage and speed, we can also be proud that our military conducted 
operations with minimal collateral damage to the country's 
infrastructure. No neighboring countries were hit with Scud missiles as 
was the case in the first Gulf War. There were virtually no instances 
of civilian casualties, nor were there large masses of fleeing 
refugees. Bridges were captured intact and rail lines protected. Dams 
were taken whole and villages were not flooded. Oil fields were 
protected and we denied Saddam's regime the opportunity to ignite 
widespread oil field fires. Of 250 wells in the key sections of the 
Rumaila oil field, only nine were detonated, causing just seven fires.
  Operation Iraqi Freedom will go down in military annals as a truly 
unprecedented offensive. The Saddam Hussein regime was not a government 
of benevolence; it was a reign of terror. The U.S. men and women in 
uniform have deposed of that terror with their remarkable achievements.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been to Iraq twice: the first time right after 
major combat operations ceased and we witnessed a country just 
beginning to consider life in the post Saddam era. The second time I 
visited was just this past month. Along with Leader Pelosi and Ranking 
Member Skelton, we saw incredible progress being made. Command Sergeant 
Major Joe Gainey, one of the outstanding soldiers with whom we met, 
shared with me his favorite quote. I would like to share it with you:

     You have never lived . . .
     Until you have almost died.
     For those of us that have been deployed or fought for it,
     Freedom has a special flavor . . .
     The protected will never know.

  Our military success is about that freedom.
  Mr. Speaker, I extend my heartfelt thanks and admiration to our men 
and women in uniform for their service and success. May God protect and 
bless them as they secure freedom for Iraq and protect freedom for 
America.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin).
  Mr. LANGEVIN. I would like to thank the ranking member for his 
leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, like my colleagues on the House Committee on Armed 
Services, I have been pleased to provide our troops with the support 
and the equipment that they need to succeed in their mission, and I 
have had the privilege of traveling to Iraq to meet with some of them 
personally. I am so proud of the job that they are doing. God bless 
them. Iraq's transition to democracy and the ongoing war on terrorism 
will pose new challenges for our men and women in uniform, but they may 
take comfort in the knowledge that this Congress stands behind them.
  Yet despite the fact that every Member of this Chamber supports our 
troops, this resolution was prepared with no input from Democrats. Just 
as the administration has adopted a ``go it alone'' strategy on 
numerous foreign policy initiatives, the House leadership has done the 
exact same thing when drafting legislation. This resolution could have 
and should have been prepared with bipartisan input. I am disappointed 
that inappropriate tactics have overshadowed the unanimity we share in 
support of our Armed Forces.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Calvert), a most distinguished member of the committee.
  Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, as we speak here today, progress is being 
made in Iraq. As chairman of the Water and Power Subcommittee, I have 
visited Iraq and witnessed firsthand their accomplishments. With our 
help, they have surpassed prewar electrical generation levels and are 
on track to be generating at almost 140 percent over their prewar level 
by June. Water facilities are currently operating at 65 percent of 
prewar levels and are improving. Current projects include the 
rehabilitation of 15 water treatment facilities and a canal to Basra. 
These projects will benefit millions of Iraqis and provide for a future 
of water reliability.
  But make no mistake, we did not go into Iraq to improve water 
infrastructure or increase electrical power capabilities. One year ago, 
this country, along with our allies, made the decision to topple a 
tyrannical regime, liberate a people, and help build a democracy in the 
heart of a terrorist breeding ground. However, the gift of freedom and 
democracy is being built on the basic level of services and quality of 
life which they are building today. We must stand by the Iraqi people 
in their long and challenging journey toward democracy because their 
freedom contributes to our security and the security of the world.
  God bless America and God bless our troops.

[[Page 4485]]


  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, it gives me pleasure to yield 3 minutes to 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), the ranking member on the 
Committee on Government Reform.
  Mr. WAXMAN. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.
  As we near the 1-year anniversary of the commencement of hostilities 
in Iraq, now is an appropriate time to examine how we got into the war 
in Iraq in the first place. The resolution before us contains many 
``whereas'' clauses about how brutally Saddam Hussein treated his own 
people. I agree with those clauses. But let us not fool ourselves about 
the reason the American people were told that we needed to launch a 
preemptive war against Iraq. Over and over again, President Bush and 
his senior advisers told us that we needed to go to war to protect 
America from weapons of mass destruction.
  Several months ago I asked my staff to prepare a comprehensive 
analysis of the statements made by the top administration officials 
most responsible for making the case for war. Yesterday, I released the 
results of this work in a report entitled ``Iraq on the Record.'' 
Members can find the report, and a searchable database of 
administration statements, at www.reform.house.gov/min. What we found 
was that the President, the Vice President, and other top 
administration officials repeatedly and systematically misled the 
public about the threats posed by Iraq. They made claims that Iraq 
posed an urgent threat; they exaggerated Iraq's nuclear capabilities; 
statements that overstated Iraq's chemical and biological weapons; and 
statements that misrepresented Iraq's relationship with al Qaeda. We 
judge whether a statement was misleading based on what intelligence 
officials knew at the time the statement was made, not what we know 
now.
  If Congress really wanted to show respect for the troops, it would 
enact legislation calling for an independent commission, a real 
independent commission to examine how the President and his top 
advisers made hundreds of misleading statements to the American public.
  The resolution before us is reminiscent of these statements. Vice 
President Cheney said: ``We do know with absolute certainty that he, 
Saddam Hussein, is using his procurement system to acquire the weapons 
he needs to build a nuclear weapon,'' when this resolution says the 
same thing so unequivocally, quote, ``the world has been made safer 
with the removal of Saddam Hussein.'' I hope that is true, but we do 
not know it yet. Ask the hundreds who have died since Saddam Hussein 
was captured.
  The purpose of this resolution is an attempt by the Republican 
leadership to divide us, not to unite us behind our troops. They are 
using the sacrifice of the lives of our young men and women for their 
own political gain. I will not vote for this resolution or against it. 
I will vote ``present'' as an act of disdain for those who want to play 
politics with the lives of Americans and the credibility of this great 
Nation as the world's leader.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Let me just make a point to the gentleman who just spoke, that every 
Member in this House received a personal invitation from me for 
classified briefings dealing directly with our intelligence agencies 
with the opportunity to ask any question they wanted to ask so that 
when they made the vote on whether or not we should go into Iraq, they 
could make an informed vote. I presume that the gentleman accepted that 
opportunity and made an informed vote based on his own understanding of 
what the situation was. Let me just reiterate that every person in 
uniform in Iraq has full body armor, as does every civil servant.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman 
from New Mexico (Mrs. Wilson).
  Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, the point of difference today 
appears to me to be the question of are we safer. I could not disagree 
more with my colleague from California on this issue.

                              {time}  1630

  It is not a question of truth or falsity or even of credibility. It 
is a question of judgment, a judgment that we collectively exercised as 
a body when we undertook our responsibility under the Constitution to 
authorize the use of force in Iraq. There were some things that were 
very important to me when I made that decision, which are reinforced 
here today. We knew that Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass 
destruction against his own people and against his neighbors. We knew 
that he had tested unarmed aerial vehicles with sprayers. We knew that 
he had another unarmed aerial vehicle program with smaller drones that 
they were building and testing at long ranges. And we knew that that 
unarmed aerial vehicle program sought to purchase route mapping 
software over the United States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, September 11 we watched 3,000 people die in a morning. 
That would be a footnote in American history compared to someone 
determined to use disease to kill Americans. This is a question of 
judgment, and we did the right thing to remove Saddam Hussein from 
power.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  National security is not only a bipartisan effort, it is truly a 
nonpartisan effort. On the Committee on Armed Services, under the 
chairmanship of the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter), we do our 
very best to be bipartisan in nature. And, frankly, it concerns me a 
great deal that no Democrat was even asked to make a recommendation on 
what might or might not be in this resolution. I would have included 
several items including reference to the families. I would have 
included reference to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. I 
would have included a wish that the transition on June 30 be done 
correctly. And I would include that there should be increased 
international participation.
  But I was not given that opportunity. Young men and young women from 
Democratic homes and from Republican homes and from Independent homes 
have paid the ultimate sacrifice. And I think it is incumbent upon 
everyone that offers such a serious resolution as this to give 
everybody an opportunity to make recommendations and to help write it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
would relinquish to the next group that has jurisdiction for the next 
hour.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  This is a picture that Mr. Stavenas of our staff took of a 
reenlistment ceremony at Saddam Hussein's spider hole in Iraq. It 
symbolizes the willingness of our military, our soldiers, our people in 
uniform, to come back under very difficult circumstances and reenlist 
and continue to fight this wonderful fight for the United States and 
for freedom. And our soldiers have done a great job for us, and this 
resolution is commending those soldiers. All those people who wore the 
uniform of the United States supported our country at a time of need 
and are continuing to undertake the biggest deployment right now, 
redeployment, since World War II.
  Let us all stand behind them, Republicans and Democrats, cast off the 
partisan positions that have been taken today on the House floor, and 
let them know that we support them.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 557 and claim the 
time set aside for us under the rule, and I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, our President, having exhausted all other options, made 
the decision to take action against Saddam Hussein and the threat posed 
by his evil tyranny. During that course, the debate about that, this 
House was presented with an overwhelming body of evidence detailing the 
brutal inhumanity of Saddam Hussein and his regime, the suffering of 
the Iraqi people under his repressive dictatorship, the threat that 
Saddam presented to his

[[Page 4486]]

neighbors and to the world, and indeed the piles of bodies in 
neighboring countries he left behind. Today, now that Saddam has been 
removed from power and the mass graves, the secret laboratories, the 
vast military stockpiles, missile capacities that he had, have all been 
exposed to the world, the world is a safer place. Certainly the Iraqi 
people, all Iraqi people, have a new hope for a better future today 
than they did just a year ago. Just a year ago. What a remarkable 
accomplishment by our troops and the coalition.
  Yet we continue to hear claims from some that the liberation of Iraq, 
no matter how worthy the result, no matter how necessary to improving 
U.S. national security, was somehow a flawed endeavor. Yes, it was 
hard, but they claim it was a flawed endeavor because the intelligence 
that the United States had prior to the war was not perfect.
  Some apparently feel that either the Intelligence Community was 
pressured by the administration into stating that Iraq was a threat or 
the Intelligence Community did not really believe Iraq was a threat but 
the administration misused the intelligence provided to it. The truth 
is neither of those are correct. But that has not deterred some 
conspiratorially critics from contorting themselves, trying to make 
both arguments simultaneously.
  Looking back about a year and a half ago, while the Intelligence 
Community was focused heavily on Iraq, the President stated that Saddam 
was ``a grave and growing threat.'' And he was right. Today we have the 
benefit of hindsight, of a presence on the ground in Iraq, and of the 
thousands of hours of studying all there is to study on the prewar 
intelligence picture of Iraq, and we have barely begun to get that job 
finished.
  Taking advantage of all these benefits, I would like to share my 
assessment so far, and I would note that the Permanent Select Committee 
on Intelligence of the House, and I know of the Senate also, is 
underway in coming forward with a formal review of all this, which I 
hope we will be able to share with our colleagues before too long. That 
is our plan.
  The intelligence picture of Iraq, of the threat Iraq posed to its 
neighbors and to the United States, including the assessment of Iraq's 
weapons of mass destruction, was entirely consistent over a period of 
almost a decade. The assessment is consistent in the finished 
intelligence and the daily current intelligence pieces from the mid-
1990s onward. It is consistent in the classified records that have been 
provided to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence over 
the past year. So I have to conclude on that basis alone, if the 
intelligence adjustments regarding Iraq were the result of political 
pressure or manipulation, any such machinations must have occurred in 
the middle of the 1990s. But I do not believe that that is the case. 
Therefore, if the intelligence picture is unchanging, was there a 
change in the substance or tone used by this administration to describe 
that threat? We do not need to go to the Intelligence Community or to 
any classified records to answer that question. We just need to compare 
public statements that have been made, and they are available to the 
world.
  In 2003 President Bush said this: ``Today, the gravest danger in the 
war on terror, the gravest danger facing America and the world, is 
outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical, and biological 
weapons. These regimes could use such weapons for blackmail, terror, 
and mass murder. They could give or sell those weapons to terrorist 
allies who would use them without the least hesitation.''
  In 1998 then President Bill Clinton said: ``In the next century,'' 
which is now, ``the community of nations may see more and more the very 
kind of threat Iraq poses now, a rogue state with weapons of mass 
destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists . . . who 
traveled the world . . . if we fail to respond today, Saddam . . . will 
be emboldened tomorrow by the knowledge that they can act with 
impunity.''
  And again in 1998, then President Bill Clinton said: ``There should 
be no doubt, Saddam's ability to produce and deliver weapons of mass 
destruction poses a grave threat to the peace of that region and the 
security of the world . . . His regime threatens the safety of his 
people, the stability of his region and the security of all the rest of 
us.'' President Clinton, 1998.
  Fast forward, 2003, President Bush: ``Some have said we must not act 
until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants 
announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they 
strike . . . Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is 
not a strategy, and it is not an option.''
  Actually, there is not a lot of difference in the leadership that was 
taking place in this country on the question of the threat that Saddam 
Hussein and his regime and weapons of mass destruction that might be at 
his disposal were to the rest of us. It is pretty clear that that was a 
consistent view.
  So, were the intelligence assessments perfect? No. In fact, comparing 
the intelligence assessment to what has been found in Iraq today, it is 
clear there were insufficiencies in our intelligence capabilities and 
they are of concern to us, and on a bipartisan basis we are looking 
into that. What was the cause of these insufficiencies? Perhaps Iraq, 
under Saddam, was a difficult target. It was sort of a denied area. 
There was a ruthless security apparatus there that made information 
gathering inside the country extremely difficult, very dangerous. We 
also know that Iraq instituted a truly massive denial and deception 
program designed to mislead anyone attempting to learn about Saddam's 
weapons of mass destruction and related programs. Virtually everybody 
who tried found out that he was involved in denial and deception. So 
these factors made intelligence collection a little difficult, but it 
is the tough job that intelligence is there for.
  So, what else? I found that cuts in intelligence resources, 
personnel, and political support in the mid-1990s made many aspects of 
the intelligence mission in Iraq even more impossible than what we are 
up against.
  Where were these cuts most severe? In the case of Iraq, it turns out 
it was the decline in our intelligence capabilities that hurt the most. 
Human intelligence is where we get more than pictures, more than 
fragments. We get insight into the plans and intentions of our target. 
What is going on in the minds of the troublemakers? And without good 
human intelligence, HUMINT, as we call it, it is very difficult indeed 
to get an accurate picture of what an adversary is up to.
  Yet from 1991 to 1998, a time of cutbacks for military and 
intelligence resources across the board, our human intelligence 
capabilities suffered dramatically. The number of officers collecting 
information shrank by about a quarter; the number of operating 
locations overseas dropped by about a third; reporting sources declined 
by almost 40 percent; and the number of intelligence reports produced 
were cut in half or thereabouts.
  So we add on top of that the politically correct ``nice spies'' 
guidelines that were posed in 1995, the risk aversion problem, and we 
begin to see why information in Iraq was so hard to come by. Good 
information about plans and intentions, the eyes and ears, just were 
not sufficient.
  So despite these severe limitations, I think the scorecard shows that 
the United States Intelligence Community provided the best assessment 
it could. And referring Members to the Director of Central 
Intelligence's recent speech at Georgetown, the assessments were not as 
far wrong as some critics of the war would have us believe.
  In the final analysis, I think it is important that we get it right. 
Saddam was a threat. The United Nations believed he was a threat. The 
vast majority of the Western nations, even those outside of the U.S.-
led coalition, believed he was a threat. The U.S. Intelligence 
Community assessed consistently that Saddam was a threat. The previous 
administration told the American people that Saddam was a threat. And 
it has been the official policy of the United States to seek regime 
change in Iraq since 1998 across two administrations. The difference 
between 1998 and 2003 is that President Bush

[[Page 4487]]

took the bold action necessary to address a grave threat where others 
before him did not. The world is a safer place for it.

                              {time}  1645

  Freedom is not free. The purpose of this resolution is to recognize 
the hardships that the men and women who are doing the dangerous, risky 
work of protecting our freedoms, the people in our military services, 
the people in the coalition, the people who are taking risks. After a 
year, we are here to say, you are doing great work, keep it up, we are 
so grateful.
  We are also including some applause for the people of Iraq who have 
gone through miserable times and now have some hope, and they have 
completed the remarkable achievement of a temporary constitution 
already. This is the sign of a spirited people who are looking for a 
better life.
  This resolution simply says that and commends that. I believe we can 
all agree that these are the times that we can get together and say, 
well done, more to do, let us get on with it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Isakson). The gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Harman) is recognized for 30 minutes.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, I came here to talk about how we can improve this 
resolution, but I would like to say to the able gentleman from Florida 
(Chairman Goss), the chairman of our committee, that some of the things 
he just said in his opening remarks might deserve amplification. It is 
true that during the 1990s, overwhelming bipartisan majorities in both 
Houses of Congress approved cuts in funding for intelligence. So strong 
was this bipartisan position that often no one called for a recorded 
vote; Intelligence budgets were approved on a simple voice vote. The 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) is correct that overseas intelligence 
operations were canceled and that the core of our overseas intelligence 
operations declined by about 25 percent. But what he failed to mention 
is that those cuts were ordered by the 41st President, President Bush. 
They were supported by more than 95 percent of Republicans in Congress, 
including the gentleman from Florida (Chairman Goss).
  What I am here to say today, however, is that this resolution could 
be improved if it called for steps now on a bipartisan basis to fix 
what are obvious intelligence problems. In addition to commending our 
troops, we should be calling for action to make them safer.
  Had I been consulted on this resolution, I would have suggested 
adding a clause calling on the President to acknowledge the obvious 
problems with our intelligence and to take steps to fix those problems 
now. Had I been consulted, I would have insisted on adding language 
applauding the brave and dedicated cadre of people serving in Iraq and 
around the world as intelligence officers. They work in the shadows 
with little thanks and recognition.
  Mr. Speaker, the terrorists are clearly not waiting for us to fix our 
intelligence, witness today's tragic bombing in Iraq and last week's 
bigger tragedy in Madrid. The insurgents in Iraq are not waiting for us 
to fix our intelligence. Ask the young men and women at Walter Reed 
Hospital.
  The North Koreans and Iranians are not waiting for us to fix our 
intelligence. Their nuclear weapons programs are far more advanced than 
Iraq's ever were. As the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss), the 
chairman of our committee, acknowledged this morning, the world is not 
safe just because we removed a brutal dictator. We all know this. It 
will not be safer until we fix our intelligence.
  After deep study on the Select Committee on Intelligence, it is clear 
to me that our senior leaders remain in a deep state of denial. There 
are no discernible signs from the President or the Vice President 
acknowledging the obvious flaws in our intelligence systems and 
committing our country to fix the problems now. Force protection in 
Iraq depends on accurate, timely, and actionable intelligence to 
counter terrorism and insurgency. We must do better.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Hoekstra), and chairman of one of our 
critical subcommittees.
  Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 557, 
recognizing the liberation of the Iraqi people and the valiant services 
of American and coalition forces.
  In the years since the United States led a coalition of willing 
States to disarm Saddam Hussein, we have arrested a dictator that 
killed hundreds of thousands, possibly as many as 1 million people, 
during his reign. We have returned children to school and given the 
Iraqi people a new destiny.
  I have been to Iraq several times. It continues to be a dangerous 
place. Iraq is also a complicated place. There has been a considerable 
amount of debate and attention to what we knew before we went to war 
and how well our intelligence is measuring up with the realities on the 
ground in Iraq.
  I would like to take this time to clarify the record on a number of 
charges that have been levied against both the administration and our 
intelligence community.
  A number of Members who voted for the Iraq war resolution claim they 
did so because they were fooled by the President who overstated the 
threat from Iraq. In fact, some suggest that the administration knew 
Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction and went to war 
regardless of the facts. These critics do not understand the difference 
between intelligence and policy formation.
  The President considered the intelligence in Iraq and calculated the 
risk of engaging in a conflict with Iraq and decided war was just. He 
took action, and we are all safer as a result. Some argue that the 
President portrayed Iraq as an ``imminent threat,'' that the 
administration misled the American public by overstating the threat 
posed by Iraq. This is what he said in January 2003, 2 months before 
the war: ``Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. 
Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, 
politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is 
permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all 
recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and 
restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy and it is not an 
option.''
  In fact, this President's statements on Iraq are not all that 
different from the previous President and his administration's remarks 
when they discussed the threat posed by Iraq: ``If we fail to respond 
today, Hussein and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be 
emboldened tomorrow by the knowledge that they can act with impunity.'' 
And: ``What if he fails to comply and we fail to act? Some day, some 
way, I guarantee you, he will use the arsenal.''
  These were President Clinton's words in August of 1998.
  Another quote: ``And, indeed, we have information that Iraq has 
assisted in the chemical weapons activity in Sudan. We had information 
linking bin Laden to the Sudanese regime and the Al Shifa plant.'' 
These words were written by former National Security Adviser Sandy 
Berger.
  Another quote: ``Sometimes the United States has to act alone or at 
least has to act first. Sometimes we cannot let other countries have a 
veto on our foreign policy.'' That was a quote from President Clinton 
during his election campaign.
  President Bush used the best intelligence available, as it had been 
suggested by the former administration, that Iraq was a threat, a 
growing threat. The removal of Saddam Hussein and his evil regime from 
power was a policy endorsed by both sides of the aisle for more than a 
decade. This menace became even more of a concern when examined through 
the lens of September 11. Saddam is gone. The world is better because 
of it.
  Mr. Speaker, we can argue the morality of war all day, but terrorists 
do not possess the same concern, as we saw

[[Page 4488]]

again today. They act, and they act brutally. Iraq represents another 
front on the global war on terrorism. Iraq also represented a dangerous 
threat to the region and the world. This country witnessed the 
consequence of failing to act strongly against terrorism on September 
11, 2001.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I applaud the bipartisan comments of the 
last speaker, and I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin) 
for a unanimous consent request.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Speaker, the Resolution before us correctly points 
out the atrocities that Saddam Hussein perpetuated against his own 
people and the importance to Iraq's future to be free from the 
oppression of Saddam Hussein. The Resolution properly commends the 
members of the U.S. Armed Forces for their valiant service. They have 
made tremendous sacrifices on behalf of their country and have served 
longer deployments than expected. I extend my condolences to the family 
members of U.S. soldiers and civilian personnel who have lost their 
lives in Iraq, as well as to the many thousands of soldiers that were 
wounded in Iraq. I also express my sorrow and regret for the deaths in 
Iraq of Coalition forces and United Nations personnel, as well as for 
the unknown number of Iraqi civilians and other noncombatants that 
perished in the war. Congress and the Administration have a obligation 
to provide our troops with all the resources necessary to carry out 
their ongoing mission.
  I am pleased that Iraqi Governing Council has adopted an interim 
constitution, and that the Council, in cooperation with the 
international community, is establishing war crimes tribunals in Iraq 
to create a historical record of the war crimes and crimes against 
humanity committed by Saddam Hussein and his regime. We must establish 
an accurate and complete factual record of these crimes, so that we can 
punish the offenders and deter future war crimes by government 
officials against their own population.
  My support for this resolution in no way signifies my views on other 
issues beyond the scope of this resolution. This resolution does not 
offer a complete and balanced chronology of events that led to the U.S. 
invasion of Iraq. I am most disappointed that both before and after the 
war in Iraq the United States consistently failed to broadly engage the 
international community. The Administration is only belatedly seeking 
international support for our reconstruction efforts in Iraq.
  Because of these failures, Americans have paid a heavy price. It is 
primarily American troops stationed in Iraq that face continuing 
attacks. It is our taxpayers that are being asked to almost exclusively 
pay the cost to rebuild Iraq, and these costs are mounting every day. 
Iraq is already facing a difficult transition in establishing a 
democracy that operates under the rule of law and protects minority 
rights. The U.S. must show enough flexibility in working with our 
allies to effectively help Iraq during this critical transition period, 
so that other countries will pledge both troops and funds to alleviate 
the burden on our American soldiers and taxpayers. Ultimately, the best 
way that we can support our troops is to reach out more aggressively to 
the international community, establish order and security in Iraq, and 
transfer authority to the Iraqis in a responsible manner.
  Although I support the Resolution, I regret that it was not in order 
to consider a Motion to Recommit with instructions. The Motion to 
Recommit would have allowed us to strengthen the resolution by urging 
the President to: give our troops in Iraq all of the equipment needed 
to keep them safe; provide the health care and benefits our wounded 
servicemen and women earned when they come home as veterans; recognize 
the key contributions made by our Reserve and Guard components, many of 
which came from my Congressional district in Maryland.
  This Motion would have also asked the President to acknowledge that 
there were serious deficiencies in United States pre-war intelligence 
on Iraq, particularly in light of the failure to find any evidence of 
WMD programs, and to take action to improve our intelligence community 
so that United States troops are better protected and informed for 
future conflicts.
  Finally, the Motion would have asked the President to seek broader 
international support for the reconstruction of Iraq, and to take steps 
to correct the deficiencies of the U.S. Government to plan adequately 
for the post-war occupation of Iraq.
  We should have improved this Resolution to more accurately reflect 
our ongoing objectives in our involvement in Iraq.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes), a member of the Committee on 
Intelligence and ranking member on the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces 
of the House Committee on Armed Services.
  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution asks that the House affirm that the 
United States and the world is a safer place today with the removal of 
Saddam Hussein and his regime from power in Iraq. Who can argue with 
that? Saddam Hussein, a tyrant that is responsible for so many 
thousands of deaths, a tyrant that has used weapons of mass destruction 
in the past.
  There was a famous frontiersman who said, Be sure you are right, then 
go ahead. That was reported to be Davy Crockett. I think that is what 
we are about a year later, after going to war against Saddam Hussein 
and Iraq.
  A colleague of ours mentioned earlier, this whole thing was about 
judgment. Well, I would submit that it is also about responsibility, it 
is also about accountability, and it is also about credibility. Why do 
I say that? Because when we talk about the world being a safer place 
today, I want us to remember that 55-some-odd families are without 
their loved ones today that have been killed in Iraq carrying out this 
war.
  I saw into the eyes of Sergeant Rico's widow who asked me why. And I 
told her that we were very proud of the sacrifice that had been made by 
her husband and by her family. But she continued to ask me why. And 
that is why I think it is about responsibility. Did we do the 
responsible thing by attacking Iraq and Saddam Hussein when we knew 
that he had nothing to do with 9-11? It is also about accountability. A 
year later, we are finding out that he did not have weapons of mass 
destruction. And, obviously, it is about credibility, because if we as 
the last superpower are going to benefit from credibility, we have to 
be patient, we have to understand what the threat is, and we have to 
act responsibly. That is what I think this is about.
  I am going to support this resolution, as I support the men and women 
in uniform. But this whole issue is about those three words: 
responsibility, accountability, and credibility.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons), a member of our committee and the 
chairman of a subcommittee as well.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 557, 
and I thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, our military and coalition forces, as well as our 
intelligence community, are all working tirelessly to protect this 
Nation 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.
  A year ago, the United States led a military coalition to disarm 
Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein's regime committed horrible atrocities; 
and Saddam was a threat, a grave and increasing threat to his country, 
his region, and to the world. Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, marked the 16th 
anniversary of Saddam's use of chemical weapons on the Kurdish citizens 
of Iraq. Sixteen years ago, Mr. Speaker, as a result of this atrocity, 
5,000 Kurdish Iraqis died. Saddam was indeed a terrorist in his own 
nation. Thanks to our efforts, Saddam Hussein will never commit such 
atrocities again.
  There is no doubt, Mr. Speaker, we are all safer without this tyrant 
in power. Our decision to go to war in Iraq was based on our 
intelligence about Saddam's threat to world security.
  As chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Intelligence, Analysis and 
Counterintelligence, I know the substantial investment now being made 
in our intelligence community to meet the demands of the global war on 
terrorism. Our intelligence community is aggressively rebuilding its 
capabilities that withered during the mid-1990s. Our clandestine 
service dropped by 25 percent, and nearly one-third of our overseas 
offices were closed. Our overall intelligence reporting fell by almost 
50 percent during that period of time. Language skills were slow to 
develop, limiting our ability to infiltrate rogue

[[Page 4489]]

organizations or intercept messages encrypted in tribal dialect and 
regional tongues. We effectively lost our ability to see and hear in 
many of the world's most dangerous places. Our intelligence community 
provided the best information and analysis on Iraq that it could, given 
the reduced collection, language shortfalls, and Iraq's active denial 
and deception programs.
  Every one from David Kay to the Director of Central Intelligence, 
George Tenet, has stated that analysts did not and would not change 
their judgment to meet policy objectives.
  Some argue that judgments in the October 2002 National Intelligence 
Estimate on Iraq's Continuing Programs of Weapons of Mass Destruction 
Programs were flawed. They point to the report's statement that ``Iraq 
has chemical and biological weapons.'' However, this is only the first 
six words of the second sentence in the declassified portion of the 
report. The rest of the sentence reads, ``as well as missiles with 
range in excess of U.N. restrictions and, if left unchecked, Iraq 
probably will have a nuclear weapon during this decade.''
  Critics also fail to mention judgments made by Dr. Kay and the Iraqi 
Survey Group regarding their findings in Iraq: ``We judge that Iraq has 
continued its weapons of mass destruction programs in defiance of U.N. 
resolutions and restrictions.'' Quote: ``Although we assess that Saddam 
does not yet have nuclear weapons or sufficient material to make any, 
he remains intent on acquiring them.''

                              {time}  1700

  Yes, chemical or biological weapons stockpiling have not been found, 
but secret laboratories have. And, yes, Iraq appears not to have 
reconstructed its nuclear program, but the Iraq survey group uncovered 
documents that revealed Saddam's intent to make nuclear weapons.
  Intelligence analysts seldom, if ever, are 100 percent perfect. This 
is the nature of the business. Intelligence officers collect the dots 
and analysts attempt to connect them. Given the reduced resources and 
inadequate insight into Iraq, I say the picture we drew from a limited 
amount of dots was pretty good.
  And we were right to take action. Every day intelligence officers 
make tough judgment calls and dangerous operations are conducted. We 
must support them. We must support our troops in the ongoing efforts to 
protect our Nation.
  I support House Resolution 557 and strongly urge its adoption.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California 
(Mr. George Miller) for a unanimous consent request.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to 
this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, once again, the Republican leadership in the House of 
Representatives has taken an issue of bipartisan concern and turned it 
into an occasion for partisan division.
  On the 1-year anniversary of the beginning of Operation Iraqi 
Freedom, the leadership introduced a bill that claims to honor our 
troops--at the same time that our Armed Forces and veterans are being 
shortchanged in the budget that is under consideration in this body.
  I strongly oppose this resolution for two important reasons.
  First, it fails to properly acknowledge and honor the American troops 
who are serving, have died, or have been injured in this war.
  And secondly, it is a blatant attempt to cover-up the fact that 
American soldiers went to war in Iraq because Iraq allegedly had 
weapons of mass destruction that threatened America. And yet no such 
weapons have since been found in Iraq.
  Our troops--National Guard and Reserve and regular forces alike--
deserve more than one line in a resolution on the first anniversary of 
a war. Their service and their sacrifice deserve to be honored, and 
more importantly they deserve the resources to help them succeed with 
the greatest degree of safety possible.
  Had Democrats been afforded the opportunity to modify this 
resolution, we would have offered our sincere condolences to the 
families of the more than 500 soldiers killed and thousands wounded in 
Iraq, given our troops in Iraq the body armor and armored vehicles they 
need to keep them safe, and continued to press for a true international 
coalition to relieve the United States of its nearly unilateral burden 
in Iraq.
  I am a proud cosponsor of the Democratic Salute to Veterans and the 
Armed Forces Act, a comprehensive package of benefits designed to honor 
the contributions of those who have served America in the Armed Forces. 
The legislation ensures that those who are serving today have 
incentives to continue serving, those who served in previous conflicts 
are properly honored, and those who choose to serve in the future are 
coming into a system that is the best in the world.
  As I said at the outset, I also oppose this resolution because it is 
a blatant attempt by the Bush administration to distort the public's 
understanding of why America went to war.
  Americans did not die in Iraq to punish Saddam Hussein for his 
reprehensible and vile actions, such as gassing the Kurds in 1988 or 
flooding the Arab marshlands. Those actions clearly did not pose an 
imminent threat to the security of the United States, especially not in 
the year 2003. And yet those are the actions that this partisan House 
resolution today speaks to. Americans would not have believed that 
those actions warranted a military attack in Iraq last year.
  President Bush warned Americans that Iraq posed an imminent threat to 
the security of the United States that could only be deflected by a 
unilateral military strike against Iraq. Today, the House seeks to bury 
this crucial piece of history.
  The President provided intelligence that has not been discredited to 
justify the attack on Iraq. It must never be forgotten that American 
soldiers attacked Iraq because the President said that it had weapons 
of mass destruction that endangered our security.
  The Republican leadership sponsored this resolution today hoping to 
later attack Democrats who vote against it. But I for one will not join 
them in their partisan charade that brings shame on the People's House. 
My Democratic colleagues and I will continue to articulate our concerns 
for America's armed forces, for America's veterans, and for America's 
security.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa 
(Mr. Boswell), the ranking member on the House Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence Subcommittee on Human Intelligence.
  Mr. BOSWELL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Harman). I appreciate it.
  And I want to say at the outset I rise to support the resolution. 
When I look over there, the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham), 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson), and a whole bunch of 
others, they are my heroes. But we have some on this side of the aisle 
too. I think of the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha), I think 
of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes), the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Boyd), the gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson), a lot of us 
as well as a lot of my colleagues.
  This is not a partisan thing. We support the troops. No question 
about it. I was a little appalled this morning as I heard my dear 
friend, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha), and his comments. 
But I still support the troops.
  Our troops in Iraq are to be commended for their courage and their 
valor. I do say the same about the dedicated men and women of the 
intelligence community. I visited with them in Iraq. It is truly 
inspiring to see what they have accomplished. And the Iraqi people are 
to be commended for their courage in the face of Saddam's cruelty.
  But I agree with the remarks of my colleague, the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Harman), the proposed resolution ought to do more. It 
is time the President set about fixing the problems in intelligence 
that are already known to exist. This will do much more to secure the 
peace in Iraq than just commending the troops and the Iraqi people 
which, of course, is very important.
  For example, the DCI has acknowledged that we did not have enough 
human intelligence. In addition, the sources we did have too often gave 
us bad information. There are also some indications that we may have 
dismissed potential sources of information because they were not 
telling us or we did not believe or did not want to believe that Iraq 
had weapons of mass destruction.
  Closed societies of Iraq are among the most difficult of intelligence 
targets. No question about it. Terrorist

[[Page 4490]]

groups are equally difficult to penetrate. However, there are steps we 
can take to improve our ability to recruit sources of information on 
these hard targets.
  The intelligence community is developing new ways of deploying human 
intelligence collectors. In urging the President to take steps now to 
fix intelligence, we can encourage these efforts which will yield 
benefits in Iraq today. The proposed resolution ought to do this. Why 
not? We can. We should.
  I do support the resolution.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I commend the last speaker for his wonderful 
remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Eshoo), the ranking member on the House Permanent Select Committee 
on Intelligence Subcommittee on Intelligence Policy and National 
Security.
  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I thank our very distinguished ranking 
member, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman), for the time.
  Mr. Speaker, we are just about a year to the day that America with 
our very brave forces invaded Iraq. So it is coming up to the moment 
where we commemorate those that serve, those that did serve and lost 
their lives, through a resolution that is on the floor.
  This resolution has good parts to it. Of course, we commend our 
troops who are second to none. They are the best led, the best 
equipped, and the best performing troops in the world, the best 
military. But this resolution is not necessarily a celebration, nor 
should it be. Because what it does not include are the sacrifices that 
have been made: 558 American troops, 101 allied troops, and some 10,000 
Iraqi citizens have died since this war began. They are not mentioned 
in this resolution.
  Where is our commitment in this resolution? It should be stated and 
restated in more than one ``whereas'' about the 115,000 troops in Iraq 
with all the protective gear that they should have. Nowhere in this 
resolution do we affirm or reaffirm our commitment to our troops and 
veterans.
  Today the House Committee on the Budget cut over $1 billion. So there 
is a bit of double speak to this. Nowhere in this resolution are the 
people that serve in our intelligence community, some of the most 
dangerous jobs that anyone could ever have, are they set apart and 
thanked in this resolution relative to Iraq.
  Turn on the TV sets. Iraq is not safe. There are more people that 
have lost their lives today. There are more fires; there are more blow-
ups. So this is a very sobering resolution. And I think the good parts 
of it should be underscored. But we have not been allowed to add to it 
the things that I just stated that I think should be very much a part 
of it.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Ruppersberger), our able rookie.
  Mr. RUPPERSBERGER. Mr. Speaker, I will support this resolution as an 
expression of our Nation's gratitude and pride of our men and women in 
uniform who were ordered to war in Iraq by their Commander in Chief. 
Whether you are for or against the war, the fact is we are there now 
and we need to support our troops.
  These military servicemembers are working around the clock to make 
Iraq a better place for the Iraqi people. Many of them have left their 
young families behind to serve their country, and they deserve our 
thanks here on the floor of Congress.
  I recently returned from Iraq as part of a bipartisan group of 
Members from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. I 
truly believe that good intelligence is the best way to prevent 
terrorist attacks in our country, as well as Iraq. The members of our 
intelligence community who are also working on the dangerous front 
lines of this war deserve our gratitude. They serve in silence with 
little thanks.
  I was proud to join with my Republican colleagues and visit the Iraqi 
police training academy and honor 23 Iraqi police officers killed in a 
recent bombing. Even in the face of tragedy, the resolve of the Iraqi 
people to take back their country and start governing themselves was 
strong.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution should have simply expressed our support 
for our Armed Forces working and living in harm's way. Regrettably, 
however, the majority has handled this resolution in a manner intended 
to divide us, not unite us.
  Mr. Speaker, I share the view that the Middle East and the world are 
better off without Saddam Hussein and his brutal regime; but success 
must be our only exit strategy. When those goals are accomplished, we 
can say with certainty that the world is a safer place. We owe our 
military men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their 
country in Iraq nothing less.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Lofgren) for a unanimous consent request.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Price).
  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I join the authors of this 
resolution in commending the Iraqi people for their courage in the face 
of oppression and in praising the valiant service of the United States 
and coalition forces in Iraq. We are as proud as we could possibly be 
of our troops, their sacrifice and their service.
  But to put forth this partisan resolution in this way is both an 
affront to our troops and a disservice to our country, sowing division 
where there should be unity.
  This resolution is not necessarily objectionable because of what it 
says, but because of what it omits. There is no reference, for example, 
to the mid-course correction that is called for in terms of financial 
accountability, contracting practices, securing international 
cooperation, and repairing our relationship with long-standing allies 
whose support is integral to our ultimate success.
  The minority has been denied the opportunity to improve this bill, to 
give our troops the body armor they need, for example, to achieve pay 
equity for National Guard and Reserve personnel, to provide much needed 
health care and benefits for our wounded servicemen and -women, and to 
offer condolences to the families of those killed in Iraq.
  This resolution rightly affirms our support for the Iraqi people as 
they adopt an interim constitution that upholds the values of open 
debate and democracy. How ironic that this very bill is structured to 
shut down discussion and debate.
  The rule rammed through by the majority is not only a closed rule, 
making it impossible to offer a Democratic substitute, but it also 
eliminates the right to offer a motion to recommit with instructions. 
That takes to a new level the procedural abuses that have become almost 
routine in this House.
  At stake is the manner in which we, as members of the House, are 
permitted to express our encouragement. We can support our troops 
serving in Iraq, yet still debate how to extend support to them and 
their families and to hasten the day when they can return. We can 
support the Iraqi people, yet still debate how best to ensure the 
development of a stable, democratic form of governance. To debate such 
issues does not reflect a lack of patriotism. To the contrary, it's a 
celebration of it.
  We should be proud, Mr. Speaker, of the progress we have made in 
Iraq. At the same time we should address the deficiencies in our prewar 
intelligence and our post-war occupation plan.
  No one disputes that the world is better off with Saddam Hussein 
gone, but we are doing our troops and the American people a grave 
disservice if we perpetuate the illusion that they are somehow ``safe'' 
or that our mission in Iraq is accomplished. Many difficult tasks still 
lie ahead, and glossing over the serious questions that remain 
unaddressed by this administration jeopardizes our mission to secure 
and stabilize Iraq.
  I urge the Republican leadership to honor the collaborative and 
unifying approach that we are urging on the people of Iraq. This body 
should support our troops and lead by example, and this resolution 
falls short on both counts.

[[Page 4491]]


  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Woolsey), my classmate and colleague.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, exactly 1 year ago the first bombs blasted 
in Baghdad and the United States christened a shameful new military 
doctrine, the preemptive war, against a regime that for all its vicious 
cruelty had not provoked the United States or our allies.
  We were told by the President that Iraq posed an imminent threat to 
our national security with a link to al Qaeda, which is fiction. And 
our own weapons inspector concluded that weapons of mass destruction 
did not exist. Where was our intelligence? What were we working on?
  After September 11, countries throughout the world clamored to give 
the United States support in the global fight against terrorism. But 
after bombing Iraq without multinational support, the United States 
lost the moral authority we once enjoyed around the rest of the world.
  Today, 1 year later, Iraq remains mired in chaos. It is becoming a 
breeding ground for terrorists, nowhere near ready to assume the 
responsibility of a democracy.
  For this we have sacrificed nearly 600 American lives with thousands 
more wounded; 27 today have already been killed in Baghdad with 
hundreds injured. If this Congress wants to support the troops, we 
should work to equip every soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan with the 
best equipment and supplies available, including hydration water 
systems. We would ensure them the benefits they have been promised and 
they deserve when they return home. But we do not talk about that in 
this resolution.
  Tomorrow I will introduce a resolution called Smart Security. Smart 
Security is about prevention, not preemption. It sees war as a last 
resort to be considered only after every diplomatic solution has been 
exhausted.

                              {time}  1715

  It calls for more robust multilateral institutions to prevent 
terrorism, manages international conflicts and promotes global 
stability, since smart security is tough, pragmatic, and patriotic. It 
is smart and it would keep America safe and it supports our troops.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, it is my extreme pleasure to yield 2 minutes 
to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey).
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me the 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, if all we were doing here on the floor today on the 
House was commending our troops for their valor, there would be no 
debate. There would be no disagreement and there would be no 
opposition. This resolution, however, says something more than that we 
honor our troops.
  What this resolution says is that we, the House of Representatives, 
affirm that ``the United States and the world have been made safer with 
the removal of Saddam Hussein and his regime from power in Iraq.'' 
There is not a Member of this body that mourns the fact that Saddam 
Hussein and his regime have been removed from power. We all agree that 
Saddam was a brutal thug. The problem is that America was told before 
the war that we would be made safer by fighting to find and destroy 
Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. We now know that those weapons 
either did not exist, in which case we fought a war based on flawed 
intelligence, or that there really were weapons of mass destruction, in 
which case they are now in the hands of Saddam's Baathist henchmen or 
al Qaeda terrorists or some other party, and that would put us in 
greater peril than we were before the war started.
  Moreover, if we switch our TV from C-SPAN to CNN, we will see that 
another bomb has gone off in Baghdad today, killing more than 25 and 
wounding nearly 50 innocent people. We will see that two American 
missionaries have been assassinated in Iraq. We will see reports of 
more and more targeted assassinations of civilian employees of the 
Coalition Authority, as well as continued attacks on our military 
forces in Iraq.
  Meanwhile, the real terrorist threat to America, al Qaeda, continues 
to organize and plan future terrorist attacks against our country. 
Osama bin Laden and some of his top lieutenants remain at large. Mullah 
Omar, the head of the Taliban, remains at large.
  What is happening on the House floor today is symptomatic of 
everything that is wrong with the Bush administration and Republican 
leaders in Washington. Instead of working together in a bipartisan 
fashion to congratulate the troops for the wonderful job which they 
did, they seek to divide this House by forcing us to vote on something 
which, in fact, is not an accurate representation of what has happened 
across this world.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt), another able member of our 
committee.
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me the 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution commends the men and women of the United 
States Armed Forces and the Coalition forces for their valiant service. 
It is appropriate to do that. They have made huge sacrifices, their 
families have. In many cases, the soldiers have made the ultimate 
sacrifice in their response to the call of their country.
  As a member of the committee that oversees the Intelligence 
Community, let me also add my gratitude to the incredibly hardworking 
men and women of the Intelligence Community whose role in Iraq is less 
public but no less vital and in many cases is every bit as dangerous. 
These dedicated public servants should have all the tools they need to 
accomplish their mission. So rather than simply commending the Iraqi 
people for their courage and their accomplishments, rather than simply 
thanking these brave men and women in the U.S. armed services and 
Intelligence Community with words, we should see that they have what 
they need to do their jobs.
  This resolution today, I believe, has different motivation than 
simply to honor our troops. It really is more about the House of 
Representatives patting themselves on the back than it is to honor our 
troops.
  It perpetuates a simplistic thinking that took us into the war with 
unexamined intelligence, and clearly there were deficiencies in the 
intelligence that took us up to and into that war. It perpetuates the 
simplistic thinking that left our troops unprepared for the postwar 
occupation, and it perpetuates a kind of divisive thinking. I mean, 
what can be more divisive than a closed rule that allows no amendments, 
no substitutes, really nothing to make this a better resolution?
  It is not enough to say thanks in words to 550 families who have lost 
someone in Iraq. They want more than thanks and words. Same for the 
more than 3,000 families of the wounded. If we only give them what they 
need, this resolution would be more meaningful: more armored Humvees, 
more language speakers, more support.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood), who is also a subcommittee 
chairman of the committee.
  Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 557, 
recognizing American and coalition forces in Iraq and the liberation of 
the Iraqi people.
  The American people should know and believe that the President 
brought the U.S. into this war to oust Saddam Hussein and bring freedom 
in that part of the world with 34 coalition partners, and that was a 
good decision. Many of us supported the President and voted to provide 
emergency supplemental funding for military operations in Iraq. These 
were the resources that financed the capture of additional Saddam 
regime loyalists and Saddam himself and provided funding to protect our 
troops.
  As a matter of fact, the lion's share of the money went to the troops 
and the other went to rebuilding the country, opening schools, opening 
hospitals, putting electricity on line, opening

[[Page 4492]]

businesses. The people of Iraq love America because of their newfound 
freedom, their newfound hope, and their newfound opportunities.
  Many of us voted for the war resolution because we believed it was 
the right thing to do, and many of us voted for the supplemental 
funding because we believed it was the right thing to do.
  We have heard all the claims that the intelligence community's 
analysis was politicized and analytical judgments were made to advance 
the administration's policy. The same judgment and analysis was given 
to President Clinton who used that analysis to take limited action 
against Saddam. The point is that both Presidents received the same 
intelligence. The only difference is that President Bush took serious 
and meaningful action against Saddam Hussein.
  In my opinion, critics have not given the intelligence community a 
fair shake, and it is obvious from some of those who do not even serve 
on the committee come down here and criticize when they have not had 
the benefit that many of us have had of serving on the committee. That 
is unfortunate. They have failed to highlight those judgments on UAVs, 
ballistic missiles, illicit procurement networks that have been found 
and confirmed in Iraq. They have failed to highlight those judgments 
about the presence in Iraq of terrorist elements associated with al 
Qaeda.
  It is fine to highlight real problems and propose real solutions to 
fix them, but we have yet to hear that from the critics. Telling 
analysts not to make tough judgments is not a viable solution. 
Rebuilding our intelligence community and providing them with the 
resources needed to fight the global war on terrorism seems more 
appropriate.
  I support our troops and our intelligence community, people who work 
in dark places in the world but never get any credit for the work that 
they do. The credit goes in some cases to politicians and government 
officials, but those people in dark places who are doing the hard work 
deserve the credit. No politician can take credit for capturing Saddam. 
That credit goes to the intelligence community and the military, and 
those of us that have supported them with our votes on this floor to 
give them the money to do it. Also I think they deserve the credit, and 
the critics need to really, I think, examine what they are saying.
  Congratulations to those in the intelligence community and the 
military community for liberating Iraq, freeing the people and giving 
them hope and opportunity, and for that reason, I support I think a 
very well-worded and -constructed resolution.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would point out to the last speaker that I 
think this resolution should include words of praise for the members of 
the intelligence community who take risks on our behalf in Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank).
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I do not find myself 
critical of the intelligence community. The criticism I and many others 
have is of the political leadership which I think misused the 
intelligence and made faulty decisions.
  The gentleman talked about people who work in dark places. I did not 
talk about the Vice President. I do not know how he got into this 
debate.
  The point about what we are saying is this. We now, without weapons 
of mass destruction, without a tie to al Qaeda, have been told that the 
rationale for this was essentially to extend democracy. I am in favor 
of extending democracy; although extending it by military invasion is a 
difficult policy. There are plenty of undemocratic, tyrannical 
governments in the world, and I want to oppose them, but I am not 
generally for invading them. But what troubles me is that in the name 
of advancing democracy internationally, the majority is debasing it at 
home.
  No one can think, who understands the tenets of democracy, that this 
procedure today comes close to it. There is no justification whatsoever 
for this legislation to have been drawn up and then brought to us 
without amendment. Will someone explain to me why this could not be 
amendmentable? Were we too busy? That would not pass the laugh test. 
The reason is that the majority is afraid that if amendments were 
available, it would bring into discussion things they do not want to 
talk about.
  Of course, we support the troops. Voting for or against this 
resolution is wholly uncorrelated to supporting the troops. A 
resolution that simply congratulated the troops would have been passed 
unanimously. What we have here, frankly, is an effort to use the troops 
for political purposes. It is an effort to say that because Americans 
are proud of our fighting people, we will put into a resolution some 
phrase for them which contains a number of other politically more 
controversial items; we will bring it forward in a way that does not 
allow the democratic process to go forward.
  I hope the Iraqis will not be watching this and think that this is 
the way a democracy should work, that it should be up or down, that the 
Constitution should not be amendable, resolutions should not be 
amendable. We do not advance democracy by debasing it as we do in this 
procedure.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to 
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Hinchey).
  Mr. HINCHEY. Mr. Speaker, the resolution before us today seeks to 
rewrite history. It recognizes that on March 16, 1988, Iraq used 
mustard gas and other nerve agents against the Kurds in Halabjah, Iraq, 
killing an estimated 5,000 people. This is an atrocity that is used by 
many, including members of the President's war cabinet, as 
justification for invading Iraq.
  Yet, if the gassing of the Kurds was a reason for war, why did these 
same people in both the Reagan and the first Bush administrations work 
to increase aid, cooperation, trade and intelligence-sharing with Iraq 
after the gassing occurred? Before history is rewritten, it is 
important to set the record straight about what did happen in this 
tragic event.
  Secretary of State Colin Powell was Ronald Reagan's National Security 
Adviser from December 1987 to January 1989 and was the chairman of the 
Joint Chiefs from 1989 to 1993.
  Under Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz was Under Secretary of 
Defense for Policy from 1989 to 1993.
  National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was a director on the 
National Security Council from 1989 to 1993.
  Vice President Dick Cheney was the Republican whip in the House in 
1988 and the Secretary of Defense from 1989 until 1993.
  Why then, when they were in positions of tremendous influence, did 
they not cry foul when this atrocious gassing happened? Briefly, here 
is what they did after the Halabjah gassing happened.
  In 1988, the Reagan Administration sent $1.1 billion in loan 
guarantees to Iraq.
  According to declassified State Department documents, the United 
States shared intelligence data with Iraq before and after this mass 
murder.
  In early October 1989, President Bush signed a national security 
directive to expand political and economic ties with Iraq, including $1 
billion in new aid to Iraq.
  On October 31, 1989, Secretary of State Baker personally intervened 
with the Agriculture Department to get more money to go to Iraq.
  On April 19, 1990, the National Security Council did the same thing.

                              {time}  1730

  Following the end of the Gulf War, U.N. inspectors discovered that 
front companies for every known site at which Iraq developed biological 
and chemical weapons bought American computers with licenses approved 
by the Reagan and Bush administrations.
  Weapons of mass destruction did exist in Iraq, but that was 15 years 
ago. We missed our chance to do something about it, and we cannot allow 
history to be rewritten here today. This war was not about Halabja or 
other human

[[Page 4493]]

rights abuses. It was a preordained preemptive war of choice based upon 
twisted intelligence and driven by an equally twisted ideological 
agenda.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman 
from Ohio (Mrs. Jones).
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman), for yielding me this time and 
giving me the opportunity to be heard this afternoon.
  I stand here representing the 11th Congressional District of Ohio. In 
the Iraqi war, I lost two of my constituents. I read to my colleagues 
now the statements of the father of one of those constituents, and this 
is from an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
  ``The soldier's father feels betrayed. On March 17, the President 
told the country intelligence gathered by this and other governments 
leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal 
some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. A week later, Private 
Brandon Sloan, 19, was killed in Iraq. On Sunday, February 8, Brandon's 
father heard the President hedge about Saddam Hussein: `We thought he 
had weapons. He had the capacity to make a weapon.'
  ``The Reverend Tandy Sloan believes there is a key difference between 
having no doubt a country possesses weapons of mass destruction and 
having the ability to make them. A minister, he calls that difference 
the eighth commandment: `Thou shalt not bear false witness.' It bothers 
him deeply that the President apparently has no regrets for overstating 
the danger for weapons of mass destruction that do not appear to exist. 
Sloan says, `At least we admit we were wrong. I want the President to 
say that mistakes were made that cost lives.'
  ``It has been almost a year since that Sunday night knock on the door 
when military uniforms brought news that Brandon was missing. Days 
later, Sloan learned that his son was dead. Months later a brigadier 
general told him what happened to the 507th Company, made famous by 
Jessica Lynch. `He basically told us the military goofed,' Sloan said. 
`The President wanted a hard, fast hit,' the general said. Brandon's 
unit, hauling trucks, water, tools and gear, couldn't move fast enough 
to keep up with the other units, so they left it behind.
  ``Sloan said, `You let my son down. My son did not sign on to be left 
behind.'''
  I stand here on behalf of the parents of private Brandon Sloan and 
other young people killed across this country. Let us not politicize 
whether or not we are safer without Saddam Hussein or not safer. Let us 
celebrate the young people who lost their lives in this war and let us 
move forward to make the United States a safer Nation.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter), the vice chairman of the House Permanent 
Select Committee on Intelligence.
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me this 
time, and I do rise as a member of the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence and the Committee on International Relations, and I want 
to commend the authors of the resolution. I think it is straightforward 
and an accurate statement of the facts regarding Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to address just a few aspects of the resolution, 
particularly those relating to the WMD. As H. Res. 557 notes, the 
brutal regime of Saddam Hussein not only trampled on the rights of the 
Iraqi people but he repeatedly defied the U.N. Security Council and 
ignored its obligations to the U.N. weapons inspectors. The resolution 
correctly notes that in November 2002, the Security Council unanimously 
agreed that Iraq ``remains in material breach of its obligations under 
the relevant resolutions.''
  Let me repeat that, because it is important. The U.N. Security 
Council unanimously found that Iraq was unquestionably in material 
breach of its international obligations. The Iraqi regime had 
unquestionably interfered with the IAEA inspectors and prevented the 
U.N. from effectively doing its job.
  Contrary to our greatest fear, and fortunately for our forces, Iraq 
did not use weapons of mass destruction in the conflict with the U.S. 
and allied forces. Members of this body are acutely aware of the fact 
that no large WMD stockpiles have been found. This, of course, raises a 
number of questions. We certainly should examine the quality of our 
intelligence, and the appropriate oversight committees are doing just 
that. It is important, however, to remind the body of exactly what we 
have found that Saddam Hussein did possess.
  We know, for example, that Saddam had, A, a concealed ballistic 
missile production line that dramatically breached U.N. range and 
payload restrictions; B, had covert programs to develop both new and 
more effective liquid and solid rocket fuels, which would further 
enhance the range and accuracy of Saddam's illegal missiles; C, had a 
secret pipeline to purchase advanced missile components and technology 
from North Korea; and had, D, two separate undeclared, unmanned aerial 
vehicle production lines that senior Iraqi officials now admit were to 
have been used for carrying biological weapons.
  These items are critically important because missiles and UAVs are 
the means to deliver any weapons of mass destruction. That is why the 
U.N. prohibited Iraq from having these systems. There is no doubt that 
these missiles and UAV programs existed, in clear violation of Iraq's 
international obligations; and there is no doubt that they had WMD 
application.
  What else do we know that Saddam Hussein had? One, the Iraqi Survey 
Group has found a network of labs and safe houses that contained 
everything needed for chemical/biological weapons production. These 
were undeclared facilities under the direct control of the Iraqi 
intelligence and security services.
  Two, at an Iraqi prison they found evidence of an undeclared 
chemical/biological laboratory complex that seems to have been for 
human testing.
  Three, we have learned that Iraq maintained a WMD scientific 
community and infrastructure that was organized in such a way that WMD 
production could be quickly resumed.
  Four, we learned from David Kay, the former head of the Iraqi Survey 
Group, that Saddam and his son Uday were demanding to know from their 
subordinates how long it would take Iraq to produce chemical weapons.
  And, five, while the evidence on nuclear activity is less clear, 
David Kay has testified that ``the testimony we have obtained from 
Iraqi scientists should clear up any doubts about whether Saddam still 
wanted to obtain nuclear weapons.'' He did.
  Mr. Speaker, none of this should be in the least bit surprising. 
Throughout the 1990s, we knew Saddam Hussein was seeking to maintain an 
arsenal of prohibited weapons. Over the years, he became a master of 
deception, hiding many elements of his extensive WMD program. For 
example, after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, we found that Iraq was much 
further along on a nuclear weapons development program than anyone had 
suspected, only months from a serious capability.
  We do know in the 1990s Saddam himself admitted he possessed 30,000 
liters of anthrax. Now, remember, just a teaspoon of anthrax paralyzed 
the other body, the Senate, for months.
  Saddam acknowledged a stockpile of 5,000 gallons of botulinum toxin 
and 25 biologically filled Scud missiles. He admitted to these lethal 
weapons after years of denying he had such weapons because his son-in-
law defected and provided incontrovertible evidence of their existence.
  All intelligence services--U.S., British, French, Italian, German, 
and others, agreed that Iraq had WMD. The U.N. concluded Iraq possessed 
a hidden WMD arsenal. The IAEA warned that Saddam was not cooperating. 
The WMD threat in the late 1990s was considered so compelling that, in 
December 1998, President Clinton felt he had no choice but to launch 
retaliatory airstrikes. The case for action was compelling in 1998, and 
the case was every bit as compelling in 2003.
  Certainly our intelligence could have been better; it should have 
been better. It will never be as good as the consumers--the 
policymakers--want it to be.

[[Page 4494]]

  As we prepared for Operation Iraqi Freedom, there were gaps in our 
knowledge. There were things that we just did not know. It would seem 
that we just didn't have good access to Saddam Hussein's inner circle. 
There is a reason we didn't have that access and the intelligence 
information we would have wanted. Frankly, in the decade following the 
collapse of the former Soviet Union, we didn't invest adequately in 
human intelligence (HUMINT). The Intelligence Community sharply reduced 
the number of case officers, and the number of recruited intelligence 
assets is reported to have significantly declined.
  This lack of HUMINT resources was compounded by self-imposed limits 
on whom our intelligence officers could recruit. In the 1990s the CIA 
established guidelines that made it extremely difficult to recruit the 
unsavory characters--individuals who are exactly the sort who could 
have provided useful intelligence. Any excuses aside, the ``Deutsch 
Guidelines'', as they were known, discouraged the recruitment of spies 
with criminal or human rights issues in their background. Yet these 
were precisely the sort of people who could get close to Saddam 
Hussein. In practical effect, our intelligence services were not 
allowed to recruit them.
  With the active and tenacious involvement of the Intelligence 
Committee the Deutsch Guidelines were rescinded in the FY 2002 
Intelligence Authorization Act, but there is little doubt that the 
damage to our human collection capability has been substantial. Under 
the guidance of the distinguished gentleman from Florida, the Chairman 
of the HPSCI, this body has been supporting the rebuilding of our 
HUMINT capability so that we aren't as likely to face future 
intelligence gaps. It is, however, a matter that will require continued 
priority, resources, and the close attention from the relevant 
oversight committees.
  Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 557 is a good resolution that reflects the basic 
truth that the world is much better without Saddam Hussein governing 
Iraq. This Member commends the authors of the resolution and urges its 
support.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Cunningham), a member of the committee.
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I, on this side of the aisle, I am also 
saddened. I have the greatest respect for the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha), the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), 
and the people I work with on the Subcommittee on Defense of the 
Committee on Appropriations and the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence, and I think that we should have worked this together. But 
I tell my colleagues on the other side, I have been here 14 years, and 
this is the worst partisan bickering I have seen from the Democrat 
leadership since I have been here. And when my colleagues ask us to be 
bipartisan, I think you need to look inward at what has happened on 
this House floor recently.
  They say the President overstated. But look at what Dr. Kay said. 
Liberal Democrats will not tell you what Dr. Kay actually said that 
Saddam Hussein and Iraq was even more dangerous from what we have found 
out since we went in there than we thought prior to the war. More 
dangerous. He said that any reasonable person, including any country, 
would know that Saddam Hussein was working on weapons of mass 
destruction; that he had them, used them against his own people, and 
would feel that he still had weapons of mass destruction.
  So when I hear from the left that the President overstated, it's not 
so; and it makes me mad to point fingers like that. Evidence of weapons 
of mass destruction going to Syria. Dr. Kay. Any reasonable person 
would believe WMD.
  Saddam Hussein ethically cleansed four times the number of people, 
four times, than when my liberal friends supported President Clinton 
going into Bosnia and Kosovo because of ethnic cleansing. Was there 
chemical or biological or nuclear weapons there? No, but ethnic 
cleansing.
  And the liberal left, the most extreme case of bantering a secretary 
that I watched in the Haiti discussion was miserable. Tell me there is 
weapons of mass destruction in Haiti.


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Isakson). The Chair would remind all 
Members when addressing other colleagues that it is appropriate to use 
the term gentleman and gentlewoman, and not refer to the Member by a 
first name.
  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, 
and I want to say first off that I am sure that is what the last 
speaker intended. He is a good friend, a member of our Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence; and I am certain he did not have me in mind 
when he was suggesting that there is excessive partisanship about our 
intelligence budget.
  I call myself a passionate bipartisan on intelligence and security 
matters, and I take a back seat to no one for my efforts to try to work 
out agreements on a bipartisan basis to fix our intelligence.
  As I said earlier, in my view, the proposed resolution does some good 
things, but it also should be calling for action to keep our troops and 
other personnel serving in Iraq safe.
  Just a few hours ago, Mr. Speaker, a devastating car bomb destroyed a 
hotel in Baghdad. The casualty reports are still coming in, but at 
least two dozen people have died. Better intelligence is essential to 
protecting our troops in Iraq and ensuring that we ultimately succeed 
there. It is the first line of defense in the war on terrorism.
  There are good ideas from both sides of the aisle that should be 
discussed and debated this year. What should we be doing? In my view, 
let us try six things:
  First, the President should direct intelligence agencies to scrub 
weapons of mass destruction intelligence on all major targets and 
release updates on areas of concern. Now.
  Second, the President should direct intelligence agencies to improve 
collection and vetting of information. Now.
  Third, the President should require intelligence agencies to improve 
the way they analyze intelligence and convey information to 
policymakers. Now.
  Fourth, the President should direct a review of the activities of 
various DOD offices, particularly the Office of Special Plans, to see 
whether they fed unreliable and unvetted intelligence to him, the Vice 
President, or his senior national security team.
  Fifth, the President should take immediate steps to strengthen and 
reinvigorate international inspections.
  And, finally, the President should consider longer term changes to 
the leadership organization and business methods of the intelligence 
community.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution should have been a call to action in 
support of our troops, in addition to an expression of our heartfelt 
gratitude.
  We could have done much, much better.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1745

  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\3/4\ minutes to the gentleman from 
New Hampshire (Mr. Bass), a former member of the Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence.
  Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, we have heard plenty of questionable 
statements today from Members about misrepresentation of intelligence 
and alleged use of military force, without enough information to back 
up that action. As a former member of the Committee on Intelligence, I 
would remind Members about one particular incident and the, quote, 
``depth of intelligence'' supporting that action.
  Not long ago the United States, on the order of the Commander in 
Chief launched a cruise missile attack against a pharmaceutical plant 
in Sudan, destroying the facility and taking human life. At the time, 
the action was justified by the President and his administration on the 
grounds that the al-Shifa plant was involved in the production of 
chemical weapons and had ties to Iraq and possibly al Qaeda which had 
just bombed two U.S. embassies in Africa.
  What was the administration's basis for making these claims? What was 
the entire intelligence record that backed up this military action? 
This represents the entire intelligence on the al-Shifa plant. Yes, the 
entirety of the intelligence record connecting the al-Shifa plant to 
chemical weapons production was this, a single soil sample

[[Page 4495]]

collected by a friend of a friend of a source. That is it.
  The Intelligence Community did not know who actually owned the plant 
or have any other clear and convincing evidence to connect al-Shifa to 
weapons of mass destruction production; all it had was a bit of dirt 
and many unanswered question.
  Yes, the information gaps were emphatically stated in the 
intelligence record of the day. None of these caveats were expressed by 
the President or his administration, and I believe the President picked 
this target himself. Now, I could name the President and the precise 
day in August 1998 and the attacks, and what else was happening that 
day; but rather than dwell on that, I would like to ask my colleagues 
on the other side: Where was their outrage in 1998? The information 
that this President used to inform his policy decision and act 
militarily against Hussein was voluminous, consistent, and as sound as 
it could be.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remaining 45 seconds.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Harman) working as the ranking member on our committee to improve 
our Intelligence Community and to build support for the Intelligence 
Community in this House. It is important that we deal with a subject 
like this on a bipartisan basis. I know the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Harman) is anxious and sincere in her call for action. I am too.
  I believe we did have a call for action after 9/11, and I think that 
call for action has led us to go forth as the United States of America 
and to try to do the right thing on the war on terror. And I think from 
time to time as we go through that war, it is fine for us to say to the 
troops, well done, God bless you, and it is time to say to people 
involved in places like Iraq, we know it is tough, thanks for hanging 
in there, you have a better future ahead.
  That is what this is about. I thank all Members for having that kind 
of understanding and looking ahead. We have a lot to do; we have got to 
get along and get it done.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Isakson). The gentleman's time has 
expired.
  The Chair would advise the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) he has 
31 minutes remaining, including 1 minute from the gentleman's previous 
time rolled forward, and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) 
controls 35 minutes because the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) 
reserved the remaining 5 minutes of his time for this debate.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde).
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Flake).
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution. 
I was fortunate to go to Iraq with a couple of my colleagues, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence), the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. 
Burton), and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Davis) just a few weeks 
ago, and was able to see firsthand what is going on.
  I think there is consensus that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator 
and he committed horrific crimes. But the question is whether we are 
right in ending this regime. I say emphatically I think the Iraqi 
people back this up, and we did the right thing there. There is still a 
very difficult security situation there, and the bombings which 
happened today underlie that.
  But what are we to expect? When Saddam Hussein and his followers 
fled, coalition forces and ordinary Iraqis had to start from scratch to 
defend the place.
  We had a taste of what went on over the past decade in particular. We 
went to several palaces built during the Oil-For-Food Program. We were 
told over 70 palaces were built during the 1990s when Saddam Hussein 
was supposed to use all of the revenue from oil to pay for food and 
medicines. Seventy palaces, with an estimated cost of over $2 billion, 
were built while Saddam Hussein's people starved.
  We also went into the basement of one of these palaces and saw Uday 
Hussein's stash of personal belongings: booze, cigars, swords, guns, 
paintings, all kinds of things, while the people went without medicine. 
Saddam Hussein and his shallow circle of loyalists were able in part to 
control Iraqis by depriving them.
  We were the first CODEL able to go to the south in Basra, and we were 
able to see what those people had during that time, particularly the 
last decade. A lot of them simply were killed by neglect. No money was 
put into the south. The buildings are falling down, the infrastructure 
is horrible, and the people were literally killed. We discovered 
remains of about 400,000 Iraqis. Over a million are believed to have 
been killed during that time.
  Mr. Speaker, the question here is did we do the right thing. I can 
tell Members the Iraqi people know we did the right thing. Are we safer 
today because Saddam Hussein is gone? Yes, emphatically. People all 
over the world are safer because that madman is gone. I urge support of 
the resolution.
  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I just want to lay some groundwork for some comments I 
will make later. I am concerned in the first place, as I said before, 
that no one on this side was consulted about this resolution. I am 
embarrassed, I am indignant that they did not consult me.
  This looks like an innocuous resolution, but when it says it is safer 
today than before Saddam Hussein was captured, I believe we are putting 
on paper something that is not true. It is like some of the things that 
were said, and I said, before this war started. I said there were 
weapons of mass destruction. I said that Saddam Hussein was a danger to 
the world. We do not go to war unless there is a core national security 
interest, and now we are trying to justify why we went to war by some 
of the things that are in this resolution.
  There is no question that a number of people were killed. Thousands 
of people were killed. There is no question that Saddam Hussein was a 
despot. There is no question about a brutal regime. But in this one 
list, they say that in 1988, 5,000 people were killed, Kurdish citizens 
were killed. Well, we went to war in 1991. President Bush once said, 
and he was one of the best foreign policy Presidents we have ever had, 
he said, I am not going into Iraq because I do not want to occupy Iraq 
because that would be a problem. He said that in his book, and he said, 
I do not want to reconstruct Iraq.
  We have spent $150 billion in Iraq today. We had testimony before our 
committee right before the war started by the Under Secretary of 
Defense who said it will not cost us a penny, the oil revenues from 
Iraq will pay for this war. Well, $150 billion later we are still 
paying for it. When Members say it is safer, it makes me nervous 
because we are exaggerating, as we have during this whole thing. And I 
blame myself as much as anyone else.
  A constituent of mine said to me, he said, never in history have so 
many been misled by so few, and he was talking to me. He was saying I 
misled him. I believed there were weapons of mass destruction. I 
believed there was an imminent danger, but it turns out that I was 
wrong.
  What we have to look at now is we need bipartisanship now to win long 
term. This is a long-term problem. I have voted for every 
appropriation, I have supported every President when it comes to 
foreign policy, but this resolution, just because it says on paper it 
is safer, does not mean it is safer throughout the world.
  Today we had an incident where there was a bombing in Baghdad where 
the bomb took out as wide as a street, 30 or 40 feet wide and 30 or 40 
feet deep. We had the Spanish problem where they killed a couple 
hundred people and wounded 2,000. So worldwide, and it says here the 
world is safer. The world is not safer today than it was before they 
captured Saddam Hussein.
  I have a list of countries where they do not think it is safer. Those 
countries, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, all of them believe 
there is an increased terrorism threat in the world. The reason I am 
saying this is we have to depend on those countries.

[[Page 4496]]

We have to be honest and upfront, and when we say it is safer today, we 
are not being upfront. It is not safer. It may be down the road. This 
is not the time, in my estimation, for us to make statements like that. 
There will come a time if we persist, and I am going to be there the 
whole way, but I am just concerned that we are making a statement which 
just exacerbates the very problem that we have.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Obey).
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, really in one sense, it does not matter how 
people vote on this resolution because it has no effect, but some 
things need to be said about it.
  Every Member here supports the troops. Every Member here applauds the 
sacrifices the men and women of our Armed Forces have made. Every 
Member here understands that America needs no one's permission to 
defend this country from attack.
  But when American leaders choose to wage a preemptive war against a 
country that did not attack the United States, when those leaders 
attempt to rally the American people to their support on the basis of 
faulty information and bad intelligence, when that unilateral decision 
costs more than 500 American lives, when it costs thousands of American 
wounded, when it costs the lives of uncounted thousands of innocent 
civilians, that decision does not, despite the claims of this 
resolution, it does not leave us in a stronger and safer position, as 
this resolution falsely suggests. In fact, it could be argued it does 
just the opposite.
  Are we really in a safer and stronger position when the world and our 
allies know that we went to war unilaterally on the basis of wrong 
intelligence? Are we really going to be in a stronger position to 
persuade the world to follow us the next time we tell them it is 
necessary to act; for example, in the case of an American conclusion 
that North Korea has nuclear weapons?
  Are we really in a safer and stronger position in persuading more 
Americans to serve in the military when they see that we rushed to war 
before 45,000 U.S. troops were supplied with the ceramic inserts that 
they needed for their body armor, when they see their government did 
not provide the shields that protect Humvees and their occupants from 
roadbed explosions, or when they see that their government did not 
supply our troops with the electronic jammers needed to protect those 
troops against remotely detonated bombs and mines?
  Are we really in a safer and stronger position when we are forced to 
police Iraq largely on our own, with little help from our allies? Have 
we really created a safer world when, by our actions, we have told the 
Indians and Pakistanis, who have been close to nuclear war with each 
other, that a doctrine of preemptive war is acceptable? Are we really 
as safe and strong as we would be if we had not diverted to Iraq key 
personnel and taken intelligence resources away from the crucial task 
of finding Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan?
  Last night, many of us sang the praises of John Hume, the great Irish 
peacemaker. Hume said last night that there has been no war in history 
that has not killed more innocent civilians than it has combatants.
  Are we really safer and stronger in a world where thousands of young 
Muslims now are being told to hate the United States because we waged a 
war against a Muslim country that had not attacked the U.S., rather 
than focusing like a laser on destroying the al Qaeda network which is 
the justifiable target of our rage?
  Many Members who vote for this resolution today will do so despite 
the misstatements it contains, because it contains an expression of 
support for our troops. Many who vote against it will also do so 
because of the unwarranted assertions in this resolution that 
needlessly detract from our focus on the sacrifices those troops have 
made.

                              {time}  1800

  Mr. Speaker, shame on the House leadership for drafting this 
resolution in a way that needlessly divides us rather than unites us. 
By not allowing meaningful alternatives to be debated and voted on, 
they do not promote democracy; they mock it.
  Mr. Speaker, I am inserting in the Record after my statement a copy 
of the resolution on which we should have been allowed to vote.

                               Resolution

       Relating to the liberation of the Iraqi people and the 
     valiant service of the United States Armed Forces and 
     Coalition forces.
       Whereas Saddam Hussein and his regime committed crimes 
     against humanity, systematically violating the human rights 
     of Iraqis and citizens of other countries;
       Whereas Saddam Hussein's terror regime subjected the Iraqi 
     people to murder, torture, rape, and amputation;
       Whereas on March 16, 1988, Saddam Hussein's regime had and 
     unleashed weapons of mass destruction against Kurdish 
     citizens, killing nearly 5,000 of them;
       Whereas as many as 270 mass grave sites, containing the 
     remains of as many as 400,000 victims of Saddam Hussein's 
     regime, have been found in Iraq;
       Whereas rape was used to intimidate the Iraqi population, 
     with victims often raped in front of their families;
       Whereas the regime punished the Marsh Arabs by draining the 
     marshlands, which created hundreds of thousands of refugees 
     and caused an ecological catastrophe;
       Whereas the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-
     338), passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 360 
     to 38, made it United States policy to support efforts to 
     remove from power the regime headed by Saddam Hussein;
       Whereas with the Iraqi regime failing to comply with 16 
     previously adopted United Nations Security Council 
     resolutions, the Security Council unanimously approved 
     Resolution 1441 on November 8, 2002, declaring that Iraq `has 
     been and remains in material breach of its obligations under 
     relevant resolutions, including resolution 687 (1991), in 
     particular through Iraq's failure to cooperate with United 
     Nations inspectors'; and
       Whereas on October 10, 2002, the House of Representatives 
     passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against 
     Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243) and on March 19, 
     2003, the United States initiated military operations in 
     Iraq: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) acknowledges the belief on the part of some that the 
     United States and the world have been made safer with the 
     removal of Saddam Hussein and his regime from power in Iraq 
     and the belief that a final judgment on the value of 
     activities in Iraq cannot be made until Iraq is stable and 
     secure;
       (2) commends the Iraqi people for their courage in the face 
     of unspeakable oppression and brutality inflicted on them by 
     Saddam Hussein's regime;
       (3) commends the Iraqi people on the adoption of Iraq's 
     interim constitution;
       (4) commends the members of the United States Armed Forces 
     and Coalition forces for liberating Iraq and expresses its 
     gratitude for their valiant service; and
       (5) urges the President--
       (A) to take all steps necessary to ensure that all members 
     of the United States Armed Forces serving in Iraq receive the 
     best force protection equipment available, including 
     protective body armor and extra-armored wheeled vehicles 
     capable of providing better protection against explosive 
     devices;
       (B) to ensure that all members of the Armed Forces who 
     suffer wounds or other injuries, or who incur illness, while 
     serving in Iraq receive complete, timely, and high-quality 
     health care to treat the short-term and long-term 
     consequences of such wounds, injuries, and illnesses;
       (C) to recognize the key contributions made by members of 
     the reserve components of the Armed Forces, and their 
     families, in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and, in consultation 
     with Congress, to address immediately the disparity that 
     exists for many Reserve and Guard personnel between the pay 
     they receive in civilian life and the military compensation 
     they receive when ordered to active duty;
       (D) to acknowledge that there were serious deficiencies in 
     United States pre-war intelligence on Iraq, particularly in 
     light of the failure to find any evidence of significant 
     weapons of mass destruction programs, and to take steps now 
     to improve intelligence so that United States troops are 
     better protected and future United States national security 
     strategies are better informed;
       (E) to request sufficient funding immediately to fully 
     support United States military operations in Iraq and the 
     surrounding region in order to ensure the safety and well-
     being of United States troops deployed to Iraq and the 
     surrounding region;
       (F) to obtain far-reaching international participation in 
     the securing, reconstruction, and political development of 
     Iraq so that the United States can reduce the number of its 
     troops in Iraq, and reduce the size of its financial 
     commitment to Iraq operations; and
       (G) to take steps to correct the failure of the United 
     States Government to plan adequately for the post-war 
     occupation of Iraq, including the failure to integrate 
     internal

[[Page 4497]]

     United States Government studies and outside expert opinions 
     that predicted the onset of guerrilla activity and described 
     how to promote effective reconstruction, democratization, and 
     civil society development activities, and the failure to 
     apply those studies and opinions today in order to improve 
     current United States reconstruction efforts in Iraq;
       (6) expresses deep sorrow and regret for the deaths of more 
     than 550 and the wounding of more than 3,500 members of the 
     United States Armed Forces in Iraq and extends support to 
     their families; and
       (7) expresses sorrow and regret for the deaths in Iraq of 
     United States civilians, Untied Nations personnel, unknown 
     numbers of Iraqi civilians, and other noncombatants.

  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. I think there is a 
little semantic difficulty on the words ``safe'' and ``safer.'' I would 
not say that Iraq is safe. I would not say crossing Pennsylvania Avenue 
in rush hour is safe. The question is, Is it safer with Mr. Saddam 
Hussein in a cell? Or is it less safe with him in one of his palaces 
plotting to amputate limbs from some of his people or to bury Kurds 
alive like he has done?
  The world is a safer place with him in a cell because Mohmmar Qaddafi 
watched that and went to school on that. He decided to put his cards 
down and give up his nuclear pretensions.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Chabot).
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I want to join my colleagues in commending 
the brave men and women who have liberated the Iraqi people. And I want 
to express my heartfelt sympathies to those families who have lost 
loved ones in battle. Did we do the right thing? I would say we did. 
Hundreds of mass graves containing the remains of as many as 400,000 
victims of Saddam Hussein have been found in Iraq. For those of my 
colleagues who have not seen it, I would urge them to get a copy of 
``Iraq's Legacy of Terror: Mass Graves,'' published by USAID. Let me 
quote from it:
  ``Rows of white bundles containing bones filled room after room. 
Families filed by searching for signs of those who had disappeared, 
some stolen during the night, others taken in daylight. Even small 
children were not spared the butchery. Some graves hold a few dozen 
bodies, their arms lashed together and the bullet holes in the backs of 
skulls testimony to their execution. Other graves go on for hundreds of 
meters, densely packed with thousands of bodies.''
  We have learned from survivors about Iraqi citizens being 
indiscriminately detained, men, women, children, the elderly, the 
blind, the aged, led to the edge of a swamp and executed one by one. 
Why? Just to let everybody know who was in charge. We know that 
Saddam's psychopath sons were as evil as their father. His eldest son 
Uday boasted that when it was his time to rule Iraq he would be even 
more brutal than Saddam. It was Uday who routinely had his thugs 
deliver women to him so he could rape them. It was he who was said to 
have fed a young woman to his attack dogs. It is he who reportedly 
abducted and violently raped a newlywed. After she committed suicide, 
he had her husband arrested and executed.
  Now, because of the bravery and sacrifice of the men and women of our 
Armed Forces, Saddam is behind bars, Uday and Qusay are roasting in 
hell, and 25 million Iraqis are free.
  Did we do the right thing? I think we did.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the learned 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton).
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been in my office listening to the rhetoric. It 
has been very interesting. People have been talking about how this 
resolution divides us. I do not think it is the resolution. I think it 
is the rhetoric. We are all in support of our troops, but those who 
have been over there, as we were just a couple of weeks ago, know that 
our troops know they are doing the right thing. They know that the 
Iraqi people are happy that Saddam Hussein is gone. We talked to people 
when I was over there that said they did not have 400,000 people in 
mass graves, people that were tortured in the prison; but they believe 
it was more like between 1 million and 1.3 million. Over 1 million 
people were thrown into mass graves. That alone is reason enough to get 
that guy out of there.
  But let us talk about weapons of mass destruction. In the 1980s, the 
Israelis attacked a nuclear reactor in Iraq because they knew he was 
going to build a nuclear weapon, and a nuclear weapon is a weapon of 
mass destruction. He used, as we all know, chemical weapons to kill 
thousands and thousands of Kurds, women and children, and he used those 
same things in the Iran-Iraq war that went on for 7 years. So this guy 
used weapons of mass destruction. He violated every single U.N. 
resolution that came out of the United Nations. So why should we 
believe that he would not have weapons of mass destruction, that he 
would disarm himself when he violated every agreement that he made? And 
he used weapons of mass destruction.
  The President had every right to do what he did. Saddam Hussein was a 
threat not only to the region but to the whole world. As far as working 
with al Qaeda, you will never convince me that he was not working with 
the international terrorist network, including al Qaeda. That guy 
wanted to destroy our way of life and everything we believe in.
  Some of my colleagues today have been down here on the floor 
haranguing about how they feel about this. I want to quote some of my 
Democratic colleagues and what they have said in the past. On December 
17, 1998, regarding Iraqi women and children and how they should be 
protected, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) said:
  ``I also say that we in this body, along with the Commander in Chief, 
must have a definitive policy to protect the suffering women and 
children and to make sure that democracy comes to the region.'' That is 
a little different than the tone we are hearing today. My distinguished 
colleague for whom I have high regard, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. 
Skelton), said:
  ``Had the President not ordered the attack, many would have bitterly 
criticized him for not having followed through with the tough words he 
uttered just 1 month ago.'' And also my distinguished colleague from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Meehan) came to the floor to decry criticism of 
President Clinton's motives for ordering air strikes on Iraq. He said:
  ``To my colleagues who have questioned the President's motives in the 
midst of this crisis, shame on them. Shame on them for breaking the 
longstanding tradition that leaves party politics at our Nation's 
shores.'' What are we hearing today? Party politics. This is a 
resolution congratulating our troops and talking about doing the right 
thing in Iraq, and we ought to be working together instead of 
criticizing each other for this. Then the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Wexler) echoed those sentiments at the same time when he said, ``For 
one day we should have been patriots, not partisans. Politics should 
have stopped at the water's edge.'' How about today? That is what the 
Democrat colleagues of mine were saying just a few years ago.
  And, of course, the distinguished minority leader, the gentlewoman 
from California (Ms. Pelosi), said on National Public Radio's ``Talk of 
the Nation'' program, ``There is no question that everyone wants regime 
change in Iraq. The question is change to what?'' And then on the 
``O'Reilly Factor'' she said in 2002, ``I think Americans and those in 
Congress are unified in wanting and joining the President in wanting a 
regime change in Iraq.''
  Then let me quote the gentleman from New York (Mr. Ackerman), who 
said in 2002, ``We cannot simply hope that Saddam Hussein will be 
deterred. He has shown himself to be an inveterate and dangerous 
gambler.'' The gentleman from New York was not wrong. This is a good 
resolution. We ought to all join together to pass it.
  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  The President of the United States has said there is no connection 
between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. The director of intelligence has 
said there is

[[Page 4498]]

no connection. Secretary of State Colin Powell has said there is no 
connection. You may think there is a connection. We are revisiting 
history when we start to talk about all the things the gentleman is 
talking about. We went to war because there were weapons of mass 
destruction. We went to war because there was connection with al Qaeda. 
We did not go to war because of this. Many of these incidents happened 
when George Bush I was President and he said, ``I'm not going to go 
into Iraq because I don't want to rebuild Iraq.'' The cost to this 
Nation, the Under Secretary of Defense said, will be nothing. He said, 
``We'll pay for it with their oil.'' $150 billion later we are still 
paying, and we will pay for a long time.
  I am in this for the long haul, but when I see a partisan resolution 
which was brought up without any input from me or any other Democrat, 
and you call us partisan? This does not make any sense. Why did anybody 
not come to us and say, change a few words, change some in the preamble 
and we will have a resolution we can support.
  I appreciate what the gentleman is saying. There is nobody that has 
supported Presidents more than I have, but I just get upset when 
something comes across this way.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Rangel), a Korean War veteran.
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, this is one of the most difficult periods of 
time that I have had, because I do not get angry when the majority 
drafts bills in order to embarrass Democrats. I think that goes with 
the job. But I think it is really insulting and embarrassing when they 
use the troops as a vehicle to embarrass us.
  There is nobody on either side of the aisle that will challenge the 
deep respect that we have for the men and women in our Armed Forces. 
But when the majority drafts a bill and says this is a Republican bill, 
you know that there is something crummy about it. You just have to look 
and find out what it is.
  So they start saying all of these things that we agree to; but then 
they say, and it is a safer world as a result of Saddam Hussein being 
captured. It would seem to me that the lives of Americans that are on 
the line, their safety, that if there is anything that we as Democrats 
and politicians could find as sacred, if we just wanted to commend them 
and their families and their loved ones, that we would go out of our 
way to make certain that we do not put anything in there that could be 
described by political pundits as a poison pill. We should run it by 
Democrats and Republicans and say, Is there anything at all offensive 
in this because we do not want this to be controversial?
  I am so glad I was not a fly on the wall when the Republican 
leadership put this together because in my heart I do not truly believe 
that they wanted to find some way to laud the troops, but they wanted 
some way to try to find to embarrass Democrats. To use our military is 
one of the cheapest things that I think you can do.
  Let us talk about who these military people are that we are lauding. 
This is one of those things I learned on Lennox Avenue when I was a 
hoodlum. There are always some people talking about, Let's go to fight. 
Let's settle this. Bring them on and we're not going to tolerate 
anything except total victory. But when it comes time to get involved 
in that fight, they are the same ones saying, ``You go ahead in the 
fight, I'll hold your coat.''
  There is a lot of talk about shared sacrifice, but I hope we take a 
look and see who are the people who are volunteers, that is, 
volunteering putting their lives on the line each and every day. I 
remember in June of 1950 I was in Fort Lewis, Washington, and we were 
alerted that the Second Infantry Division was going to go to Korea to 
fight the North Koreans. Not one of us ever said, ``What is the fight 
about? What is the war about?'' We only knew that we were warriors, we 
were military people; and when that flag went up, we saluted it.
  I go off and see the Reservists. I go off and see the National Guard 
going to Iraq. Not one of them has asked the political question as to 
why are we going over there. Yet I think that we have the political 
responsibility when we endorse the wars to find out not only why are we 
doing it but we have a political responsibility to be satisfied that it 
is the right thing. If we differ about that, that is what America is 
all about. That is what the Congress is all about. But you do not put 
that controversy in a bill when these military people do not have the 
options to discuss whether the war is right or wrong. They have the 
responsibility to obey the Commander in Chief.
  I have taken a little survey along with the gentleman from Missouri 
(Mr. Skelton) about who is fighting this war and these people that we 
are commending. Believe me, they did not sign up to get rid of Saddam 
Hussein. As evil as this guy may be, one day some of us may be asked 
the question, Was it worth 550 American lives or 3,000 people that are 
in our heart, some with and some without Purple Hearts? One day someone 
would ask, where did they come from? Did they enlist to fight 
terrorism, or did they enlist because there were no jobs available? Are 
these minorities from the inner cities that are looking for a better 
way of life but accept their responsibility as to why they enlisted? Do 
they come from districts such as the gentleman from Missouri's 
district, the rural areas where unemployment is rampant? And why do we 
find there are more blacks, almost twice as many as the population, in 
the Army and how does that compare where in my city 50 percent of the 
African American men are unemployed?

                              {time}  1815

  Do the Members not think that had something to do with the 
enlistments? Do the Members not think they wanted to send a check home 
to their mom because they could not get a job? Do the Members not think 
they want the educational benefits to improve themselves, as I did as a 
high school dropout?
  And why do we have to commend them when we find out just today that 
12 percent of the Nation's population is black but they represent 20 
percent of those that were killed. Black deaths in the Iraq war exceeds 
the rate of Vietnam. Go to Hispanics, we see the same thing. Go to 
white Americans and we see the same thing.
  So we do not need a political resolution to try to polarize this 
Congress. We know we love and respect those people who salute that 
flag. And to put in a political controversial clause to attempt to 
embarrass us is just not going to work.
  How low can you get when you use the military as a way to attempt to 
embarrass your colleagues?
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.
  I enjoyed listening to the last speaker tell us of his war exploits. 
I never tire of hearing them, and I find them quite fascinating. But I 
am bewildered. I do not quite understand why someone who wants to 
praise the military does not understand that getting rid of Saddam 
Hussein and trying to secure Iraq is a conquest by our military, an 
achievement, and that is why they are first in the four things this 
resolution does. And why he would want to detract from that 
accomplishment, that military achievement, is something that I am 
bewildered by.
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield for edification 
since he is bewildered?
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, the last time I yielded, I did not get my time 
back.
  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New 
York.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Isakson). The gentleman from Illinois 
controls the time. If the gentleman yields back his time, the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania may recognize the gentleman from New York, and then 
we have got our time in order.
  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New 
York.
  Mr. HYDE. Very well, Mr. Speaker. I yield back my time and I will 
listen again.
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, the chairman may be fascinated by my war 
experiences. I did not talk about it.

[[Page 4499]]

When he has time, I will give him more time than he will ever want to 
hear about it.
  What I am saying is this: We have an opportunity to laud our service 
people. You know there is one issue on this floor, and that is whether 
or not we were misled in getting involved in this. I do not care which 
side one is on. We want to laud the servicemen. Why would you put 
Saddam Hussein in this resolution? Why did you not leave him out so 
that we could have unanimous consent that we laud the military? You 
deliberately put Saddam Hussein in there to divide us and not to bring 
us together.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence).
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  I rise in strong support of this resolution. One year ago this week, 
freedom came to the good people of Iraq and the tyrant Saddam Hussein 
fell. And it is impossible to speak of the one without the other. And 
the contents of this resolution are therefore fitting and appropriate.
  I rise to support this resolution, Mr. Speaker, with my feet still 
dusty from a trip to Iraq just 2 weeks ago. And while I was deeply 
moved and overwhelmed by the valor of our troops during that journey, I 
was equally moved by the gratitude and the affection that I experienced 
from the people of Iraq. I really fell in love with the Iraqi people, 
and I learned that the Iraqis that I met love the American people.
  We traveled through a ravaged city of Basra, one-story sandstone 
homes, and met at Coalition Provisional Headquarters. During our 
meeting with top civil and religious leaders, I thought when it came to 
my turn I would just ask them, What did they think of our decision to 
remove Saddam Hussein? And what had been a cool if not distant 
atmosphere in our discussion suddenly erupted in a flourish of passion 
and candor. A local Muslim leader, whose dress and appearance gave him 
an ancient air, said icily to me ``Saddam Hussein was a nightmare, and 
the day that your people removed him from power was a day when a dark 
curtain was lifted from the people of Iraq and the daylight was able to 
shine in.''
  Later we met with a large group of ordinary Iraqis eager to speak to 
American officials. As we sat around the lunch table, there were 
pointed opinions. These English-speaking Iraqis were so strong in their 
views and sometimes criticisms of our reconstruction policies, I 
thought for all the world I was back on the floor of Congress. But then 
they began to speak of their gratitude toward the American people, of 
the horror of living under Saddam Hussein, of 400,000 bodies of men and 
women and boys and girls that had been found, and another 800,000 that 
were missing. I saw them many times, Mr. Speaker, with tears in their 
eyes say to me as an American official ``When you go home, tell the 
people that you serve that we are grateful to the American people and 
your allies for what you have done for us.'' And they were breathlessly 
excited about democracy.
  I will never forget the moment at a USAID class where I spoke to a 
group of Iraqi women. They shared with me poems in English that they 
had written about democracy, and almost with the enthusiasm of grade-
school children, their hands almost quivered as they spoke of the 
future in which they believe.
  I rise to honor in this resolution our Armed Forces, our allies, and 
the good people of Iraq, all of whom deserve the resolution and support 
of this Congress.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce).
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman 
Hyde) for yielding me this time.
  This resolution rightly highlights the vast crimes against humanity 
committed by Saddam Hussein's regime. And as we have heard today, as 
many as 270 mass graves have been found so far, containing the bodies 
of 400,000 Iraqis. Four hundred thousand.
  I remember photos my father, a U.S. serviceman, took when U.S. forces 
overran the death camp in Dachau, Germany in the closing days of World 
War II. People executed in pits, by the thousands. I never thought I 
would see photos like those photos again.
  In the days and weeks following Saddam's overthrow, we learned more 
about another dictator's evil, and here is one account from the L.A. 
Times: ``The executions took place two or three times on most days. 
Each time between 100 and 150 blindfolded people, their hands and 
sometimes feet bound, were led into pits about 10 feet deep. Gunmen 
then fired into the pit, often for several minutes . . . A bulldozer 
then pushed dirt over the bodies, sometimes burying or crushing people 
who had survived the volley and were trying to climb out.'' Four 
hundred thousand people.
  In two trips to Iraq, I have had the chance to talk to tortured 
Iraqis. Some ask, Why act in Iraq and not the other countries suffering 
through human rights nightmares? I would respond that just because we 
do not act in all cases of gross human rights abuses does not mean we 
should not act in any cases. Moreover, in Iraq's case, our ability to 
act effectively is greater because our vital national security 
interests are on the line. Our interest in seeing a reformed Middle 
East will keep us committed to building a free Iraq. So let us forget 
that argument. It obscures the nightmare that was Saddam's Iraq and it 
belittles our closing of his torture chambers.
  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  We did not go to war in World War II because of Dachau. We went to 
war because they attacked us, because our national security was in 
danger. And we went to war in Iraq because there were weapons of mass 
destruction, I thought. There were al Qaeda connections, I thought. We 
did not go to war because these people were killed.
  George Bush one, the first George Bush, knew there were mass graves. 
And he did not go into Iraq and he said, I do not want to rebuild Iraq; 
I do not want to occupy Iraq. And one Under Secretary of Defense said 
to our subcommittee it will not cost us a cent. It has cost us $150 
billion to fight in Iraq and to rebuild Iraq.
  So we are trying to revisit history. I mean, we cannot change it. We 
went to war because we thought we were threatened. These things were 
terrible things. We are glad to get rid of Saddam Hussein. That is not 
the point. We cannot revisit and change history. So I feel very 
strongly.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 7 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Dingell).
  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, like many senior Democrats, I supported 
George Herbert Walker Bush in going into Iraq the first time. I also 
served my country in World War II, and I know a little about the 
military.
  But I want to talk about this curious process that we are going 
through today. I want to talk about this resolution. If we look, the 
Committee on Rules has given us a closed rule. No Democratic amendments 
are allowed. No real discussion is permitted. And it says so in the 
report. If my colleagues do not believe me, they should get a copy of 
it. No Democratic sponsors. Very little Democratic support or 
consultation on this side with the Members.
  If we want to have bipartisan support for what we are doing over 
there, there is a way to do it. It may well be my Republican colleagues 
do not know it. But a little consultation over here could be useful. I 
think my colleagues on the Republican side should know what the problem 
is. It is where we make an affirmation that the United States and the 
world have been made safer with the removal of Saddam Hussein and his 
regime. Have we really been made safer? Let us look at it. We have 
committed the entirety of our military to serve over there. We have 
nothing to meet a problem which might exist in Korea or somewhere else 
where there are atom bombs and weapons of mass destruction now readily 
available. No weapons of mass destruction have been found. Mr. Kay and 
Mr. Blix both said none. The President said

[[Page 4500]]

they are there. Now the President has admitted they are not. And, of 
course, my Republican colleagues now want to purge themselves of 
responsibility for what is evidence of some kind of either disingenuous 
behavior or outright dishonesty in committing us to a war on the theory 
that there were weapons of mass destruction there.
  Now we also have our Republican colleagues in the curious position 
where they say that al Qaeda is operating there, and al Qaeda probably 
is operating there, and we must ask again if we are safer because al 
Qaeda operates there. The fact of the matter is there is no evidence at 
any time previously, and the administration has to admit it, that al 
Qaeda or any terrorist group was functioning out of Iraq. That is 
something that has now been manufactured in the teeth of admissions by 
the administration that that kind of situation does not obtain.
  I do not want to say whether the administration has deceived the 
American people intentionally or otherwise. That will be decided by 
history, and we are going to have to let the Republicans and their 
administration decide whether it was an exercise of supreme 
incompetence or whether there was dishonesty or some curious mixture of 
the above. I do not want to pollute this debate with that kind of 
discussion.
  But I do want to point out some things. We are not safer now with the 
troops that we have all committed over there and the inability to 
address problems that exist in Korea or elsewhere in the world where 
people might stir up trouble, or in Iran, immediately next door, or, 
for that matter, in Pakistan, or in other places where there are 
dictators who are anxious and willing and able to make trouble. We are 
not stronger in this country because we have committed, as my good 
friend from Pennsylvania says, 150-some billion dollars. The number is 
actually more like $186 billion over there.

                              {time}  1830

  That is money that will not be available for schools and education 
and health. It is money that is not going to be able to assist us to 
deal with threats to the security of this Nation from other causes, 
from the risks that exist in the other countries that do make trouble.
  This is the defect of this process. If we want to deal with this 
thing of our commitment in Iraq, I say to my Republican colleagues, 
address it in a real bipartisan way. Let us consult. Let us work 
together. Let us consult together so that we can pull together in the 
interests of the United States. Because every man and woman in this 
Chamber wants to bring those young people home safe, with dignity and 
honor. Every person in this Chamber wants to see to it that we win over 
there. And every American in this Chamber is committed to seeing to it 
that we not only bring our people home safe, but to see to it that we 
win, and that we now do correct the problems of having committed 
ourselves to what was essentially a very unwise war on the basis of 
unwise statements which had little or no basis in fact.
  That is the way we should be addressing this issue. We should not be 
bringing forward to the House something that looks like a pronouncement 
from the Republican National Committee that has all of the 
bipartisanship that one can find in such an undertaking. We should be 
talking and working together about how we bring Americans together now 
to address this question. Patriotic Americans are still entitled to 
speak their thoughts. Patriotic Americans are still entitled to have 
answers to why we are in this mess. And sensible, intelligent men and 
women are entitled to ask why we are in this mess.
  Mr. Speaker, history tells us what we are looking at. The British 
went in in 1920 to Iraq. They left Iraq after a dozen years of warfare 
over there. They had lost thousands of British troops' lives, hundreds 
of millions of pounds, each one of those pounds was worth somewhere 
between $50 and $100 U.S. dollars today, and they still were not able 
to win, to get the peace that they wanted, to establish a world in that 
area where things would go the way honest and decent human beings 
wanted it.
  Iraq is a country which is driven by racial and religious 
differences. We have the Sunnis, the Shi'ias, we have the Kurds, the 
Turkmens, the Catholics, the Christians, and the Chaldeans over there. 
None of them like each other and all of them distrust each other 
intensely.
  We are losing today about one American every day, one American, dead; 
but thousands of them maimed and killed in the most gruesome of ways. 
We need to understand that we have to pull together. This is not the 
mechanism for that.
  These people over there and the United States are not more safe 
because of this. We are not focusing on international problems which 
threaten us. We are not able to spend the resources which we need 
because we are spending them over there and cannot now spend them over 
here on schools and education and health and other things that are 
important to our people.
  This is the wrong way to proceed. I say shame.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to 
the distinguished gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Smith).
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding 
me this time.
  What are our goals and how do we best achieve them? I would think our 
goal in this war on terror is to have a safer and better place in 
America and the rest of the world. I would suggest that we are moving 
ahead in that direction.
  Let me just read the resolution:
  ``Commends the Iraqi people for their courage in the face of 
unspeakable oppression and brutality inflicted on them by Saddam 
Hussein's regime.'' I do not think we should disagree with that.
  ``Commends the Iraqi people on the adoption of Iraq's interim 
constitution.'' I do not think anyone should disagree with that.
  ``Commends the members of the United States Armed Forces and 
Coalition forces for liberating Iraq and expresses its gratitude for 
their valiant service.'' Certainly nobody would disagree with their 
valiant service.
  Is it a question that we are liberating Iraq? I thought the poll that 
came out was very interesting, where 2,500 Iraqis were polled on their 
opinion now, a year later, and I will read a couple. Some 57 percent 
said that life was better now than under Saddam, against 19 percent who 
said it was worse. Fifty-seven said it was better now and 19 percent 
said it was worse. Overall, 70 percent said that life was good now. 
Seventy percent said that life was good now, compared with 29 percent 
who said it was bad.
  Asked what political system they believed was needed in their 
country, 86 percent said they wanted democracy. I met a little over a 
month ago with 60 nations at the Pacific Interparliamentary meeting. 
Those people are happy, in my mind, as I judge their conversations, 
that the United States and Great Britain and the coalition forces are 
doing something. They are sort of happy they are not paying for it, but 
they are happy that somebody is aggressive in this war on terrorism.
  I met a couple of weeks ago in Libya, and Qaddafi, there is no 
question that Qaddafi did not want to end up the way that Saddam did. I 
was one of eight Members in Libya, and now we have countries like Libya 
saying, We are going to give up our nuclear weapons. We are going to 
give up our weapons of mass destruction.
  Did Saddam have those weapons? We know he had them. This summer we 
found all of those airplanes buried under the sand. I think, I suspect, 
that some place under the sand or someplace, there are still those 
weapons. We know he had them; we do not know what he did with them. I 
think the world is safer.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp).
  Mr. WAMP. Mr. Speaker, like so many here in the House, I continue to 
pray for all of the courageous men and women in the uniforms of our 
Armed Forces, and especially the families who

[[Page 4501]]

have lost a loved one and have paid the ultimate price in Afghanistan 
and Iraq. But I wish, as the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde) 
referenced, that all of the Members could have been with me in Oak 
Ridge, Tennessee, this past Monday, along with the Secretary of Energy, 
to see the centrifuges and the nuclear arsenal that was voluntarily 
given up by Moammar Qaddafi from Libya, because there is no doubt, 
while we can all draw our own conclusions, there is no doubt in my 
heart that that is a result of our consistent and decisive offensive 
since September 11 around the world against terror; because terrorism, 
as we see in Spain and in Baghdad and the fear in London, is alive and 
well, and terrorism continues, and we must pursue the terrorists and 
keep them on the defensive.
  I believe our consistency and our resoluteness has paid off in 
effective ways, such as Libya giving up their nuclear deterrent; the 
Bush doctrine: You are either with us or you are against us. They have 
to declare. Libya declared. We do not want to be against you; they are 
voluntarily giving it up.
  Now, we need to listen to some of the neutral parties. I know a lot 
of the concern today is about process. I do not know, I was not here 
when the Democrats were in the majority. Frankly, both parties are 
guilty of shutting out the other side. But I know that I am concerned 
about the signals that are being sent today out of this Chamber and in 
this town about our commitment to Iraq. This is a bold, long-term 
commitment.
  Neutral observers like Thomas Friedman expressed concern in the last 
48 hours about Spain, what is happening in Iraq, and whether the 
terrorists are intimidating free people around the world. We need to 
stand our ground in this war on terror. There is no doubt we had to do 
what we did in Iraq and that good has come out of it.
  Mr. Speaker, terrorism cannot be allowed to win the day. Peace 
through strength works. Appeasement has never worked. And we are tested 
again today, whether or not we will stick to our guns and finish what 
we have started, even if it takes years and more money.
  I want to secure our investments in the region. The people were poor 
there, but the country was wealthy. I believe we have done the right 
thing, and we have to be strong and tough and dig our heels in.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the 
distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young).
  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I believe that when the political 
smoke of this great debate today clears, that this bill is going to 
pass with a very substantial vote. I think it is going to be passed 
with a substantial vote because every one of us in this Chamber wants 
to keep the commitment that we made several years ago after September 
11, that we are going to support our troops when they are in the field, 
when they are at risk, when they are in harm's way.
  This is just another statement, as the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Murtha) has repeatedly said today, we have spent a lot of money of 
American taxpayer dollars to fund the operation, and we want to make 
sure that our troops understand that we believe they are doing a good 
job, and they are. We want to let them know that they are not in harm's 
way in vain.
  So I think the bill is going to pass with a nice vote. But do my 
colleagues know something? I had a chance to be the sponsor of the bill 
that appropriated $40 billion on September 14 of 2001. I had the 
privilege of being the sponsor of the supplemental that the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) talked about, that was sizable, to pay 
for our troops in the field and what they needed by way of equipment. 
But do my colleagues know something? Besides being a player to that 
extent, I am not offended that I was not asked to write this bill. I am 
very satisfied that the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde) and his 
committee wrote a very good bill. I am not offended that I was not 
asked to be the sponsor. The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) is the 
ideal sponsor, and those who did sponsor this bill.
  So I think once the political smoke clears, this House is going to 
stand up and is going to be counted and to tell our troops in the field 
and to tell our troops who are recuperating in hospitals that we 
support what they are doing, we believe in what they are doing, and 
that we are here to do whatever has to be done to protect our country 
and our countrymen from terrorist attacks and to provide support for 
those who provide that kind of security for us.
  I have a lot of other things I would like to say, but time is 
limited. So, Mr. Speaker, I will insert the balance of my statement 
into the Record at this point.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 557, which 
honors the valor, courage, and professionalism with which our American 
forces, and those of our coalition partners, have served in liberating 
the people of Iraq.
  We consider this resolution today on the first anniversary of the 
initiation of military operations in Iraq. However, the difficult 
decisions by Congress to authorize the use of force in Iraq and the 
President's ultimate directive to send troops into Iraq were the 
culmination of more than 13 years of violence and terrorism directed at 
the United States and our allies throughout the world.
  Saddam Hussein's movement of troops into Kuwait in 1990 threatened 
the freedom and security of the people of that nation who remain one of 
our country's staunchest allies. We responded as a Nation and in 
partnership with the free nations of the world in Operation Desert 
Storm to throw Saddam's forces out of Kuwait. Subsequently, through a 
series of United Nation's resolutions, we sought to monitor Saddam's 
activities to prevent him from again threatening the sovereignty of 
another ally.
  Since then, as this resolution points out, Saddam Hussein and his 
regime have committed repeated heinous crimes against humanity, 
including the murder, torture, rape, and amputation of his own people. 
This is the regime that unleashed weapons of mass destruction against 
the Kurdish people, killing nearly 5,000. We have found more than 270 
mass graves sites in Iraq, with the remains of more than 400,000 
people. Saddam Hussein poisoned the water supply of his enemies, he 
even punished the Marsh Arabs by draining their marshlands, which 
created hundreds of thousands of refugees and created an ecological 
catastrophe.
  This Congress responded in 1998 by adopting the Iraq Liberation Act, 
which made it U.S. policy to support efforts to remove Saddam Hussein 
and his regime from power. President Clinton, however, after signing 
this act into law never followed through.
  Four years later, after little or no U.S. action to rid Iraq of 
Saddam Hussein, the United Nation Security Council approved Resolution 
1441 declaring that Iraq ``has been and remains in material breach of 
its obligations'' under previously adopted Security Council 
resolutions.
  Clearly, the United States and President Bush did not start this war, 
just as we did not start the global war on terrorism. We responded to a 
series of attacks against the American people and our allies throughout 
the world.
  Recall that on February 26, 1993, six lives were lost in the first 
bombing of the World Trade Center. Our response at the time was a 
series of harsh words and empty rhetoric.
  Three years later, on June 25, 1996, 19 U.S. service members lost 
their lives in the bombing of Khobar Towers, outside a U.S. air base in 
Saudi Arabia. The response again was harsh words, empty rhetoric, and 
promises of a thorough investigation.
  Two years after that, 259 died, including 11 Americans, in the 
bombing of U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The response again was 
more harsh words and a cruise missile attack on a pharmaceutical 
factory in Sudan.
  Finally, feeling empowered by the continuing lack of a credible U.S. 
response to past attacks, terrorists bombed the USS Cole while anchored 
off Yemen, killing 17 U.S. sailors, and injuring countless others. The 
U.S. response again was harsh words of outrage and the promise of a 
full investigation.
  The year 2001 arrived with a new President and a new set of world 
challenges. However, just nine months into the Bush Administration, the 
world changed forever on September 11, 2001. A hijacked airliner 
crashes into the Pentagon killing 189. Two hijacked planes crash into 
the World Trade Center, killing 2,801. And a hijacked plane crashes in 
rural Pennsylvania, killing 44.
  This time it was a different President with a different response. 
President Bush announced

[[Page 4502]]

that in response to these terrorist attacks on our nation and our 
people we will respond by seeking out those who were responsible and 
hold them accountable. We will respond by identifying terrorist 
organizations and eliminate them at their roots.
  Mr. Speaker, the terrorist attacks of September 11th were a direct 
assault on our nation's freedom, and a test of our will to defend it. 
The nations of the free world wondered if we would meet the challenge, 
if this time our promises to strike back against the terrorists would 
be followed by decisive action.
  Just three days after September 11th, my Committee on Appropriations 
and this Congress stepped forward to approve a $40 billion emergency 
supplemental appropriations bill to fund recovery efforts in New York 
City and at the Pentagon, and to take military action against the 
perpetrators of those despicable attacks. That was the first concrete 
signal to the world that this time, we as a nation were serious in 
backing up the words of our President. Since that day Congress and the 
America people have shown time and again that no matter how long it 
takes or where it may lead, our commitment to win this war on terrorism 
is unshakeable.
  President Bush sent U.S. troops to Afghanistan to destroy and disrupt 
al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden's operations. Our forces routed the 
Taliban, killed many terrorists, and eliminated al-Qaeda main base of 
operations. They also liberated millions of men, women, and children 
from a cruel regime, and gave them a chance to choose their own 
government and enjoy the benefits of freedom. But our victory against 
the Taliban was not the end of the war on terrorism.
  When the United Nations determined that Saddam Hussein was not living 
up to the Security Council resolutions, President Bush acted decisively 
in sending troops to Iraq.
  This resolution recognizes the remarkable swiftness and precision 
with which our troops advanced across Iraq to remove from power the 
Hussein regime. The effectiveness of our Armed Forces caught the enemy 
by surprise. Even after the end of major combat operations in Iraq our 
troops have continued their mission to stabilize and rebuild that 
country. They have captured 45 of the 55 most wanted Iraqis, including 
Saddam himself, ensuring that he will never return to power. With the 
cooperation of Iraqi security forces, our troops have captured and 
killed hundreds of terrorists who sought to restore the dictator to 
power. The world has also seen the humanity and generosity of America, 
as our troops, using funds appropriated by this Congress, help restore 
water and electricity, provide basic health services, and bring 
children back to school, free from intimidation and indoctrination.
  There are those in this debate today who have said that we started 
the war against terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq. The truth of the 
matter is that the war started in 1993 with the first bombing of the 
World Trade Center, which was greeted with such a tepid response. Thank 
God that on September 11, 2001 George Bush was President and he decided 
that there was enough of this one-sided war against Americans and our 
allies. There was enough of us being on the receiving end of cowardly 
acts of terrorism, with the bad guys getting away with it. So yes, we 
did engage in combat finally to fulfill our obligation to protect our 
country and our people whether in their workplace, in their homes, or 
in their schools.
  Having spent considerable time with our troops here at home and 
abroad, including those who have been injured in the line of duty, I 
can tell you that they support President Bush and their mission. These 
kids; and I say kids because many who are on the front lines are 18, 
19, and 20 years old; are true patriots. Those who are injured are 
determined to get well so they can get back to the fight to finish the 
job they have begun. They all share a strong belief that what we are 
doing is right, not just for the people of Iraq, but it is right for 
the freedom loving people of the world.
  The battle of Iraq was another critical advance in the War on 
Terrorism. Today we are establishing a Muslim democracy at the heart of 
the Middle East. Representatives from all three of Iraqi's major ethnic 
groups came together on march 8 to sign an interim constitution. Iraq 
now has an independent judiciary and will have free elections later 
this year. Because of the leadership of our President, the courage and 
determination of our troops,and the strong commitment the members of 
this body made to the rebuilding of Iraq, that nation is making strong 
progress towards freedom and prosperity.
  As many of you know, my wife Beverly and I spend many hours visiting 
wounded soldiers and Marines at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and 
the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. In addition to 
comforting them and helping give them strength for their recovery, I 
always take the time to remind them that the American people are 
grateful for their service and their sacrifice, and proud of their 
achievements. Mr. Speaker, this resolution gives Members of this body 
the opportunity to remind all of our men and women in uniform that we 
are thankful for their service, and proud of their victory in Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, it was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who in this 
very Chamber talked about the ``four essential human freedoms.'' He 
said that they are, ``The freedom of speech--everywhere in the world. 
The freedom of every person to worship God in his or her own way--
everywhere in the world. The freedom from want--everywhere in the 
world. The freedom from fear--anywhere in the world.''
  President Bush has led the world-wide effort to ensure the freedom 
from fear, anywhere in the world, whether it be the United States, 
Iraq, Afghanistan, or Spain. And he has called upon the world's most 
powerful and best trained soldiers of peace to carry out that mission, 
which they have done with valor, with courage, with pride, with 
devotion, and with unmatched professionalism.
  Mr. Speaker, with the adoption of this resolution today, we can 
reiterate our support for their mission which is to ensure a world 
where people can truly live free from fear.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Dunn).
  Ms. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me this 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, for more than 20 years, Saddam Hussein used tactics of 
torture, brutality, and fear to terrorize the citizens of Iraq and 
neighboring countries. Exactly 16 years ago this week, Saddam Hussein 
unleashed weapons of mass destruction that killed 5,000 of his own 
Kurdish citizens. He encouraged Iraqi officials to rape and torture 
women. Men and women of Iraq were repressed, and they were isolated 
from the rest of the world.
  One year after the United States and coalition forces liberated Iraqi 
citizens, the people of Iraq are embracing this opportunity to build a 
new and free Iraq for their children.
  Last October, I saw firsthand the remarkable activities that are 
taking place on the ground in Iraq. There are now over 3,800 programs 
that offer immediate assistance to improve the quality of life for all 
Iraqi people. As reconstruction efforts continue to move forward, many 
essential services like water, sanitation, electricity, and 
telecommunication have been restored and even surpass prewar levels. In 
fact, public health spending is now 26 times as great as it was under 
Saddam's regime.
  Today I met with a delegation of Iraqi leaders to talk about the 
continuing advances in Iraq. This was a diverse delegation. It was men 
and women, Shi'ias, Sunnis, tribal leaders, doctors, members of the 
free press. They are dedicated to promoting and to teaching democracy 
throughout south central Iraq. They shared their personal stories. They 
talked about the Democracy Regional Center where a democracy discussion 
was held for more than 1,500 Iraq people from different backgrounds, 
and they are launching a radio station, and they are promoting 
democracy to 10 million people through that part of the country. The 
Iraqi people are embracing democracy with open arms.
  Mr. Speaker, last week I held a roundtable discussion with a group of 
remarkable women leaders from Iraq. One of the women in the group gave 
me her wedding ring to keep as a reminder that we should not waiver 
from our commitment to women.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, support the Iraqi 
men and women who have done so much for us in that Nation. We should 
help them.

                              {time}  1845

  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Cantor).
  Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, as I sit here and I listen to the debate, I 
am almost in disbelief when I hear Members on the other side claiming 
perhaps that the world is not as safe a place since Saddam Hussein was 
removed.
  But I do not hear anyone on the other side disputing the facts in the 
resolution that Saddam Hussein committed crimes against humanity, that

[[Page 4503]]

he subjected the Iraqi people to murder and torture, and that he 
unleashed weapons of mass destruction against his own people.
  So I can only arrive at the conclusion that perhaps someone is 
insinuating that the horrific terrorist bombings that have occurred in 
Bali, in Riyadh, Madrid, Jerusalem since Saddam Hussein's ouster would 
not have occurred if he were still in office. Now, that is just 
preposterous. I know that no one would suggest such a thing.
  President Bush was right when he said that we cannot distinguish 
between the terrorists and the states that sponsor those terrorists. 
Regimes like Saddam Hussein's still exist. Those brutal outlaw regimes 
around the world who are there supporting the terrorist organizations 
are our enemies just as the terrorists themselves.
  Clearly, without Saddam Hussein, America is safer. The Middle East is 
safer. Just ask the Israelis. Ask them if they feel that they are not 
safer without the threat of Saddam and his Scuds aiming at Tel Aviv. Of 
course they are safer. Of course the world is safer.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to close by thanking God that we have our 
troops and our young men and women who are volunteering their lives, 
risking their lives to go and take the battle to the front lines, to 
take the battle to the terrorists so that perhaps we can avoid another 
terrorist attack on our homeland.
  Mr. Speaker, some people may flinch when they look in the eyes of the 
terrorists, but with this President in this House with the American 
people, that will never happen.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Blunt), the distinguished whip.
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, today as we debate this resolution, I am more 
convinced than ever that our country's leadership in removing Saddam 
Hussein from power was both morally and strategically right. Saddam 
Hussein left no choice but for us to act. He systematically violated 17 
separate U.N. Security Council resolutions. The U.N. chose not to act. 
He tried to conceal from the international community his desire to 
produce weapons of mass destruction.
  In November of 1999, our Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, said 
that Saddam Hussein has chosen to spend his money on weapons of mass 
destruction and palaces for his cronies. No doubt David Kay was correct 
when he called Saddam a gathering threat during a recent congressional 
hearing. If you do not believe Mr. Kay, maybe we should ask the 
families of the thousands of Kurds Saddam gassed in 1988 or ask the 
first U.N. weapons inspectors who prior to 1998 revealed the presence 
of anthrax, mustard gas, VX nerve gas, chemical weapons casings, and 
bombs filled with germ agents. These weapons remain unaccounted for 
today.
  Saddam Hussein's regime's support of numerous other terror 
organizations is well documented. Iraq stoked terrorism and instigated 
violence in Palestinian territories by paying the families of suicide 
bombers $25,000 for attacking innocent civilians.
  Iraq harbored the notorious Abu Nidal, whose terror organization 
carried out more dozens of terrorist attacks in 20 countries that 
killed and injured nearly 900 people including many Americans.
  Iraq harbored Abu Abbas who was responsible for the Achille Lauro.
  Iraq also incorporated the MEK terrorist organization into its own 
military and security forces.
  Since Saddam's fall, Libya voluntarily opened its weapons program to 
inspectors. Pakistan is now taking overdue action to reign in its 
nuclear proliferators. And very importantly, the emergence of a 
pluralist and democratic Iraq is forcing the region to undertake 
democratic and social reforms which will enhance stability throughout 
the Middle East.
  Iraq has a bright future. Not every day is a bright day, but every 
day moves closer to constitutional government and democracy. On March 
8, the governing council approved an interim constitution. Took us a 
lot longer to do that in our country. A sovereign government will 
assume authority for Iraq, we hope, later this year, later this summer 
even.
  There is plenty of work left to be done. But I think as we move this 
resolution today, we appropriately commend those who led this fight, 
the Iraqi people, for their incredible courage and optimism in the face 
of unspeakable horrors, and the proud men and women who serve us in the 
United States Armed Forces.
  For the reasons I just mentioned, along with many other reasons, I 
voted with the vast majority of my colleagues in 1998 in favor of the 
Iraq Liberation Act, which made it the policy of the Untied States that 
Saddam Hussein should be removed from power. And I commend the 
President for his leadership in taking action on this policy.
  And, Mr. Speaker, as a result of this action, there is no question 
that the United States and the world are safer. Decisive coalition 
action against this brutal dictator and his WMD programs has 
demonstrated our resolve. To name a few specific examples: First, in 
the weeks and months after the war, Colonel Gadhafi's regime in Libya 
voluntarily opened up its weapons program to inspectors after 
considering the cost of defying the United States and its partners in 
the war on terrorism; second, Pakistan is now taking overdue action to 
rein in its nuclear proliferators and, as a result, the network of 
illicit WMD suppliers is becoming more clear; last, Mr. Speaker, and 
this is very important, the emergence of a pluralist and democratic 
Iraq is forcing regional autocrats to undertake much-needed democratic 
and social reforms, which will lead to greater stability in a 
tumultuous region.
  For the first time in their lives, Iraqis will be guaranteed a free 
and fair election process, a Bill of Rights, and an independent 
judiciary; ideals which we here in America take for granted. All 
Iraqis, most notably Iraqi women, now have freedoms and rights they 
could have only dreamed of after a generation spent under Saddam's 
reign of terror. And more than 200,000 Iraqis have been trained and 
equipped by coalition forces to provide for the security, not the 
repression, of the Iraqi people.
  To be sure, there is plenty of work left to be done in Iraq. A 
society of terror and repression does not transform into a free and 
stable democracy overnight. But we must have faith in the Iraqi people. 
Early in our own Nation's history, regional and racial schisms 
threatened to tear the United States apart. Although the parallel is 
not perfect, many of Iraq's challenges today resemble those of early 
America as Iraq struggles to secure peaceful borders, build 
institutions, and draft a working democratic constitution in the face 
of great odds.
  The United States and the new Iraqi government must be strong allies 
in the war against terror, the effort to halt the proliferation of 
WMDs, and the ongoing struggles to bring fundamental human rights to 
all people. No other modern nation's people understand the need for 
these efforts like the people of Iraq. The normalization of relations 
with Iraq will provide us with opportunities to work closely with our 
Iraqi friends. I urge my colleagues to meet and work with Rend Rahim, 
the Representative to the United States from the Iraqi Governing 
Council, and who under the new sovereign government will become Iraqi 
Ambassador to the United States. Representative Rahim left Baghdad as a 
young woman in the 1970s. In 1991 she founded the Iraq Foundation and 
has become well-known as a passionate advocate for democracy in her 
homeland. In her new role she will work tirelessly toward fostering and 
maintaining the relationship between the United States and a free and 
democratic Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, we must be prepared to stay the course in Iraq, to 
overcome the terrorists and Ba'athists who fear democratic principles, 
and to put forth the necessary resources to demonstrate to the Iraqis 
and to the world that the United States will always remain committed to 
a free and secure Iraq. I commend the President and our coalition 
allies for their leadership in deposing Saddam Hussein, a brutal 
dictator who procured and employed weapons of mass destruction, 
repressed and tortured his people, and actively encouraged global 
terrorists with financial rewards. I commend the Iraqi people for their 
incredible courage and prevailing optimism in the face of horrors you 
and I cannot imagine. And I commend the proud men and women of the 
United States armed forces, who have proven once again that when called 
upon in defense of freedom, their effectiveness is unmatched anywhere 
in the world.
  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Farr) for a unanimous consent request.

[[Page 4504]]


  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I associate my remarks with the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha).
  I rise with concern and dismay on the Resolution before us.
  First of all it resolves a sense of the House of Representatives. How 
can you have a sense of the entire House when it only has Republican 
authors?
  How can it be a sense of the House with not a single Democrat as a 
co-sponsor?
  This Resolution seems to provide political cover for the President 
for failing to secure support from our major Western allies in the War 
on Terrorism in Iraq.
  This Resolution ignores the fact that we had no post-conflict 
reconstruction plan, before the first bombs dropped.
  The Resolution glosses over the fact that our investigators, along 
with the United Nations inspectors, have found no weapons of mass 
destruction and were denied more time to complete their inspections, 
which could have obviated the need to go to war.
  This Resolution is brought up at a time when the President's poll 
ratings are slipping.
  The world is not safer and adoption of this politicized resolution 
won't make it so.
  Baghdad is suffering new deaths as we debate, our own home turf 
suffers from its own brand of terrorism. Inner city communities are 
losing lives in drive by shootings and Americans don't feel safer.
  No, the world is not safer and to get Congress to say that it is, is 
hypocrisy at its worst.
  In an election year, Congress should work to bring us together--not 
to play political gotcha.
  I urge this body to reject this Resolution. We can do better. We can 
truly support our troops without political excuses. We can commend the 
Iraqi people for their courage without taking credit for their courage.
  Write a Resolution without partisan politics and it will get a 
unanimous vote, which is after all, what is needed to show support for 
our troops--not a house divided for partisan purposes.
  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts 
(Mr. Tierney) for a unanimous consent request.
  Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in salute to America's troops 
and veterans, and urge my colleagues to honor their sacrifices not with 
lofty political rhetoric but with concrete budgetary reality.
  Sadly, we are denied that opportunity today. Instead, after waiting 
weeks for a budget and voting primarily on uncontested matters, 
receiving only this week a proposed budget that:
  Fails to appropriately address the sad state of our economy;
  Fails to propose policies that will create an environment for the 
maintenance and creation of jobs;
  Fails to clearly fund ongoing expenses related to the continuing 
military efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq and fails to adequately fund 
force protective measures as well as first responder needs for homeland 
security;
  Fails to fund the President's own promises with respect to education 
mandates on local communities;
  Fails to even begin to deal with the nation's health care crisis;
  Proposes pilfering the Social Security surplus; and
  Forces enormous further debt burden on every one of our children.
  This Republican House leadership--I believe in cooperation with the 
White House--now proposes to politicize foreign policy for their own 
domestic political purposes.
  It's a disgrace!
  The self-promoted ``uniter not divider'' in the White House has at 
every opportunity slammed any effort at bi-partnership--this resolution 
is one more example. The White House has been complicit as House 
Republicans manipulate and distort rules and customs to wring every 
ounce of the democratic process out of the exercise of government here, 
while professing to support democracy worldwide.
  After shamelessly exploiting in TV advertisements the 9/11 tragedies 
and depicting victims (whose families the President would not honor by 
cooperating with the investigation into circumstances surrounding the 
incident as well as intelligence and government action and inaction 
leading up to and following 9/11) and first responders (who must 
continue to labor on the front lines without adequate communications, 
equipment, training, standards and support), this group of Republicans 
now allows four hours to debate a resolution the sole purpose of which 
is to create a dilemma for those who know the Administration's effort 
with respect to Iraq and with respect to fighting terror to be woefully 
inadequate.
  The resolution is structured with the appearance of supporting our 
troops, but is worded so that it could be argued--however wrong such an 
argument would be--that Congress endorsed the way this Administration 
has conducted itself with respect to Iraq.
  In essence, yet another false choice for Members: Vote for it, so 
disingenuous political operatives can claim the President is supported 
even in his misleading acts and his diversion of efforts from the fight 
against terrorists and his Administration's abject failures of planning 
for post-Saddam Iraq, or Subject oneself to even more disingenuous 
assertion by political hacks--for that is what they would be--who might 
assert a vote against the resolution was a vote against support and 
recognition for our troops.
  It is politics at its most base and vile level, yet this White House 
and this Republican majority promote it without hesitation.
  Well, it will not work! The American people--even with an all-too-
slowly awakening media--is learning more each day that this President 
and this Republican majority have very little in the way of meaningful 
policy for America--and far too much politics aimed at benefiting their 
careers and ideological extremists.
  Whichever way people vote on this resolution, it will be clear to 
America that the President's and the Republican majority's hypocritical 
resolutions will not work any better than their tasteless 
advertisements.
  The American people deserve far better, and the Democrats stand ready 
with a vision and a plan to deliver it: Democrats are working to 
protect and defend America from those who plan attacks against our 
families and communities. Democrats are prepared to use military force 
to protect our security, our people, and our vital interests, and have 
an unswerving commitment to ensure that America's armed forces remain 
the best trained, best led, best equipped force for peace the world has 
ever known.
  Democrats applaud the troops who ousted Saddam in 20 days. We want to 
support them on their still dangerous mission, and believe we should be 
debating giving our troops the armor--body and vehicle--rifles, jammers 
and other equipment they need.
  It now appears that the President's rationale for war was flawed. CIA 
Director George Tenet admitted that the intelligence agencies never 
told the White House that Iraq posed an imminent threat. [Washington 
Post 3/10/04] Former Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix stated that 
the Bush Administration made up its mind that Iraq had weapons of mass 
destruction--and wasn't interested in evidence to the contrary. [AP, 3/
12/04] But the President and the rest of the Administration said Iraq 
posed an ``urgent and unique threat,'' an ``immediate threat,'' a 
``mortal threat,'' and an ``imminent threat'' to the people of the 
United States. [President Bush, 11/20/02; Secretary Rumsfeld, 11/14/02; 
Financial Times, 8/27/02; Press gaggle with Scott McClellan, 2/10/03] 
Democrats want a full accounting of the events leading up to the war in 
Iraq. Americans should be able to trust that what the President tells 
them is true--especially when it comes to the life and death decisions 
of war and peace.
  Our troops were sent to Iraq without enough of the equipment they 
depend on to do their jobs safely. Un-armored Humvees are falling 
victim to road-side bombs and rocket propelled grenades. Thousands of 
soldiers are forced to fight without body armor--and the President 
still failed to include enough funds in his budget to pay for 
operations in Iraq.
  Americans shouldn't have to continue to bear most of the burden of 
rebuilding Iraq alone. President Bush's dismissive treatment of our 
allies has left the United States primarily responsible for the heavy 
burden of stabilizing and rebuilding Iraq. A year after invading Iraq, 
we are seeing the price of the President's distorted priorities. 
American taxpayers are paying almost all the bills--a colossal $120 
billion and rising. Most importantly, American soldiers are enduring 
almost all the casualties: over 550 Americans killed and thousands more 
wounded.
  Democrats want to work with our international allies. Democrats want 
to strengthen the capacity of America's intelligence gathering 
operation, and forge stronger international coalitions, to increase our 
ability to target and capture terrorists even before they act. Instead 
of alienating our allies, Democrats want to work with them and with 
international institutions so that we can prevent the proliferation of 
weapons of mass destruction and keep them out of the hands of 
terrorists.
  Democrats support a foreign policy that reflects American priorities. 
Democrats want to make America safer with a foreign policy that 
reflects American priorities--promoting political and economic freedom 
and human rights; cooperating with allies and friends; and respecting 
international law and institutions.

[[Page 4505]]

  Democrats want an honest accounting of the continued cost of the Iraq 
war. Top defense officials, including Army Chief of Staff General Peter 
Schoomaker, testified to Congress that the U.S. war efforts in Iraq and 
Afghanistan will run out of money in September, leaving the military 
scrambling to cover as much as $19 billion in costs. [St. Petersburg 
Times, 2/11/04] Democrats want a detailed plan for future spending, so 
our troops are guaranteed to get the resources they need.
  Homeland security must be a priority. Democrats want to make sure 
that our firefighters and police officers get the tools they need to 
keep us safe here at home. But the Bush Administration and the 
Republicans' budgets fail to provide the funding we need to address our 
security concerns. Democrats want to connect local, state, and federal 
terrorist information systems to make sure that every cop on the beat 
has the information they need to keep our families safe. We want to 
provide firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical personnel 
with the equipment they need to communicate in a crisis. We want to 
protect the long stretches of our border that are currently unwatched 
and unprotected. And we want to help make sure states are prepared to 
respond to a bioterrorist attack.
  Part of winning the war on terror is taking care of those who helped 
us fight it. On the battlefield, our troops pledge to leave no soldier 
behind. Here at home, Democrats know that we must leave no veteran 
behind. We must ensure their health care, their pensions, and their 
survivor's benefits. But the Bush Administration wants to raise health 
care costs for over 1 million veterans, increasing co-payments and 
imposing new enrollment fees that will cost veterans $2 billion over 
five years.
  Unfortunately, in a disgraceful rebuke to democracy, the Republican 
majority has stubbornly refused to offer Democrats any opportunity to 
share our vision and plan with the American people--refusing an up-or-
down vote on the Democrats' plan to salute our troops not just with 
lofty political rhetoric, but with concrete budgetary reality. What are 
they afraid of? Why are the Republicans cowed by the prospect of a fair 
debate?
  My colleagues, just because the Republican majority refuses us a 
democratic debate, you need not subject yourselves to the political 
antics of this most demeaning political ploy. Vote no, yes or present . 
. . whichever best allows you to share these comments and facts with 
the American people.
  What is important is that the American people know our troops are 
supported, and that their sacrifices and those of their families are 
appreciated and honored.
  They will know (quickly if the press is alert and perceptive; over 
time if left to their own diligent inquiries and pursuit of truth) that 
at a time of great national challenge and need for unity, this White 
House and their Republican majority once again sought to divide the 
nation, not unite it, and did so for crass, short-sighted, selfish 
benefit.
  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Pelosi), the distinguished Democratic leader.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha), the ranking member on the Committee on 
Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense for yielding. I thank him and 
commend him for his extraordinary leadership and support of our troops. 
When the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) speaks, we listen. 
And that is why I will be joining him in opposition to this resolution 
this evening.
  Mr. Speaker, before I enter into my reasons why, I want to call to 
the attention of our colleagues a section of the San Francisco 
Chronicle that was published this Sunday: ``Portraits of Sacrifice.'' 
It has the face, the name, and the date of sacrifice of the 556 members 
of the U.S. Armed Forces as of last Thursday who had lost their lives 
in Iraq since the war began almost a year ago. Of course, sadly, since 
last Thursday, indeed, since last Sunday, that number has grown.
  Mr. Speaker, I will include for the Record these names and dates of 
sacrifice and home towns.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in a moment of silence to 
honor the memory, the sacrifice, and the patriotism of these brave 
American troops.
  Mr. Speaker, every one of us who serves in this body supports our 
troops. There is no question about that. We appreciate their valor, 
their patriotism, again, the sacrifice that they are willing to make 
for our country. When I have had the privilege of visiting them before 
the initiation of hostilities with the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Murtha) last year in Qatar, Turkey, and Kuwait, we promised those 
troops that they would have whatever they needed, that regardless of 
what we were on the resolution of going into the war, once we went into 
the war, once the President made that decision, we were one team, one 
fight.
  And that is why it is so sad that today with this resolution to 
support the troops that we cannot be one team, one fight. Why was it so 
difficult for the Republicans to reach across the aisle, say to our 
troops that we could have come together as one team, one fight, in 
support of our troops?
  Mr. Speaker, it is sad to say that more than 415 of our troops have 
died, over 415 of the 560-some have died since the President declared 
in early May the end of major combat with a sign saying ``Mission 
Accomplished'' behind him.
  Perhaps some of those deaths could have been avoided if our troops 
had the equipment and the actionable intelligence to protect them, the 
force protection that they needed. But they did not.
  I visited Iraq with the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), the 
senior Democrat on the Committee on Armed Services, and, similar to the 
visit with the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha), the troops 
greeted him with great appreciation for his service to our country.
  Again, we promised them the equipment that they needed. And it is 
only recently, maybe just this week, that the troops have the Kevlar in 
their lining, in their flak jackets that they need. It has taken that 
long. And it would not have happened without the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania's (Mr. Murtha) insistence when the $87 billion request 
came to the floor, the second request for Iraq, that did not have the 
request for that equipment in it.
  We all agree that our military conducted itself with great 
excellence. It performed its duties in a way that is worthy of 
commendation. However, the civilian preparation was not so good. Do not 
take my word for it. Take the word of General Zinni, who said the level 
of sacrifice of our troops was not met with the level of preparation 
for post-war Iraq.
  Over 400 of our troops have died in the post-war phase.
  This resolution that we have before us today is interesting in what 
it lacks. It lacks the recognition of the challenge that we face in 
Iraq. It is clearly an indication that the Republicans are in severe 
denial about Iraq. They are in denial as to why we went into Iraq, they 
are in denial as to what the conditions are that exist in Iraq right 
now, and they are denying in this resolution what our troops and those 
who have served in Iraq need.
  There is such inconsistency this day that I must spend my time on 
this floor to point it out. There is so much I want to say about this 
resolution and about statements that have been made in this debate. But 
what I want to focus on are some of the inconsistencies of the 
Republicans. Because while we have been debating here what would be the 
best resolution, bringing us together, of course, we do not have that 
opportunity, while the Republicans are proposing this resolution on the 
floor, they are dishonoring the troops in the Committee on the Budget. 
They are dishonoring the troops in the Committee on the Budget.
  The Bush budget shortchanges American veterans. When he tells our 
brave troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan in the State of the Union 
address that he will, quote, ``give you the resources you need,'' but 
then does not budget for them, his credibility gap grows and so does my 
colleagues'.
  This budget refuses to end the disabled veterans tax. It does not end 
the survivors' benefit tax. It proposes new increases in the cost of 
veterans health care. This is what is going on on Capitol Hill today 
while we have this meager resolution to support the troops on the 
floor. It fails to provide meaningful investments in veterans' health 
care. The list goes on and on.
  And the severe blow was that the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards),

[[Page 4506]]

the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Military Construction, 
offered a resolution to add $1.3 billion for veterans' health. And that 
was defeated along party lines. That would have been a way to honor our 
troops. Yes, indeed, it would have.

                              {time}  1900

  When I say that this resolution is in denial about why we went into 
the war, of course it mentions nothing about weapons of mass 
destruction, but it does mention that Saddam Hussein drained the Arab 
marsh, causing an ecological disaster. Did my colleagues realize that 
that was the reason that we went to war, the same folks who have rolled 
back 30 years of bipartisan environmental progress are declaring a 
cause of war, the draining of the marsh in Iraq? It was a terrible 
environmental disaster.
  Nobody spoke about it at the time, but there is another swamp that 
must be drained and that is right here in Washington, DC, the swamp of 
special interest money, the swamp that says special interest money 
calls for giving tax cuts to people making over $1 million, not having 
$1 million, making over $1 million a year, give them that tax cut but 
do not provide for our troops and do not provide for our veterans. At 
the same time, we are giving money to Halliburton, who is ripping off 
the taxpayer while feeding the troops with overcharges.
  Yes, there is a swamp that needs to be drained. It is right here in 
Washington, DC, and that would not be an environmental disaster.
  Mr. Speaker, we did have an opportunity and we requested of the 
Committee on Rules that we be able to present a Democratic resolution. 
In fact, we had hoped it would be a bipartisan resolution, and it drew 
upon the expertise of so many; the leadership, the patriotism, the 
intellect, the integrity of so many of our Members.
  The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) and the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Skelton), of course, called for us immediately to offer 
our condolences to the families of those who were killed in Iraq. That 
would have been a valuable addition to this resolution. It insisted 
that we give the troops the body armor, all of them, and the armored 
vehicles they need to keep them safe. Some of that has come to fruition 
because of the gentleman from Pennsylvania's (Mr. Murtha) work. Much of 
it is still not accomplished.
  Under the gentlewoman from California's (Ms. Harman) leadership, we 
had in our resolution to immediately remedy the deficiencies in the 
intelligence on which our troops rely. Force protection saves lives. As 
a 10-year member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, I 
value that. It should be part of what we are advancing.
  The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) insisted that we 
honestly account for the cost of ongoing military operations in Iraq.
  The gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) insisted that we assemble 
a true international coalition to accomplish our mission.
  The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) and the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Skelton) demanded that we eliminate disparities in pay 
between our active duty military and the National Guard and reservists. 
We had that opportunity today, but you rejected it.
  The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) again insisted that we provide 
for the health care and benefits our wounded servicemen and -women 
earned for when they come home.
  Why could we not have come to the floor with a bipartisan resolution? 
Why could we not have been one team, one fight? I do not understand it. 
We all take our responsibility to provide for the common defense very, 
very seriously. The clear and present danger facing our country is 
terrorism. Our military and our Intelligence Community serve our 
country well. They protect us with their lives. We must support them 
with our actions, as well as our words.
  Our military, we pledged to leave no soldier behind on the 
battlefield. We must leave no soldier or any veteran behind in our 
budget. Only then will we honor them in a manner worthy of their 
sacrifice.
  The material I referred to previously I will insert in the Record at 
this point.
     Name, Age, Branch, Hometown, State
       Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, Marine Corps, Waterville, ME.
       Ryan Anthony Beaupre, 30, Marine Corps, Bloomington, IL.
       Therrel S. Childers, 30, Marine Corps, Harrison, MS.
       Jose Gutierrez, 22, Marine Corps, Los Angeles, CA.
       Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, Marine Corps, Houston, TX.
       Kendall Damon Waters-Bey, 29, Marine Corps, Baltimore, MD.
       Thomas Mullen Adams, 27, Navy, La Mesa, CA.
       Nicholas M. Hodson, 22, Marine Corps, Smithville, MO.
       Eric James Orlowski, 25, Marine Corps, Buffalo, NY.
       Christopher Scott Seifert, 27, Army, Morrisville, PA.
       Brandon S. Tobler, 19, Army, Portland, OR.
       Jamaal R. Addison, 22, Army, Roswell, GA.
       Edward J. Anguiano, 24, Army, Brownsville, TX.
       Michael E. Bitz, 31, Marine Corps, Oxnard, CA.
       Brian Rory Buesing, 20, Marine Corps, Cedar Key, FL.
       George E. Buggs, 31, Army, Barnwell, SC.
       Tamario D. Burkett, 21, Marine Corps, Buffalo, NY.
       Kemaphoom A. Chanawongse, 22, Marine Corps, Waterford, CT.
       Donald J. Cline Jr., 21, Marine Corps, Sparks, NV.
       Robert J. Dowdy, 38, Army, Cleveland, OH.
       Ruben Estrella-Soto, 18, Army, El Paso, TX.
       David K. Fribley, 26, Marine Corps, Cape Coral, FL.
       Jose A. Garibay, 21, Marine Corps, Costa Mesa, CA.
       Jonathan L. Gifford, 30, Marine Corps, Macon, IL.
       Jorge A. Gonzalez, 20, Marine Corps, El Monte, CA.
       Nolen R. Hutchings, 19, Marine Corps, Boiling Springs, SC.
       Howard Johnson II, 21, Army, Mobile, AL.
       Phillip A. Jordan, 42, Marine Corps, Brazoria, TX.
       James M. Kiehl, 22, Army, Comfort, TX.
       Johnny V. Mata, 35, Army, Amarillo, TX.
       Patrick R. Nixon, 21, Marine Corps, Nashville, TN.
       Lori Ann Piestewa, 23, Army, Tuba, AZ.
       Frederick E. Pokorney Jr., 31, Marine Corps, Tonopah, NV.
       Brendon C. Reiss, 23, Marine Corps, Casper, WY.
       Randal Kent Rosacker, 21, Marine Corps, San Diego, CA.
       Brandon U. Sloan, 19, Army, Warrensville Heights, OH.
       Thomas J. Slocum, 22, Marine Corps, Thornton, CO.
       Donald R. Walters, 33, Army, Kansas City, MO.
       Michael J. Williams, 31, Marine Corps, Yuma, AZ.
       Thomas A. Blair, 24, Marine Corps, Broken Arrow, OK.
       Evan T. James, 20, Marine Corps, LaHarpe, IL.
       Braedley S. Korthaus, 28, Marine Corps, Scott, IA.
       Gregory P. Sanders, 19, Army, Hobart, IN.
       Francisco A. Martinez Flores, 21, Marine Corps, Los 
     Angeles, CA.
       Donald C. May Jr., 31, Marine Corps, Richmond, VA.
       Patrick T. O'Day, 20, Marine Corps, Santa Rosa, CA.
       Gregory Stone, 40, Air Force, Boise, ID.
       Michael Vann Johnson Jr., 25, Navy, Little Rock, AR.
       Kevin G. Nave, 36, Marine Corps, Union Lake, MI.
       Joseph Menusa, 33, Marine Corps, San Jose, CA.
       Jesus A. Suarez Del Solar, 20, Marine Corps, Escondido, CA.
       Fernando Padilla-Ramirez, 26, Marine Corps, San Luis, AZ.
       Robert M. Rodriguez, 21, Marine Corps, Queens, NY.
       Roderic A. Solomon, 32, Army, Fayetteville, NC.
       James W. Cawley, 41, Marine Corps, Roy, UT.
       Michael E. Curtin, 23, Army, Howell, NJ.
       Diego F. Rincon, 19, Army, Conyers, GA.
       Michael Russell Creighton Weldon, 20, Army, Palm Bay, FL.
       William W. White, 24, Marine Corps, Brooklyn, NY.
       Eugene Williams, 24, Army, Highland, NY.
       Aaron J. Contreras, 31, Marine Corps, Sherwood, OR.
       Michael V. Lalush, 23, Marine Corps, Troutville, VA.
       Brian D. McGinnis, 23, Marine Corps, St. George, DE.
       William A. Jeffries, 39, Army, Evansville, IN.
       Brandon J. Rowe, 20, Army, Roscoe, IL.
       Jacob L. Butler, 24, Army, Wellsville, KS.
       Joseph B. Maglione, 22, Marine Corps, Landsdale, PA.
       James F. Adamouski, 29, Army, Springfield, VA.
       Brian E. Anderson, 26, Marine Corps, Durham, NC.

[[Page 4507]]

       Mathew G. Boule, 22, Army, Dracut, MS.
       George A. Fernandez, 36, Army, El Paso, TX.
       Christian D. Gurtner, 19, Marine Corps, Ohio City, OH.
       Erik A. Halvorsen, 40, Army, Bennington, VT.
       Scott Jamar, 32, Army, Granbury, TX.
       Michael F. Pedersen, 26, Army, Flint, MI.
       Eric A. Smith, 41, Army, n/a, CA.
       Nathan D. White, 30, Navy, Mesa, AZ.
       Chad E. Bales, 21, Marine Corps, Coahoma, TX.
       Wilbert Davis, 40, Army, Hinesville, GA.
       Mark A. Evnin, 21, Marine Corps, Burlington, VT.
       Edward J. Korn, 31, Army, Savannah, GA.
       Nino D. Livaudais, 23, Army, Ogden, UT.
       Ryan P. Long, 21, Army, Seaford, DE.
       Donald S. Oaks Jr., 20, Army, Erie, PA.
       Randall S. Rehn, 36, Army, Longmont, CO.
       Russell B. Rippetoe, 27, Army, Arvada, CO.
       Todd J. Robbins, 33, Army, Pentwater, MI.
       Tristan N. Aitken, 31, Army, State College, PA.
       Wilfred D. Bellard, 20, Army, Lake Charles, LA.
       Daniel Francis J. Cunningham, 33, Army, Lewiston, ME.
       Travis A. Ford, 30, Marine Corps, Ogallala, NE.
       Bernard G. Gooden, 22, Marine Corps, Mt. Vernon, NY.
       Devon D. Jones, 19, Army, San Diego, CA.
       Brian M. McPhillips, 25 Marine Corps, Pembroke, MA.
       Duane R. Rios, 25, Marine Corps, Hammond, IN.
       Benjamin W. Sammis, 29, Marine Corps, Rehobeth, MA.
       Erik H. Silva, 22, Marine Corps, Chula Vista, CA.
       Paul R. Smith, 33, Army, Tampa, FL.
       Stevon A. Booker, 34, Army, Apollo, PA.
       Larry K. Brown, 22, Army, Jackson, MS.
       Edward Smith, 38, Marine Corps, Chicago, IL.
       Gregory P. Huxley, Jr., 19, Army, Forestport, NY.
       Kelley S. Prewitt, 24, Army, Birmingham, AL.
       Andrew Julian Aviles, 18, Marine Corps, Palm Beach, FL.
       Eric B. Das, 30, Air Force, Amarillo, TX.
       Lincoln D. Hollinsaid, 27, Army, Malden, IL.
       Jeffery J. Kaylor, 24, Army, Clifton, VA.
       Jesus Martin Antonio Medellin, 21, Marine Corps, Fort 
     Worth, TX.
       Anthony S. Miller, 19, Army, San Antonio, TX.
       George A. Mitchell, 35, Army, Rawlings, MD.
       William R. Watkins III, 37, Air Force Danville, VA.
       Henry L. Brown, 22, Army, Natchez, MS.
       Juuan Guadulupe Garza Jr., 20, Marine Corps, Temperance, 
     MI.
       John W. Marshall, 50, Army, Los Angeles, CA.
       Jason M. Meyer, 23, Army, Swartz Creek, MI.
       Scott D. Sather, 29, Air Force, Clio, MI.
       Robert A. Stever, 36, Army, Pendleton, OR.
       Jeffrey E. Bohr Jr., 39, Marine Corps, Ossian, IA.
       Terry W. Hemingway, 39, Army, Willingboro, NJ.
       Riayan A. Tejeda, 26, Marine Corps, New York, NY.
       Jesus A. Gonzalez, 22, Marine Corps, Indio, CA.
       David E. Owens Jr., 20, Marine Corps, Winchester, VA.
       Gil Mercado, 25, Army, Paterson, NJ.
       John E. Brown, 21, Army, Troy, AL.
       Thomas A. Foley III, 23, Army, Dresden, TN.
       Armando A. Gonzalez, 25, Marine Corps, Hileah, FL.
       Richard A. Goward, 32, Army, Midland, MI.
       Joseph P. Mayek, 20, Army, Rock Springs, WY.
       Jason David Mileo, 20, Marine Corps, Centreville, MD.
       John T. Rivero, 23, Army, Tampa, FL.
       Andrew T. Arnold, 30, Marine Corps, Spring, TX.
       Roy R. Buckley, 24, Army, Merrillville, IN.
       Robert W. Channell Jr., 36, Marine Corps, Tuscaloosa, AL.
       Alan D. Lam, 19, Marine Corps, Snow Camp, NC.
       Troy D. Jenkins, 25, Army, Ridgecrest, CA.
       Osbaldo Orozco, 26, Army, Delano, CA.
       Narson B. Sullivan, 21, Army, North Brunswick, NJ.
       Joe J. Garza, 43, Army, Robtown, TX.
       Jesse A. Givens, 34, Army, Springfiel, MO.
       Sean C. Reynolds, 25, Army, East Lansing, MI.
       Jason L. Deibler, 20, Army, Coeburn, VA.
       Marlin T. Rockhold, 23, Army, Hamilton, OH.
       Cedric E. Bruns, 22, Marine Corps, Vancouver, WA.
       Richard P. Carl, 26, Army, King Hill, ID.
       Hans N. Gukeisen, 31, Army, Lead, SD.
       Brian K. Van Dusen, 39, Army, Columbus, OH.
       Matthew R. Smith, 20, Marine Corps, Anderson, IN.
       Jakub Henryk Kowalik, 21, Marine Corps, Schaumburg, IL.
       Jose Franci Gonzalez Rodriguez, 19, Marine Corps, Norwalk, 
     CA.
       Patrick Lee Griffin Jr., 31, Air Force, Elgin, SC.
       Nicholas Brian Kleiboeker, 19, Marine Corps, Irvington, IL.
       David T. Nutt, 22, Army, Blackshear, GA.
       William L. Payne, 46, Army, Otsego, MI.
       Douglas J. Marencoreyes, 28, Marine Corps, Chino, CA.
       Rasheed Sahib, 22, Army, Brooklyn, NY.
       Dominic R. Baragona, 42, Army, Niles, OH.
       Andrew D. LaMont, 31, Marine Corps, Eureka, CA.
       Jason W. Moore, 21, Marine Corps, San Marcos, CA.
       Timothy L. Ryan, 30, Marine Corps, Aurora, IL.
       Kirk A. Straseskie, 23, Marine Corps, Beaver Dam, WI.
       Aaron D. White, 27, Marine Corps, Shawnee, OK.
       Nathaniel A. Caldwell, 27, Army, Omaha, NE.
       David Evans Jr., 18, Army, Buffalo, NY.
       Keman L. Mitchell, 24, Army, Hillard, FL.
       Kenneth A. Nalley, 19, Army, Hamburg, IA.
       Brett J. Petriken, 30, Army, Flint, MI.
       Mathew E. Schram, 36, Army, Sister Bay, WI.
       Jeremiah D. Smith, 25, Army, Odessa, MO.
       Thomas F. Broomhead, 34, Army, Cannon City, CO.
       Michael B. Quinn, 37, Army, Tampa, FL.
       Kenneth R. Bradley, 39, Army, Utica, MS.
       Jose A. Perez III, 22, Army, San Diego, TX.
       Michael T. Gleason, 25, Army, Warren, PA.
       Kyle A. Griffin, 20, Army, Emerson, NJ.
       Zachariah W. Long, 20, Army, Milton, PA.
       Jonathan W. Lambert, 28, Marine Corps, Newsite, MS.
       Atanacio Haromarin, 27, Army, Baldwin Park, CA.
       Branden F. Oberleitner, 20, Army, Worthington, OH.
       Doyle W. Bollinger, 21, Navy, Poteau, OK.
       Travis L. Burkhardt, 26, Army, Edina, MO.
       David Sisung, 21, Navy, Phoenix, AZ.
       Jesse M. Halling, 19, Army, Indianapolis, IN.
       Michael E. Dooley, 23, Army, Pulaski, VA.
       Gavin L. Neighbor, 20, Army, Somerset, OH.
       John K. Klinesmith Jr., 25, Army, Stockbridge, GA.
       Andrew R. Pokorny, 30, Army, Naperville, IL.
       Ryan R. Cox, 19, Marine Corps, Derby, KS.
       Shawn D. Pahnke, 25, Army, Shelbyville, IN.
       Joseph D. Suell, 24, Army, Lufkin, TX.
       Robert L. Frantz, 19, Army, San Antonio, TX.
       Michael L. Tosto, 24, Army, Apex, NC.
       Michael R. Deuel, 21, Army, Nemo, SD.
       William T. Latham, 29, Army, Kingman, AZ.
       John T. Nakamura, 21, Army, Santa Fe Springs, CA.
       Orenthial J. Smith, 21, Army, Allendale, SC.
       Cedric L. Lennon, 32, Army, West Blocton, AL.
       Andrew F. Chris, 25, Army, San Diego, CA.
       Gregory E. MacDonald, 29, Marine Corps, Washington, DC.
       Kevin C. Ott, 27, Army, Columbus, OH.
       Gladimir Philippe, 37, Army, Linden, NJ.
       Corey A. Hubbell, 20, Army, Urbana, IL.
       Joshua McIntosh, 22, Navy, Kingman, AZ.
       Richard P. Orengo, 32, Army, Toa Alta, PR.
       Tomas Sotelo Jr., 20, Army, Houston, TX.
       Timothy M. Conneway, 22, Army, Enterprise, AL.
       Christopher D. Coffin, 51, Army, Bethlehem, PA.
       Travis J. Bradachnall, 21, Marine Corps, Multnomah County, 
     OR.
       Edward J. Herrgott, 20, Army, Shakopee, MN.
       Corey L. Small, 20, Army, East Berlin, PA.
       David B. Parson, 30, Army, Kannapolis, NC.
       Jeffrey M. Wershow, 22, Army, Gainesville, FL.
       Chad L. Keith, 21, Army, Batesville, IN.
       Barry Sanford Sr., 46, Army, Aurora, CO.
       Craig A. Boling, 38, Army, Elkhart, IN.
       Robert L. McKinley, 23, Army, Kokomo, IN.
       Dan H. Gabrielson, 39, Army, Spooner, WI.
       Roger D. Rowe, 54, Army, Bon Aqua, TN.
       Jason A. Tetrault, 20, Marine Corps, Moreno Valley, CA.
       Melissa Valles, 26, Army, Eagle Pass, TX.
       Christian C. Schulz, 20, Army, Colleyville, TX.
       Joshua M. Neusche, 20, Army, Montreal, MO.
       Paul J. Cassidy, 36, Army, Laingsburg, MI.
       Michael T. Crockett, 27, Army, Soperton, GA.
       Cory R. Geurin, 18, Marine Corps, Santee, CA.
       Jaror C. Puello-Coronado, 36, Army, Pocono Summit, PA.
       Ramon Reyes Torres, 29, Army, Caguas, PR.
       David J. Moreno, 26, Navy, Gering, NV.
       Mason Douglas Whetstone, 30, Army, Jacksonville, FL.
       Joel L. Bertoldie, 20, Army, Independence, MO.
       Jonathan D. Rozier, 25, Army, Katy, TX.
       Justin W. Garvey, 23, Army, Townsend, MA.
       Jason D. Jordan, 24, Army, Elba, AL.
       David A. Scott, 51, Air Force, Union, OH.
       Christopher R. Willoughby, 29, Army, Phenix, AL.

[[Page 4508]]

       Mark A. Bibby, 25, Army, Watha, NC.
       Jon P. Fettig, 30, Army, Dickinson, ND.
       Joshua T. Byers, 29, Army, Sparks, NV.
       Brett T. Christian, 27, Army, North Royalton, OH.
       Evan Asa Ashcraft, 24, Army, West Hills, CA.
       Raheen Tyson Heighter, 22, Army, Bay Shore, NY.
       Hector R. Perez, 40, Army, Corpus Christi, TX.
       Juan M. Serrano, 31, Army, Manati, PR.
       Jonathan P. Barnes, 21, Army, Anderson, MO.
       Jonathan M. Cheatham, 19, Army, Camden, AR.
       Daniel K. Methvin, 22, Army, Belton, TX.
       Wilfredo Perez Jr., 24, Army, Norwalk, CT.
       Heath A. McMillin, 29, Army, Canandaigua, NY.
       Nathaniel Hart Jr., 29, Army, Valdosta, GA.
       William J. Maher, 35, Army, Yardley, PA.
       Leif E. Nott, 24, Army, Cheyenne, WY.
       Michael J. Deutsch, 21, Army, Dubuque, IA.
       James I. Lambert III, 22, Army, Raleigh, NC.
       Justin W. Hebert, 20, Army, Arlington, WA.
       Farao K. Letufuga, 20, Army, Pago Pago, AS.
       David L. Loyd, 44, Army, Jackson, TN.
       Zeferino E. Colunga, 20, Army, Bellville, TX.
       Kyle C. Gilbert, 20, Army, Brattleboro,VT.
       Brian R. Hellerman, 35, Army, Freeport, MN.
       Leonard D. Simmons, 33, Army, New Bern, NC.
       Duane E. Longstreth, 19, Army, Tacoma, WA.
       Matthew D. Bush, 20, Army, East Alton, IL.
       Brandon Ramsey, 21, Army, Calumet City, IL.
       Levi B. Kinchen, 21, Army, Tickfaw, LA.
       Floyd G. Knighten Jr., 55, Army, Olla, LA.
       David S. Perry, 36, Army, Bakersfield, CA.
       Timothy R. Brown, 21, Army, Conway, PA.
       Richard S. Eaton Jr., 37, Army, Guilford, CT.
       Daniel R. Parker, 18, Army, Lake Elsinore, CA.
       Taft V. Williams, 29, Army, New Orleans, LA.
       Steven W. White, 29, Army, Lawton, OK.
       Eric R. Hull, 23, Army, Uniontown, PA.
       David M. Kirchhoff, 31, Army, Cedar Rapids, IA.
       Craig S. Ivory, 26, Army, Port Matilda, PA.
       Bobby C. Franklin, 38, Army, Mineral Bluff, GA.
       Kenneth W. Harris Jr., 23, Army, Charlotte, TN.
       Michael S. Adams, 20, Army, Spartanburg, SC.
       Kylan A. Jones-Huffman, 31, Navy, Aptos, CA.
       Vorn J. Mack, 19, Army, Orangeburg, SC.
       Stephen M. Scott, 21, Army, Lawton, OK.
       Ronald D. Allen Jr., 22, Army, Mitchell, IN.
       Pablo Manzano, 19, Army, Heber, CA.
       Darryl T. Dent, 21, Army, Washington, DC.
       Gregory A. Belanger, 24, Army, Narragansett, RI.
       Rafael L. Navea, 34, Army, Pittsburgh, PA.
       Anthony L. Sherman, 43, Army, Pottstown, PA.
       Mark A. Lawton, 41, Army, Hayden, CO.
       Sean K. Cataudella, 28, Army, Tucson, AZ.
       Charles T. Caldwell, 38, Army, North Providence, RI.
       Joseph Camara, 40, Army, New Bedford, MA.
       Cameron B. Sarno, 43, Army, Waipahu, HI.
       Christopher A. Sisson, 20, Army, Oak Park, IL.
       Bruce E. Brown, 32, Air Force, Coatopa, AL.
       Jarrett B. Thompson, 27, Army, Dover, DE.
       Ryan G. Carlock, 25, Army, Macomb, IL.
       Joseph E. Robsky Jr., 31, Army, Elizaville, NY.
       Henry Ybarra III, 32, Army, Austin, TX.
       William M. Bennett, 35, Army, Seymour, TN.
       Kevin N. Morehead, 33, Army, Little Rock, AR.
       Trevor A. Blumberg, 22, Army, Canton, MI.
       Kevin C. Kimmerly, 31, Army, North Creek, NY.
       Alyssa R. Peterson, 27, Army, Flagstaff, AZ.
       Richard Arraiga, 20, Army, Ganado, Tx.
       Brian R. Faunce, 28, Army, Philadelphia, PA.
       Anthony O. Thompson, 26, Army, Orangeburg, SC.
       James C. Wright, 27, Army, Morgan, TX.
       Lunsford B. Brown II, 27, Army, Creedmore, NC.
       David T. Friedrich, 26, Army, Hammond, NY.
       Frederick L. Miller, Jr., 27, Army, Hagerstown, In.
       Paul J. Sturino, 21, Army, Rice Lake, WI.
       Michael Andrade, 28, Army, Bristol, RI.
       Robert L. Lucero, 34, Army, Casper, WY.
       Robert E. Rooney, 43, Army, Nashua, NH.
       Kyle G. Thomas, 23, Army, Topeka, KS.
       Andrew Joseph Baddick, 26, Army, Jim Thorpe, PA.
       Christopher E. Cutchall, 30, Army, McConnellsburg, PA.
       Darrin K. Potter, 24, Army, Louisville, KY.
       Dustin K. McGaugh, 20, Army, Derby, KS.
       James D. Blankenbecler, 40, Army, Alexandria, VA.
       Analaura Esparza Gutierrez, 21, Army, Houston, TX.
       Simeon Hunte, 23, Army, Essex, NJ.
       Tamarra J. Ramos, 24, Army, Quakertown, PA.
       Charles M. Sims, 18, Army, Miami, FL.
       James H. Pirtle, 27, Army, La Mesa, NM.
       Spencer T. Karol, 20, Army, Woodruff, AZ.
       Kerry D. Scott, 21, Army, Mount Vernon, WA.
       Richard Torres, 25, Army, Clarksville, TN.
       Joseph C. Norquist, 26, Army, Oakland, CA.
       Sean A. Silva, 23, Army, Roseville, CA.
       Christopher W. Swisher, 26, Army, Lincoln, NE.
       James E. Powell, 26, Army, Radcliff, KY.
       Jose Casanova, 23, Army, El Monte, CA.
       Benjamin L. Freeman, 19, Army, Valdosta, GA.
       Douglas J. Weismantle, 28, Army, Pittsburgh, PA.
       Donald L. Wheeler, 22, Army, Concord, MI.
       Stephen E. Wyatt, 19, Army, Kilgore, TX.
       Kim S. Orlando, 43, Army, Nashville, TN.
       Joseph P. Bellavia, 28, Army, Wakefield, MA.
       Michael L. Williams, 46, Army, Buffalo, NY.
       David R. Bernstein, 24, Army, Phoenixville, PA.
       Sean R. Grilley, 24, Army, San Bernardino, CA.
       John D. Hart, 20, Army, Bedford, MA.
       Paul J. Johnson, 29, Army, Calumet, MI.
       Paul J. Bueche, 19, Army, Daphne, AL.
       John P. Johnson, 24, Army, Houston, TX.
       Jason M. Ward, 25, Army, Tulsa, OK.
       John R. Teal, 31, Army, Mechanicsville, VA.
       Artimus D. Brassfield, 22, Army, Flint, MI.
       Michael S. Hancock, 29, Army, Yreka, CA.
       Jose L. Mora, 26, Army, Bell Gardens, CA.
       Steven Acosta, 19, Army, Calexico, CA.
       Rachel K. Bosveld, 19, Army, Waupun, WI.
       Joseph R. Guerrera, 20, Army, Dunn, NC.
       Jamie L. Huggins, 26, Army, Hume, MO.
       Aubrey D. Bell, 33, Army, Tuskegee, AL.
       Charles H. Buehring, 40, Army, Fayetteville, NC.
       Jonathan I. Falaniko, 20, Army, Pago Pago, AS.
       Algernon Adams, 36, Army, Aiken, SC.
       Michael Paul Barrera, 26, Army, Von Ormy, TX.
       Isaac Campoy, 21, Army, Douglas, AZ.
       Todd J. Bryant, 23, Army, Riverside, CA.
       Linda C. Jimenez, 39, Army, Brooklyn, NY.
       Benjamin J. Colgan, 30, Army, Kent, WA.
       Joshua C. Hurley, 24, Army, Clifton Forge, VA.
       Maurice J. Johnson, 21, Army, Levittown, PA.
       Daniel A. Bader, 28, Army, Colorado Springs, CO.
       Ernest G. Bucklew, 33, Army, Enon Valley, PA.
       Steven D. Conover, 21, Army, Wilmington, OH.
       Anthony D. Dagostino, 20, Army, Waterbury, CT.
       Darius T. Jennings, 22, Army, Cordova, SC.
       Karina S. Lau, 20, Army, Livingston, CA.
       Keelan L. Moss, 23, Army, Houston, TX.
       Brian H. Penisten, 28, Army, Fort Wayne, IN.
       Ross A. Pennanen, 36, Army, Shawnee, OK.
       Joel Perez, 25, Army, Rio Grande, PR.
       Brian D. Slavenas, 30, Army, Genoa, IL.
       Bruce A. Smith, 41, Army, West Liberty, IA.
       Frances M. Vega, 20, Army, Fort Buchanan, PR.
       Paul A. Velazquez, 29, Army, San Diego, CA.
       Joe N. Wilson, 30, Army, Crystal Springs, MS.
       Rayshawn S. Johnson, 20, Army, Brooklyn, NY.
       Robert T. Benson, 20, Army, Spokane, WA.
       Francisco Martinez, 28, Army, Humacao, PR.
       Jose A. Rivera, 34, Army, Bayamon, PR.
       James A. Chance III, 25, Army, Kokomo, MO.
       Paul F. Fisher, 39, Army, Cedar Rapids, IA.
       James R. Wolf, 21, Army, Scottsbluff, NE.
       Cornell W. Gilmore I, 45, Army, Baltimore, MD.
       Kyran E. Kennedy, 43, Army, Boston, MA.
       Morgan D. Kennon, 23, Army, Memphis, TN.
       Paul M. Neff II, 30, Army, Fort Mill, SC.
       Scott C. Rose, 30, Army, Fayetteville, NC.
       Benedict J. Smith, 29, Army, Monroe City, MO.
       Sharon T. Swartworth, 43, Army, n/a, VA.
       Gary L. Collins, 32, Army, Hardin, TX.
       Kurt R. Frosheiser, 22, Army, Des Moines, IA.
       Mark D. Vasquez, 35, Army, Port Huron, MI.
       Nicholas A. Tomko, 24, Army, Pittsburgh, PA.
       Genaro Acosta, 26, Army, Fair Oaks, CA.
       Marlon P. Jackson, 25, Army, Jersey City, NJ.
       Nathan J. Bailey, 46, Army, Nashville, TN.
       Robert A. Wise, 21, Army, Tallahassee, FL.
       Joseph Minucci II, 23, Army, Richeyville, PA.
       Irving Medina, 22, Army, Middletown, NY.
       Michael D. Acklin II, 25, Army, Louisville, KY.
       Ryan T. Baker, 24, Army, Brown Mills, NJ.

[[Page 4509]]

       Kelly Bolor, 37, Army, Whittier, CA.
       Jeremiah J. Digiovanni, 21, Army, Tylertown, MS.
       William D. Dusenbery, 30, Army, Fairview Heights, IL.
       Sheldon R. Hawk Eagle, 21, Army, Grand Forks, ND.
       Jacob S. Fletcher, 28, Army, Bay Shore, NY.
       Richard W. Hafer, 21, Army, Cross Lanes, WV.
       Warren S. Hansen, 36, Army, Clintonville, WI.
       Timothy L. Hayslett, 26, Army, Newville, PA.
       Damian L. Heidelberg, 21, Army, Batesville, MS.
       Erik C. Kesterson, 29, Army, Independence, OR.
       Pierre E. Piche, 29, Army, Starksboro, VT.
       John W. Russell, 26, Army, Portland, TX.
       Scott A. Saboe, 33, Army, Willow Lake, SD.
       John R. Sullivan, 26, Army, Countryside, IL.
       Eugene A. Uhl III, 21, Army, Amherst, WI.
       Joey D. Whitener, 19, Army, Nebo, NC.
       Jeremy L. Wolfe, 27, Army, Menomenie, WI.
       Alexander S. Coulter, 35, Army, Bristol, TN.
       Nathan S. Dalley, 27, Army, Kaysville, UT.
       Dale A. Panchot, 26, Army, Northome, MN.
       James A. Shull, 32, Army, Kamiah, ID.
       Joseph L. Lister, 22, Army, Pleasanton, KS.
       Scott M. Tyrrell, 21, Army, Sterling, IL.
       George A. Wood, 33, Army, New York, NY.
       Gary B. Coleman, 24, Army, Pikeville, KY.
       Damian S. Bushart, 22, Army, Waterford, MI.
       Robert D. Roberts, 21, Army, Winter Park, FL.
       Eddie E. Menyweather, 35, Army, Los Angeles, CA.
       Christopher G. Nason, 39, Army, Los Angeles, CA.
       Rel A. Ravago IV, 21, Army, Glendale, CA.
       Darrell L. Smith, 28, Army, Otwell, IN.
       Jerry L. Wilson, 45, Army, Thomson, GA.
       David J. Goldberg, 20, Army, Layton, UT.
       Thomas J. Sweet II, 23, Army, Bismarck, ND.
       Ariel Rico, 25, Army, El Paso, TX.
       Stephen A. Bertolino, 40, Army, Orange, CA.
       Aaron J. Sissel, 22, Army, Tipton, IA.
       Uday Singh, 21, Army, Lake Forest, IL.
       Clarence E. Boone, 50, Army, Fort Worth, TX.
       Raphael S. Davis, 24, Army, Tutwiler, MS.
       Ryan C. Young, 21, Army, Corona, CA.
       Arron R. Clark, 20, Army, Chico, CA.
       Ray J. Hutchinson, 20, Army, League City, TX.
       Joseph M. Blickenstaff, 23, Army, Corvallis, OR.
       Steven H. Bridges, 33, Army, Tracy, CA.
       Christopher J. Rivera Wesley, 26, Army, Portland, OR.
       Jason G. Wright, 19, Army, Luzerne, MI.
       Todd M. Bates, 20, Army, Bellaire, OH.
       Richard A. Burdick, 24, Army, National City, CA.
       Jerrick M. Petty, 25, Army, Idaho Falls, ID.
       Aaron T. Reese, 31, Army, Reynoldsburg, OH.
       Marshall L. Edgerton, 27, Army, Rocky Face, GA.
       Jarrod W. Black, 26, Army, Peru, IN.
       Jeffrey F. Braun, 19, Army, Stafford, CT.
       Rian C. Ferguson, 22, Army, Taylors, SC.
       Kimberly A. Voelz, 27, Army, Carlisle, PA.
       Kenneth C. Souslin, 21, Army, Mansfield, OH.
       Nathan W. Nakis, 19, Army, Corvallis, OR.
       Christopher J. Holland, 26, Army, Brunswick, GA.
       Glenn R. Allison, 24, Army, Pittsfield, MA.
       Charles E. Bush, Jr., 43, Army, Buffalo, NY.
       Stuart W. Moore, 21, Army, Livingston, TX.
       Edward M. Saltz, 27, Army, Bigfork, MO.
       Benjamin W. Biskie, 27, Army, Vermilion, OH.
       Eric F. Cooke, 43, Army, Scottsdale, AZ.
       Christopher F. Soelzer, 26, Army, Sturgis, SD.
       Christopher J. Splinter, 43, Army, Platteville, WI.
       Michael E. Yashinski, 24, Army, Monument, CO.
       Thomas W. Christensen, 42, Army, Atlantic Mine, MI.
       Stephen C. Hattamer, 43, Army, Gwinn, MI.
       Charles G. Haight, 23, Army, Jacksonville, AL.
       Michael G. Mihalakis, 18, Army, San Jose, CA.
       Michael J. Sutter, 26, Army, Tinley Park, IL.
       Ernesto M. Blanco, 28, Army, San Antonio, TX.
       Rey D. Cuervo, 24, Army, Laguna Vista, TX.
       Curt E. Jordan Jr., 25, Army, Green Acres, WA.
       Justin W. Pollard, 21, Army, Foothill Ranch, CA.
       Dennis A. Corral, 33, Army, Kearney, NE.
       Solomon C. Bangayan, 24, Army, Jay, VT.
       Kimberly N. Hampton, 27, Army, Easley, SC.
       Eric T. Paliwoda, 28, Army, Goodyear, AZ.
       Marc S. Seiden, 26, Army, Brigantine, NJ.
       Luke P. Frist, 20, Army, West Lafayette, IN.
       Jesse D. Mizener, 24, Army, Auburn, CA.
       Craig Davis, 37, Army, Opelousas, LA.
       Michael A. Diraimondo, 22, Army, Simi Valley, CA.
       Christopher A. Golby, 26, Army, Johnstown, PA.
       Gregory B. Hicks, Army, Duff, TN.
       Nathaniel H. Johnson, 22, Army, Augusta, GA.
       Philip A. Johnson, Jr., 31, Army, Mobile, AL.
       Ian D. Manuel, 23, Army, Jacksonville, FL.
       Jeffery C. Walker, 33, Army, Havre de Grace, MD.
       Aaron A. Weaver, 32, Army, Inverness, FL.
       Ricky L. Crockett, 37, Army, Broxton, GA.
       Keicia M. Hines, 27, Army, Citrus Heights, CA.
       Roland L. Castro, 26, Army, San Antonio, TX.
       Cody J. Orr, 21, Army, Ruskin, FL.
       Larry E. Polley Jr., 20, Army, Center, TX.
       Edmond L. Randle, 26, Army, Miami, FL.
       Kelly Hornbeck, 36, Army, Fort Worth, TX.
       Gabriel T. Palacios, 22, Army, Lynn, MA.
       James D. Parker, 20, Army, Bryan, TX.
       Michael T. Blaise, 29, Army, Macon, MO.
       Brian D. Hazelgrove, 29, Army, Fort Rucker, AL.
       Jason K. Chappell, 22, Army, Hemet, CA.
       Ervin Dervishi, 21, Army, Fort Worth, TX.
       Kenneth W. Hendrickson, 41, Army, Bismarck, ND.
       Randy S. Rosenberg, 23, Army, Berlin, NH.
       Keith L. Smette, 25, Army, Fargo, ND.
       William R. Sturges Jr., 24, Army, Spring Church, PA.
       Adam G. Mooney, 28, Army, Cambridge, MD.
       Matthew J. August, 28, Army, North Kingston, RI.
       James T. Hoffman, 41, Army, Whitesburg, KY.
       Luke S. James, 24, Army, Hooker, OK.
       Lester O. Kinney, 27, Army, Zanesville, OH.
       Travis A. Moothart, 23, Army, Brownsville, OR.
       Cory R. Mracek, 26, Army, Hay Springs, NE.
       Patrick Dorff, 32, Army, Buffalo, MN.
       Sean G. Landrus, 31, Army, Thompson, OH.
       Luis A. Moreno, 19, Army, New York, NY.
       Juan C. Cabralbanuelos, 25, Army, Emporia, KS.
       Holly J. McGeogh, 19, Army, Taylor, MI.
       Eliu A. Miersandoval, 27, Army, San Clemente, CA.
       Armando Soriano, 20, Army, Houston, TX.
       Roger C. Turner Jr., 37, Army, Parkersburg, WV.
       Seth J. Dvorin, 24, Army, East Brunswick, NJ.
       Joshua L. Knowles, 23, Army, Sheffield, IA.
       Richard P. Ramey, 27, Army, Canton, OH.
       Thomas D. Robbins, 27, Army, Schenectady, NY.
       Elijah Tai Wah Wong, 42, Army, Mesa, AZ.
       Christopher Bunda, 29, Army, Bremerton, WA.
       Jude C. Mariano, 39, Air Force, Vallejo, CA.
       William C. Ramirez, 19, Army, Portland, OR.
       Patrick S. Tainsh, 33, Army, Oceanside, CA.
       Eric U. Ramirez, 31, Army, San Diego, CA.
       Bryan N. Spry, 19, Army, Chestertown, MD.
       Nichole M. Frye, 19, Army, Lena, WI.
       Michael M. Merila, 23, Army, Sierra Vista, AZ.
       Christopher M. Taylor, 25, Army, Daphne, AL.
       Jeffrey C. Graham, 24, Army, Elizabethtown, KY.
       Roger G. Ling, 20, Army, Douglaston, NY.
       Henry A. Bacon, 45, Army, Wagram, NC.
       Matthew C. Laskowski, 32, Army, Phoenix, AZ.
       Stephen M. Wells, 29, Army, Egremont, MA.
       Michael R. Woodliff, 22, Army, Port Charlotte, FL.
       Michael J. Gray, 24, Navy, Richmond, VA.
       Gussie M. Jones, 41, Army, El Paso, TX.
       Matthew G. Milczark, 18, Marine Corps, Kettle River, MN.
       Edward W. Brabazon, 20, Philadelphia, PA.
       Richard S. Gottfried, 42, Lake Ozark, MO.
       Bert Edward Hoyer, 23, Ellsworth, WI.

  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 30 seconds to the 
distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter).
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the 
time.
  I just have to remind the distinguished minority leader that, in 
fact, every troop who is in country now and every civil servant has 
body armor in the fight, in the fight. Every frontline troop moving up 
to Baghdad had body armor, and I would say further to the gentlewoman 
that the Humvees, the jeeps that we have, have never been manufactured 
with body armor until very recently to meet the new challenge of the 
IEDs, and we are armoring them in rapid fashion, and many Members on 
her side voted against the supplemental appropriation that provided

[[Page 4510]]

both body armor and armor for the Humvees.
  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Pelosi).
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, the distinguished gentleman, Chairman of the 
Committee on Armed Services, is respected by all of us here. I thank 
him for his service to our country.
  Would the gentleman inform the Members of this body when all of the 
troops had the body armor? As of when?
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?
  Ms. PELOSI. I yield to the gentleman from California.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, it was a frontline troop that moved into the 
major assault, going up through, leaving Kuwait, last year starting on 
this anniversary, moving up through Iraq.
  Ms. PELOSI. Starting this anniversary?
  Mr. HUNTER. Every frontline troop. That meant every troop that was in 
the front line had both types of body armor; that is, the old type of 
body armor and the new.
  Ms. PELOSI. As of when? As of when?
  Mr. HUNTER. Every one. When they moved across the line, every 
frontline troop had it. Then what we did was we gave body armor over 
the last several months not only to the troops that were the frontline 
troops but every single troop.
  Ms. PELOSI. As of when? As of when?
  Mr. HUNTER. Every frontline troop had it when they moved across the 
line.
  Ms. PELOSI. But when did every troop have it? As of when?
  Mr. HUNTER. When they moved across the line from Kuwait.
  Ms. PELOSI. The gentleman knows that they only had it as a matter of 
weeks, and they would not have had it without the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania's (Mr. Murtha) help.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Isakson). The Chair would observe the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) has 4\1/2\ minutes remaining, 
and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) has 2 minutes remaining.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), the distinguished majority leader.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, after this partisan debate, I want to open my 
remarks by saying I agree with Bill Clinton who in December of 1988 
said, ``There should be no doubt, Saddam's ability to produce and 
deliver weapons of mass destruction poses a grave threat to the peace 
of that region and the security of the world.'' I could not have put it 
better myself.
  Unfortunately, too many in the minority, faced with the harsh 
realities of the war on terror, have not even tried to say it at all. 
Too many seem to be in denial. Too many seem to prefer to ignore the 
war on terror or choose to see it as ``far less of a military operation 
and far more of a law enforcement operation.''
  Well, Mr. Speaker, this is a fundamental debate before us today. Are 
we at war or are we not? Should the United States appease international 
terrorists and pretend that they are a law enforcement problem or fight 
them as the military threat that they are? Let us consider the records 
of these competing positions.
  First, the appeasement approach. Through the 1990s, the United States 
and our allies were victimized by progressively deadlier and more 
audacious terrorist attacks, and in accordance with the international 
law enforcement strategies, our leaders did nothing. They passed U.N. 
resolutions and they issued subpoenas and indictments. They wrung their 
hands about root causes, and they tried to reduce the problem of 
international terror to a dorm-room dialectic.
  Meanwhile, as we listened to double-talk about constructive 
engagement and cross-culture dialogues, they gutted the national 
security and intelligence infrastructure of this Nation. They slashed 
our military budget and surrendered national interests to the higher 
authority of international institutions. And on September 11, 2001, on 
September 11, 2001, we witnessed the tragic and the inevitable 
consequences of the international law enforcement approach.
  By contrast, America's foreign policy since 9/11 has been to wage war 
on the terrorists before they wage war on us. In Afghanistan, in Iraq, 
in the Philippines, in southeast Asia, everywhere in the world a 
terrorist sticks his head out of a cave, there will we fight, fight the 
terrorists, their networks, their allies, their financiers and, most 
importantly, their state sponsors.
  Enter Saddam. One year ago, Iraq was still enslaved, still ruled by 
an unstable psychopath who started two regional wars, two regional wars 
in just a decade, who possessed and used weapons of mass destruction 
against his own people when he gassed the Kurds in 1988, who funded 
international terrorism and provided terrorists a safe haven; a mass 
murderer, sitting atop a nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons 
program, a ticking bomb, a ticking time bomb, a nuclear 9/11 waiting to 
happen.
  So we violated the principle tenet of the international law 
enforcement approach. We acted, and in less than a year, since Iraq's 
liberation, a preliminary constitution, the most progressive of its 
kind in the region, has been signed by its leaders. Elections will soon 
be scheduled and the human right, the human right of self-determination 
will be exercised by the Iraqi people.
  Had we not acted, as our opponents wished, Iraq would still be 
enslaved. Terrorists would still enjoy a strategic ally and a safe 
haven and a financier in Baghdad, and we would still be fighting the 
war on terror with U.N. resolutions and losing; but instead, Iraq is 
free, America is safer, and the world has changed for the better.
  Now, terrorists have no safe harbors in Afghanistan and Iraq nor 
potential partners in Saddam Hussein or Moammar Qaddafi's weapons of 
mass destruction programs. States once conflicted about terrorism, like 
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and others are now vital allies in the war, 
providing us with invaluable intelligence and assistance. And for all 
these reasons, Operation Iraqi Freedom and the courageous policies that 
set it in motion have won the most significant battle yet in the war on 
terror, and yet appeasers who endorsed the law enforcement approach, 
who did nothing to deter terrorism in the 1990s, had the audacity to 
call the Bush doctrine and Operation Iraqi Freedom reckless.
  Well, what would you have us do? Wait until Saddam proved that he had 
nuclear weapons by detonating one in New York City? Wait like we waited 
for al Qaeda to prove that they really meant business on September 11, 
2001? A war raged and many people did not know it. A war raged for 8 
years and our national policy on Iraq was regime change, which had 
overwhelming bipartisan support and yet nothing was done. Six dead in 
the World Trade Center bombing, 19 dead at Khobar Towers, 224 dead in 
the African Embassy bombings, 17 sailors dead on the USS Cole, 3,000 
dead on 9/11. And you speak to us about recklessness?
  People are dying and the course of human history hangs by a thread, 
and that thread, Mr. Speaker, is the moral courage of this Nation.
  In the name of justice, vote yes on this resolution to affirm the 
liberation of Iraq as a victory for all humanity over barbarism. In the 
name of decency, vote yes to salute our brave and compassionate troops, 
and in the name of freedom, vote yes to reaffirm that the citizens of 
these United States of America will never abandon the cause of human 
liberty, no matter how terrifying its enemies or tempting the 
platitudes of appeasement.
  Support the resolution and make our voices heard. No retreat, no 
surrender, and no apologies. Victory, Mr. Speaker, only victory.
  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield for the purpose of a unanimous 
consent to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to associate myself 
with the words of the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) and 
salute the troops and emphasize that the world is not yet safe.
  Mr. Speaker, every one of us in the House of Representatives supports 
our troops. We

[[Page 4511]]

are proud of their services for this Nation. However, this is a complex 
issue. The War in Iraq has become costly and contentious. The American 
people are concerned for the future of Iraq, and for our own future. 
They deserve to hear that the House of Representatives is engaging in a 
thoughtful discussion of the progress and challenges before us in Iraq.
  Unfortunately, on the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, 
instead of looking objectively at the situation in Iraq and discussing 
how we got there and how we could have done things better, we are 
spending hours on the Floor just discussing a partisan resolution that 
is just an opportunity for the leadership to wave the flag and pat each 
other on the back. The American people and our troops deserve a more 
thoughtful process.
  The Republicans put out a resolution, with no input from the many 
Members on our side with decades of experience on issues of diplomacy 
and foreign policy. The resolution is deeply-flawed in its 
incompleteness. It jumps out at me that there is no mention of the 
words ``democracy'' or ``women'' or even ``freedom''. What are we 
fighting for? What do we want out of this struggle? It used to be about 
Weapons of Mass Destruction, but now we are hearing that there probably 
have not been any banned weapons in Iraq in over a decade. It used to 
be about 9/11; now even the President has admitted that there is no 
connection between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Now it is about 
``liberating'' the people of Iraq. That is what we lost almost 600 of 
our sons and daughters for, and almost $200 billion--while thousands of 
Iraqis and losing the respect and admiration of the world community. 
But if liberation was the goal, why does the Republican resolution not 
mention the principles we are fighting for, and the tremendous costs we 
have incurred fighting for them?
  Obviously, I feel the discussion this week should be taking a much 
different course.
  In a time when we are trying to encourage democracy in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, we should not be hindering democracy in our own Congress. 
I had three amendments that would have enhanced the underlying 
resolution, drawing attention to some of the successes that have come 
from the toils of our troops and the Iraqi Governing Council, and 
pointed to directions where progress is needed.
  The first amendment simply would have encouraged the Iraqi Governing 
Council to enhance the role of women in the governing process. During 
the transition from a brutal dictatorship to a true representative 
democracy, it is critical that women are not left out of the mix. Great 
strides are being made to provide opportunities for Iraqi women to take 
leadership positions. That should be encouraged and reinforced. Instead 
the subject is not mentioned in H. Res. 557. I believe the omission was 
probably just an oversight that could have been easily corrected with a 
quick amendment. Instead we are missing an opportunity because the 
Republican leadership is not allowing amendments to their resolution.
  Similarly, I was surprised to notice that the word ``democracy'' is 
nowhere to be found in the underlying resolution. Isn't it the 
principles of freedom and democracy that our soldiers are fighting for? 
My second amendment would have added a sense of Congress that the Iraqi 
Governing Council should continue on the path toward making Iraq a free 
and just democracy.
  My third amendment may have been more controversial, but I believe it 
would have made the most important contribution. Our soldiers are now 
risking their lives fighting for a cause that has been called into 
question by our own experts and those from around the world. I didn't 
vote to send our troops to War, but I understand that many who did 
thought they were doing it to prevent a chemical, biological, or 
nuclear weapon from being launched at the U.S. from one of Saddam 
Hussein's alleged stockpiles of such WMDs. Now we are learning from Dr. 
David Kay and others, that such stockpiles were probably not there when 
War broke out. Other Members and some people in the American public 
supported the War because they were told Iraq somehow helped cause 9/
11. Now, the President had told us that there is no reason to think 
there was such a connection.
  I agree that Saddam Hussein was a horrible man. A decade ago, he was 
also dangerous to our allies in the region. But a decade of sanctions, 
precision strikes by our brave pilots, and patrols of the no fly zone--
left him basically impotent. We need to find out why this 
administration was telling us otherwise. It is the duty of Congress to 
exercise our oversight of the executive branch, to immediately launch 
full Congressional hearings to determine how our intelligence failed, 
or how intelligence might have been misused or abused in the run-up to 
war. We owe it to our soldiers and our future soldiers to prevent 
future lapses.
  Some may argue that ``Intelligence is never perfect.'' Misjudging the 
size of a stockpile is, or thinking the missiles with anthrax are in 
Baghdad when actually they are in Tikrit--that is an ``imperfection'' 
in intelligence. However, when our President, Secretary of Defense, 
Director of the NSC, and Secretary of State are warning us of imminent 
threats and mushroom clouds--when the U.N. weapons inspectors are on 
the ground getting unprecedented access and can even bring senior Iraqi 
scientists to the U.S. for questioning--When we go to war and kill tens 
of thousands of Iraqis, and lose almost 600 of our own sons and 
daughters, and billions of dollars of taxpayer dollars, and lose the 
respect of the world community--that is not ``imperfection'' that is 
just a fundamental breakdown of our system.
  We cannot base our foreign policy on such flawed intelligence in the 
future. It is up to Congress to find out what went wrong and start to 
fix the problem. My amendment would have started the process by calling 
for immediate hearings and a report to be produced by the end of the 
year.
  But, we could not even debate that possibility on the Floor. It does 
not make sense. It is undemocratic. I would have liked to support the 
underlying resolution, but its failure to be forthright, to admit the 
need for more progress on the war on terrorism and the need for further 
investigation of our nation's representation that Iraq had at the time 
of the war, Weapons of Mass Destruction leaves me little choice but to 
vote no on partisanship.
  I did not think we needed to go to War last year, while U.N. 
inspectors were making unprecedented progress in demonstrating that 
Saddam Hussein had no WMDs. We could have waited, and focused on 
terrorists like Al Queda and Osama bin Laden instead of broadening our 
scope and getting distracted by Iraq. Now we have compromised our 
military, compromised our budget, compromised our world standing, and 
embarked on a mission that could leave us in more danger than we were 
before.
  As we look at the tragedy last week in Madrid, and then today with 
the bombing of the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, we see that there is 
much work left to be done to make the world safer. It does not make 
sense to embark on that mission only drawing on half of our 
government's expertise. We need to work in a bipartisan fashion and in 
support of our troops and for real peace in Iraq and around the world.
  It would have been a symbolic first step to work together on today's 
resolution.
  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California 
(Mrs. Davis) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.
  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I went to Austin with the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis), the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) after the President was elected but 
before he was inaugurated, and I sat at his table, and I said to him, 
Mr. President, you do not have to worry about missile defense, you have 
got to worry about terrorism and you have got to worry about nuclear 
proliferation.
  Then I came back, we went to committee, and under the leadership of 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis) we moved $1.4 billion out of 
missile defense and put it into counterterrorism on September 11, 2001. 
We could not finish our markup that day because of what happened. One 
of the planes went down in my district. That was the start of the war 
against terrorism because those passengers in that plane took a stand. 
They got up and fought that plane to the ground. The plane was probably 
coming towards the Capitol of the United States.
  The reason that I am so upset about this resolution, not only because 
they did not consult any of us, but because the terrorists worked with 
a calendar and we work with a clock. This is going to be a long war. We 
have been discredited worldwide with our intelligence.
  I told the story before. When Dean Acheson, former Secretary of State 
at the time, went to meet with President de Gaulle to show him the 
evidence of the Cuban missiles in Cuba, and he offered to show him 
photographs, he said, I do not need to see the photographs, I will take 
the word of the President of the United States.
  We have been discredited because our intelligence was faulty. I 
believed there was weapons of mass destruction. I believed that there 
was an al Qaeda connection. None of this has turned out to be true.

[[Page 4512]]

  A constituent of mine said in pointing to me, he said, Never in 
history have so many been misled by so few. I said, You mean me? He 
said, I mean you, Mr. Murtha. He said to me, Before I voted on the 
resolution and before we went to war, he told me, I have confidence in 
your vote; I have confidence we should go to war and put our soldiers 
in harm's way because I know you have the inside and you know the 
truth.
  Well, let me tell my colleagues, the preamble to this paper is what 
makes me so upset. We are trying to justify what we did. Look, no 
question about Saddam Hussein being a bad guy, but that is not why we 
went to war. If we took the preamble and we put that as a resolution, 
there would not have been a resolution. When they ask me if you would 
have voted for this resolution if you know what you know, I said there 
would not have been a resolution because the resolution would not have 
come up because there was no threat to our national course, national 
security.

                              {time}  1915

  This is going to be a long war, and I am going to be right there. I 
am going to be voting for something that means something. I am going to 
be voting for the money, for the troops, for all the things they need. 
The gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis) and I stand shoulder to 
shoulder. Only 16 people voted against our defense bill. I do not think 
that many voted against the authorization bill of the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Hunter) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton).
  So we are for the defense of this country, but we should not mislead 
the people. I have said over and over again, do not be overly 
optimistic. This is going to be a long haul. And if we are overly 
optimistic and we tell the American public and the international 
community and they lose faiths in us, we cannot win this war on 
terrorism. We have to have the support of the American public, which 
has dropped dramatically. And if you tell them the cost, it drops below 
50 percent. Internationally they do not support us because they do not 
believe many of the things that we say now, and we have to have them if 
we are going to win this war on terrorism.
  So I would ask the Members to be careful with the charges that they 
are making in this resolution. And I would hope the Members understand 
that all of us support the troops. All of us want to do everything we 
can; and when it comes to the money, we will be there. So I would ask 
all the Members to vote for the recommital motion and let us make a 
slight change in this resolution so that we can pass it overwhelmingly.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert), the Speaker of the House.
  Mr. HASTERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois for 
yielding me this time.
  First of all, I want to say that I have the utmost respect for the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania. He has been a leader in this Congress for 
a long, long time; and I have seen him in action in the Middle East and 
other places. He has the utmost concern for our men in uniform and 
respect for them and compassion for them.
  However, I have to take some difference in his conclusion; and I just 
want to say that when we made that decision to move into, first of all, 
Iraq, we all made decisions based on the information we had before us, 
information that a previous President had, information that we had in 
the Senate, information that we all looked at. It was the best 
information that we could bring before us. I do not think anybody in 
this Chamber or in this town tried to deceive anybody on that 
information. I would stand shoulder to shoulder with him and say we 
tried to make the best decisions for our men and women in this country 
with the information that we had.
  We still do not know where weapons of mass destruction are: if they 
are buried, if they are in a lab someplace, or where they are. But we 
know that the enemy at that time had the potential to make those 
weapons; and for all we knew, they had those weapons.
  So I rise today in support of this resolution, and I urge my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it. This resolution is 
quite straightforward. My constituents back home would call it plain 
talk. It is common sense. It commends the Iraqi people for adopting an 
interim constitution. It commends our military for their brave efforts 
in liberating Iraq. And it affirms to the world that the world is a 
better place without Saddam Hussein in power. That is what it does.
  It is hard to imagine that anyone in this Chamber could be against 
it; yet some are. Politicians sometimes behave in strange ways in 
election years. We all know that. And there are those who have vowed to 
change our national leadership no matter what it takes. But the ``no 
matter what it takes'' approach causes folks to do some foolish things, 
to cast some foolish votes.
  How can anyone vote against a resolution that commends our troops as 
they fight a just war overseas? How can anyone defend a dictator who 
used rape rooms as a matter of state policy? How can anyone forget the 
400,000 victims in mass graves that had already been found in Iraq, 
brutally murdered by the Hussein regime?
  There has been a lot said in the press and even on this floor about 
the victory of the Spanish Socialists in last Sunday's election in 
Spain. Clearly, the Spanish people have a right to elect their own 
government. But I hope that the terrorists do not draw the wrong 
conclusion about that election. Europe should have learned a painful 
lesson in the 1930s and should never return to a peace-through-
appeasement strategy. Our country, the United States of America, must 
never adopt a policy of appeasement. We must never let terrorists take 
encouragement from anything that we do on the battlefield or in this 
Chamber.
  We all must say with one voice that we were right to rid the world of 
the murdering thug Saddam Hussein; that our troops did the right thing 
to bring Uday and Qusay and all of Saddam's brutal henchmen to justice; 
and that the long march to democracy that has started finally both in 
Baghdad and Kabul is both inexorable and inevitable.
  Today, with this resolution, we start the public trial of Saddam 
Hussein. Let us never forget the pain that he caused countless Iraqis, 
his neighbors, and even his so-called friends. Let us never forget the 
threats that he posed to America and America's allies or his willful 
disregard of the 17 United Nations Security Council resolutions. And 
let us never say that this war was in any way unjust or illegitimate.
  Every brave man and woman who sacrificed their lives, their limbs, or 
their blood and sweat and tears to fight the Hussein regime did so for 
a righteous and just cause. This is not like Vietnam. Vietnam is over. 
This war we fight now is a war against terrorists. It is a war against 
those who have attacked and killed Americans abroad and on our own 
soil. Saddam Hussein was a terrorist of the worst kind.
  Some of my colleagues might be looking for the shades of gray in this 
debate, but I simply do not see the gray. Saddam Hussein and Osama bin 
Laden are cut from the same cloth. They are both brutal killers. They 
both hate America with every ounce of their being. And because we are 
free, we want all people on Earth to be free. And they both must be 
brought to justice. We have Hussein, and we will get bin Laden.
  Take a stand against terrorism. Take a stand for our troops. And vote 
for this important resolution.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, Halabja is alluded to in the resolution 
before us. Because Halabja is where Saddam slaughtered some 5,000 Iraqi 
Kurds with chemical weapons. The resolution appears to suggest that 
this despicable act--this crime against humanity--provides some 
justification for the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
  But the tragedy of Halabja occurred in March of 1988. And we did 
nothing then. Because Saddam was our ally. And many of those currently 
serving in the Bush Administration were key figures in that alliance. 
They were fully aware of what happened in Halabja.
  Our Secretary of Defense, Mr. Rumsfeld, was a special envoy to 
Saddam. The Vice

[[Page 4513]]

President, Dick Cheney, was Secretary of Defense for the first 
President Bush. The Secretary of State, Colin Powell, served as both 
National Security Advisor and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
  The history of our relationship with Saddam is important so that we 
do not repeat the errors of the 80s and 90s in today's war on terror.
  Under Presidents Reagan and Bush, Iraq was removed from the terrorist 
list. Full diplomatic relations were restored. Billions of dollars in 
loan guarantees were provided to Saddam. The sale of dual-use 
technology for weapons of mass destruction was approved--no wonder, 
after the first Gulf War, that we found that Iraq had an advanced 
nuclear weapons program. We gave them the tools to build it. We let 
other countries supply U.S. military equipment. We even shared highly 
sensitive satellite intelligence with Saddam's army. And even though we 
knew Saddam was using chemical weapons against Iran, the U.S. prevented 
the United Nations from condemning Iraq.
  According to a Congressional Research Service report, which I will 
insert into the Record, not only did we support Saddam, but when the 
Congress tried to impose sanctions on Iraq for the use of chemical 
weapons, the Reagan and Bush Administrations blocked those efforts.
  I fear now we are forging similar unholy alliances in our war on 
terror. In Uzbekistan we are supporting a tyrant who, according to our 
own State Department, heads an oppressive regime that has more than 
5,000 political prisoners. In Turkmenistan, we are allied with another 
Stalinist thug, by the name of Turkmenbashi, who has created a 
personality cult that rivals Saddam's. He's renamed January after 
himself, and the month of April after his mother.
  So let us remember the lessons of Halabja. If we are going to speak 
of democracy and liberty, let us practice it. If we are going to talk 
about human rights, let us defend them. If we are sincere about the war 
on terror, let us not ally ourselves with those illegitimate heads of 
state who terrorize their own people. Let us keep what credibility we 
have left.
  Mr. SIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to add my support for H. Res. 
557.
  As I have done since the beginning of this war, I continue to focus 
my attention on the fine men and women of the Armed Forces that have 
fought so valiantly in Iraq. In particular I am pleased to recognize 
the contributions of the National Guard and Reserve.
  The citizen soldiers of the Guard and Reserve left behind their 
families and careers to serve their country. We must continue to 
recognize those family members and employers who have also sacrificed 
over the last year while their loved ones served in harm's way 
thousands of miles away.
  Today, three units from the Connecticut National Guard continue to 
serve in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, while one unit has 
returned and yet another prepares to deploy. I had the unique 
opportunity to meet with many of these fine soldiers in theater during 
my October trip to Iraq last year. Their morale and conviction for the 
mission remain as strong today as it was when they deployed.
  We must remember that work here in Congress remains to insure that 
both active duty soldiers and our Guard and Reserve units continue to 
get the support they need. We must continue to see an increase in the 
flow of up-armored HMMWVs and up-armor kits and body armor to theater. 
We must also make sure the troops know that the American people support 
their efforts in securing a world free from the threat of terrorism.
  Mr. Speaker, I was not able to make the roll call vote for H. Res. 
557, but had I been in attendance I ask that the Record reflect that I 
would have voted ``yea,'' joining with my colleagues on both sides of 
the aisle in commending the members of the United States Armed Forces 
and Coalition forces for liberating Iraq. I am grateful for their 
valiant service.
  Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I believe the 
resolution before us only tells part of the story about our efforts in 
Iraq. I will vote for this resolution because of my thanks to our brave 
service personnel for their efforts and my hope for the creation of a 
free and democratic Iraq, but I am deeply disappointed in the partisan 
way that such an important resolution is being used to further divide 
our country.
  This resolution portrays the case that we went to Iraq solely based 
on the brutality of Saddam Hussein's regime. Americans were told that 
Saddam Hussein presented a clear and immediate danger to the safety of 
the United States, and our soldiers were told they were going to Iraq 
to protect our country from a direct attack on our soil. We now know 
that justification to be false, and I believe it is a disservice to our 
soldiers who are risking their lives and our citizens if we do not 
honestly address the failures in the use of intelligence.
  Saddam Hussein was a brutal tyrant who oppressed and murdered his 
people. It is good that he is gone. The Iraqi people now have the 
opportunity to create something they have never had: a free and stable 
country. That is a goal that I fully support.
  I am proud of our military personnel for performing above and beyond 
the call of duty. They have demonstrated that they are the best 
fighting force in the world, and we should show our gratitude for the 
professionalism and skill with which they have carried out their 
mission.
  But that is not the whole story. This resolution fails to recognize 
the great sacrifices made by our military personnel and their families, 
or offer condolences to the over 540 families who have made the 
ultimate sacrifice. This resolution offers no recognition of the 
dedication shown by our citizen soldiers who have been asked to serve 
in far greater and more dangerous capacity than many of them ever 
imagined. We cannot afford to forget these sacrifices.
  If we truly wish to honor our soldiers. I ask my colleagues to work 
together in a bipartisan way to provide not just words, but actions. We 
need to provide the proper support so that they may safely carry out 
their mission, and we need to recognize that our responsibility to our 
soldiers does not end when they take off the uniform. We need to 
recognize that caring for the veterans of this country and the veterans 
of this war is part of the cost of defending our Nation.
  Mr. OLVER. Mr. Speaker, I support our courageous men and women in 
uniform who are bearing the burden of this military action in Iraq. I 
am deeply grateful for their patriotism, and their sacrifice.
  Unfortunately, this resolution does not simply support our troops--it 
is an endorsement of this President's policy of unilateral, preemptive 
military action, and it makes the dubious assertion that the world 
today is safer than it was before the Iraq war began.
  Considering that the President's budget does not request a single 
dollar for the ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan or 
provide the health care and benefits that our wounded servicemen and 
women deserve when they come home, I find it deeply ironic that the 
leadership of this House is so eager to offer a resolution praising our 
troops but empty of material support.
  I would have happily supported an honest and fair resolution 
expressing support for our troops, but that is not what we are being 
asked to vote on today. The fact is President Bush and the Republican 
majority have not provided our troops in Iraq the body armor and 
armored vehicles they need to be as safe as they can be. The 
Administration has not explained its faulty ``intelligence'' to justify 
the decision to go to war or its failure to plan adequately for the 
post-war occupation of Iraq. The President clearly has not provided the 
Congress with an accurate accounting for the costs of the ongoing 
military operations in Iraq.
  This resolution makes no mention of the more than 550 American 
service men and women who have been killed, another 2,500 Americans 
wounded, many grievously, or the thousands of Iraqis who have died 
during this conflict. Nor does this resolution mention the more than 
200 people killed just last week in Madrid, and those who have been 
killed in numerous other terrorist attacks since the war began. It is 
hypocritical and disingenuous for the sponsors of this resolution to 
claim that the world is a safer place while ignoring the fact that 
terrorist operations in response to our occupation of Iraq are 
occurring with alarming frequency.
  Mr. Speaker, like all of my colleagues, I am happy that Saddam 
Hussein no longer has the power to abuse and slaughter his own people--
but unlike the claim made in this resolution, I do not believe that the 
world is a safer, less dangerous place than it was twelve months ago. 
Nor do I believe that we have provided our troops everything that they 
need to do their job properly.
  The resolution that we are voting on today is really just a reminder 
of what the Bush Administration would like us to forget from the past 
year--the hidden costs, the faulty intelligence, the failure to find 
weapons of mass destruction, the false claims of links between al-Qaeda 
and Saddam Hussein, and the rising number of dead and wounded--and I 
cannot support it.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, as it should be, military 
service is being held in high esteem. What strikes me when I visit our 
military bases and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, is the age of those 
who have answered the call to duty throughout America's history. In 
this war, as in

[[Page 4514]]

those of our past, we send our young. They are the best of the best. 
Their motto might well be, in the words of Alexander Pope, ``Act well 
your part, therein all honor lies.''
  Spc. Jeffrey Wershow, a National Guardsman from Gainesville, Florida, 
is a shining example of Pope's words. He was a patriotic young man with 
passion and heart who left this world too early. His dreams included 
law school and public service. Spc. Wershow wanted to change the world, 
and he did.
  I stand 100 percent behind our troops. All those who deserve our 
appreciation, our respect, and our compassion. The brave men and women 
in uniform who have volunteered to defend our country are in my 
thoughts, and in my prayers. I pledge to work to ensure that they have 
all the resources necessary to help them accomplish their mission 
quickly and safely so that they can return home to their families.
  I want to salute the 566 U.S. troops killed in the year that troops 
have been in Iraq. Our Nation is humbled by their allegiance, service 
and sacrifice. I pray that their families will find comfort and peace. 
To date, 3,254 U.S. troops have been physically wounded. I wish them a 
speedy recovery and happiness as they return to their family and 
friends. An untold number of troops will not bear physical scars from 
this war, but will struggle with their time in Iraq when they return 
home. I pledge that I will not forget their service and will stand with 
them when they come home to America. Thousands of Iraqi civilian 
casualties have been reported. I want the Iraqi people to know that my 
heart goes out to them during this difficult period.
  May God bless our troops and may God continue to bless America.
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 557, 
``relating to the liberation of the Iraqi people and the valiant 
service of the United States Armed Forces and Coalition forces.'' First 
and foremost, I believe that it is important to take this time to honor 
the men and women of our armed forces who have sacrificed under 
difficult and dangerous conditions to make our military efforts 
successful in Iraq. It is also important to recognize the sacrifices of 
the families of our troops, friends, and those who employ the members 
of our Guard and Reserve forces deployed overseas. Our appreciation 
goes out to these individuals for their support during these 
challenging times.
  Last October I had the opportunity to visit with our military men and 
women in Iraq and survey the operations of the U.S. reconstruction 
mission to Iraq. I have never been more proud to be an American than 
when I witnessed our troops fulfilling their mission in difficult and 
dangerous circumstances. While we still have a long way to go in Iraq, 
I saw many signs of progress in helping meet the basic needs of the 
Iraqi people.
  From Wisconsin alone there are over 1,460 members of the Air and Army 
National Guard who are serving on active duty. This includes military 
units activated from the Third Congressional District, which I 
represent. Wisconsin's 229th Army National Guard Engineer Company from 
Prairie Du Chien and Platteville, and 652nd Army Reserves Engineer 
Company from Ellsworth are currently serving in Iraq.
  We welcomed the members of Wisconsin's 829th Army National Guard 
Engineer Detachment from Richland Center back home recently. We also 
welcomed back members of Wisconsin's 1158th Army National Guard 
Transportation Detachment from Black River Falls and Tomah, serving in 
Fort Irwin, CA. In addition, the 128th Infantry Battalion headquartered 
in Eau Claire was recently alerted for possible mobilization. The 
people of western Wisconsin are proud of their service and the service 
of all men and women of our armed forces during this important time in 
our Nation's history. I also want to recognize the incredible work of 
the people at Fort McCoy and Volk Field in western Wisconsin. They are 
working countless hours to get our troops ready.
  As the day pass, we must not forget those who have died in the 
mission to liberate the people of Iraq. Over 540 American soldiers have 
died while serving in Iraq. 2LT Jeremy Wolfe, MAJ Christopher Splinter, 
and PFC Bert Hoyer from the Third District in Wisconsin, each paid the 
ultimate sacrifice to give the people of Iraq the greatest gift of 
all--their freedom. These young men exemplify all that is good and 
decent about America. Their loss is tragic; their sacrifices should not 
be forgotten.
  I do, however, have reservations about certain language in this 
resolution, in particular, the references to the world being safer with 
the removal of Saddam Hussein. That subject is highly debatable. While 
I agree that the Iraqi people are better off free from the tyrannical 
rule of Saddam Hussein, the most critical threat to international 
security is still at large and still very active. To this day, it is al 
Qaeda, who remains the number one security threat and we must combat 
that international threat with an international coalition.
  It is al Qaeda that was directly responsible for the attacks on 
September 11 and it is al Qaeda that is reconstituting itself as a 
truly global terrorist threat. As we know now, Saddam Hussein's regime, 
as ruthless as it was, did not possess an imminent threat against its 
own neighbors, let alone against the United States. We still need a 
thorough investigation of our intelligence failures so future 
miscalculations, that change world opinion against us, are not 
repeated.
  As our military effort continues, I, and other Members of Congress 
will work to ensure that our service men and women have all the 
resources necessary to fulfill this continuing mission. My thoughts and 
prayers are with those serving our country, as well as their families. 
America is firmly behind our troops and we are all hoping to see them 
home safe, secure and soon.
  May God continue to bless these United States of America.
  Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 577. 
Under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi people lived in 
poverty and fear. During his 30-year reign of tyranny, he massacred 
tens of thousands of his own people, some murdered for their religion, 
some for their ethnicity.
  On March 19, 2003, the United States and its Coalition partners 
launched the first air strikes of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On the 
evening of April 9, 2003, Iraqis danced and waved their country's flag 
in central Baghdad as U.S. forces toppled a huge statue of Saddam 
Hussein. In a matter of weeks, Hussein's decades-old regime was 
dismantled and 25 million Iraqis were liberated from one of the world's 
most brutal tyrannies.
  Operation Iraqi Freedom was a military success, courageously executed 
by American men and women in uniform. It was an operation of 
unparalleled precision and speed, and was carried out in a way that 
prevented widespread destruction of Iraq's infrastructure, lengthy 
street-by-street fighting or a humanitarian crises. Food and medical 
aid flowed into Iraq immediately after the troops, and there was no 
``adventurism'' by Iraq's neighbors or other destabilizing action in 
the region.
  Coalition successes include delivering some 3.3 million metric tons 
of food to Iraq; all 240 hospitals in Iraq and more than 1,200 clinics 
are open with more then 90 percent of Iraq's 4.3 million children under 
the age of 5 have been vaccinated against diseases including polio, 
tetanus, diphtheria, measles and tuberculosis; two-thirds of potable 
water production in Iraq has been restored, treating nearly 800 million 
liters a day, benefiting 3.5 million people; electric power generation 
has surpassed 4,400 megawatts of electricity in contrast to only 300 
megawatts prior to the war; average crude oil production has reached 
2.5 million barrels per day and since June 2003 oil sales have 
generated more than $5 billion in revenue for Iraqi reconstruction.
  One year later, Iraqis are engaged in the enormous challenge of 
rebuilding their country after decades of neglect, and are working with 
the Coalition toward the creation of a secure, stable, sovereign and 
peaceful Iraq. To date, in nearly all major cities and most towns and 
villages, Iraqi municipal councils have been forced, and for the first 
time in more than a generation the Iraqi judiciary is fully 
independent. More than 600 Iraqi judges preside over more than 500 
courts that operate independently from the Iraqi Governing Council and 
from the Coalition Provisional Authority.
  Mr. Speaker, U.S. forces are handing the torch to the Iraqi people as 
they take control of their own resources, form an army, build an 
effective police force and develop a fair justice system. Thousands of 
Iraqis now provide security for their fellow citizens, and Iraqi 
security forces now account for more than half of all forces in Iraq. 
Every day more and more Iraqis who know that a free Iraq will change 
the world are stepping forward to ensure a more prosperous and free 
Iraq. And Iraqis who once fearfully followed a fluid and unwritten law 
now have the assurance of a fair and reliable bill of rights that 
ensures equality for all.
  Some skeptics continue to suggest that military action in Iraq was 
wrong, that preemption is never the answer and that Iraqis would have 
been better off left to the will of Saddam Hussein. Today, however, 
Iraq has been freed from the grips of fear, a liberated people are 
cultivating their resources and exploring their free lands, and the 
world is also a safer place because of Saddam's removal.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 557.
  A year ago this week a remarkably successful military campaign began 
against Saddam

[[Page 4515]]

Hussein's brutal dictatorship. As we honor the brave men and women of 
our Armed Forces who waged this battle and the Iraqi people who strive 
to establish a free and open society, we reflect on the tremendous 
sacrifice they have made and on the hard work that remains to be done.
  We knew ridding the world of Saddam Hussein and introducing democracy 
to Iraq was not going to be easy. During four trips to Iraq since 
April, I have seen the strength and courage of our forces as they 
worked alongside Iraqis rebuilding schools by day, and risking their 
lives patrolling those same streets by night.
  At the 1-year anniversary of military action, we extend our heartfelt 
thanks to the men and women of our military who continue to sacrifice 
in Iraq. We also honor the Iraqi people who, by signing an interim 
constitution, have taken a bold step in the pursuit of freedom.
  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, while I am a staunch and unwavering supporter 
of our Nation's troops, I must rise in opposition to this resolution.
  One year ago, the United States invaded Iraq, a unilateralist strike 
approved by Congress because President Bush told us that Saddam Hussein 
had weapons of mass destruction and was prepared to use them.
  The Bush administration, in fact, assured the country that we faced 
imminent danger.
  Today, we know that President Bush and his advisors made dozens--
perhaps hundreds--of misleading statements about the threat posed by 
Iraq. Yet H. Res. 557 makes no reference to weapons of mass 
destruction, the leading justification for our supposed `'preventive'' 
strike at Saddam Hussein, other than to mention the use of such weapons 
some 16 years ago.
  This is an attempt by the Republican Party to rewrite history and 
avoid accountability for their false claims about the nature of the 
Iraqi threat. Nobody from the Democratic side of the aisle was allowed 
to provide input on the resolution.
  Let us remember: CIA Director George Tenet has admitted that U.S. 
intelligence never told the White House that Iraq posed an imminent 
threat; former Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector Hans Blix has stated that 
President Bush disregarded any evidence suggesting that Iraq lacked 
weapons of mass destruction; even David Kay, the Bush administration's 
hand-picked head of the U.S. post-war weapons inspection effort, has 
stated that the Iraq war ``was not worth it'' and recognized that 
weapons of mass destruction `'don't exist.''
  But instead of taking responsibility for its repeated deception, 
Republicans now want to avoid any accountability for this misguided war 
by claiming to honor our troops.
  More than 550 Americans have been killed in the Iraq war and 
occupation, and thousands more wounded, yet the Bush administration and 
the Republican congressional leadership refuse to admit that they were 
wrong.
  I call for a full accounting of the events leading up to the war in 
Iraq. Until then, the American people cannot fully trust what their 
President tells them--especially when it comes to life and death 
decisions.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of our armed forces, but stand 
opposed to this resolution.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of 
the United States forces in Iraq. I also salute the troops from 34 
other nations who have also fought to liberate Iraq from the clutches 
of tyranny and despotism.
  Our armed forces have performed with the utmost skill and bravery. 
They deserve our gratitude and support. They have not only been 
warriors in the heat of the battle and in the fog of war, they have 
also served as change agents, transforming upheaval into pace.
  However, both time and the facts have proven that we were led into 
war with the weapons of mass distortion. We have since learned that our 
reasons for sending our troops to Iraq were based on faulty 
intelligence.
  Assumptions about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were incorrect. 
President Bush admits that the United States has no evidence linking 
Saddam Hussein to the 9/11 attacks, despite the Administration's timing 
conflating al-Qaeda-led terrorism and Saddam's regime.
  Plans for rebuilding Iraq were woefully inadequate, and cost estimate 
absurdly low. Rather than catalyzing Mideast peace, the region is again 
awash in violence.
  The Administration's arrogant dismissal of our allies' concerns has 
made it all the more difficult to win their financial and military 
support for post-war efforts.
  One part of winning the war against terror is proving to the world 
that America stands with freedom, champions the weak and aids the 
righteous. We are failing in that effort.
  The Administration has boasted that America, as well as the world, is 
now safer because of the toppling of Saddam Hussein. Twenty-five 
million Iraqis will attest to this. While the threat of Saddam Hussein 
may be gone, al-Qaeda is still a clear and present danger. As recent 
news headlines attest, the people of Spain are reeling from the 
dastardly acts of this hydra-headed monster.
  The war in Iraq and the intensified conflict in the Middle East has 
increased anger at the United States, and people throughout the world 
have lost faith in America's foreign policies.
  America's foreign policies should be driven by human rights, justice 
and equality--values that would decrease the threat to terrorism--and 
not by corporate interests.
  I agree with this resolution on two points: the Iraqi people have 
been courageous and Saddam Hussein was a brutal and dangerous dictator.
  A year ago, my constituents demanded answers to their many questions. 
How much would a war with Iraq and subsequent occupation cost 
taxpayers? How would this be paid for when the federal government is 
running large deficits? Will it be worth it? How long will we be there? 
All of these questions about Iraq remain unanswered.
  I told them that there were no guarantees that we could replace the 
current regime with a viable alternative that would bring stability and 
peace to the region.
  I hoped my grim predictions were wrong.
  Mr. Speaker, I would never turn my back on our troops and our 
commitments. Our Nation is at war. We do know that the sons and 
daughters of all our many communities are engaged in the dangerous and 
unpredictable duties that are carried by the Armed Forces in a time of 
war. Our military, including overburdened national reservists, are 
stretched thin and remain vulnerable to deadly attacks.
  Mr. Speaker, Iraq was neither an immediate or imminent threat to the 
security of the American people. Iraq's structural integrity did depend 
on fear, violence, illicit oil revenue and the illegitimate authority 
of one man and the party he led.
  But was that enough to justify the more than 565 lost lives of 
American soldiers and more than 2000 wounded that will have to return 
to their communities where jobs are not available?
  Post-war chaos and disorder in Iraq has proven to be just as 
destructive to human life as the actual war.
  I believe this resolution fails to point out that following the 
devastation of World War II, the United States showed tremendous 
leadership in the world as we created international institutions and a 
framework of international law to prevent war and to sustain and 
maintain peace.
  We were the leaders in promoting a world where conflicts could be 
resolved peacefully and cooperatively. While never perfect, this system 
of international institutions has been remarkably effective.
  I and many others around the world are shocked and dismayed by the 
unilateral, confrontational approach that the Bush Administration has 
taken in the world arena.
  We must recognize the consequences in the world community of our 
rejection of Kyoto, of the International Criminal Court, of the treaty 
to ban land mines, and our own withdrawal from the ABM treaty.
  We must be mindful about how our criticism of the UN and NATO are 
heard throughout the world community.
  We have to recognize that after 9-11, the world came together in 
solidarity with our loss, working with us to find the perpetrators, to 
break up Al Qaeda and to arrest its leaders.
  It should have been abundantly clear that fighting terrorism and 
protecting American security would require friends and allies; 
cooperation, not confrontation.
  Yet, the Adminatration instead engaged in a singled-minded drive to 
achieve its Iraqi objectives at a deadly cost instead of developing a 
policy to deal with Iraq by working with our allies, by working with 
the world community.
  Even if the Administration gets what they want this time, what is the 
long term damage to our international relationships? How will it impact 
our efforts to stop terrorism and protect the security of the American 
people?
  I am worried. The people that I represent are very anxious. My 
colleague from Maine earlier circulated a dear colleague about this 
resolution. I would like to emphasize the points he highlighted in his 
Dear Colleague:

       The Republican leadership has scheduled four hours of 
     debate today on H. Res. 577, regarding this resolution.
       This amount of debate time allocated to this non-binding 
     resolution is equal to the amount the Republican leadership 
     allowed on the 2003 tax bill (one hour) and the Medicare bill 
     (three hours) combined.

  Mr. Speaker, I believe all of Congress and all of America stand by 
our troops, but we

[[Page 4516]]

think it is absolutely incumbent upon this Administration to answer our 
questions instead of debating a resolution with sound and fury while 
signifying nothing.
  Ms. McCARTHY of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to 
H. Res. 557. This resolution to mark the one year anniversary of the 
United States led military invasion of Iraq is a partisan measure. The 
brave men and women who continue to serve our Nation and fight for 
democracy in Iraq deserve bipartisan cooperation and an alternative 
resolution to the divisive proposal introduced today.
  Back home in the fifth district of Missouri I have visited with 
families of service men and women to hear their concerns about the 
needs of our troops. Their message is clear: ``We want them home. In 
the meantime, we want them safe.'' The Administration's budget proposes 
$1.2 billion less than the amount requested by Veterans Affairs 
Secretary Anthony Principi which the Veterans of Foreign Wars terms a 
``disgraceful'' level of funding for veterans' healthcare. We must also 
provide active service members with the equipment, training and 
resources they need to protect our freedom and fight the war on 
terrorism.
  On the one year anniversary of our involvement in Iraq, we praise the 
efforts and sacrifices of those who put their lives on the line for us 
every day. Let our future actions on their behalf reflect that. This 
resolution does not.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H. Res. 577. This 
resolution claims to support our troops, yet it fails to even mention 
the over 550 American service men and women who have died in this 
conflict.
  It also fails to even mention the weapons of mass destruction what 
were supposedly the justification for this war with its terrible cost 
in lives, dollars, and security.
  And its claims that this war has made the world safer. In fact, the 
war in Iraq and the Doctrine of Preemption have made the world a more 
dangerous place. This is a terrible resolution. And it is a trap.
  This resolution completely distorts and ignores the basis for this 
war.
  In the fall of 2002, the Bush Administration told us that Iraqi 
weapons of mass destruction posed a grave and gathering danger to the 
United States and that we therefore supposedly had to go to war.
  This resolution does not even mention this.
  Now, the Administration's own chief weapons inspector, David Kay, has 
said that there are no large stockpiles of chemical, biological or 
nuclear weapons. He said, ``We were almost all wrong.'' Why isn't this 
cited in the resolution before us? Leaving out the weapons of mass 
destruction argument represents yet another lie of omission.
  In fact, the truth is, not everyone was wrong.
  Mohammed El-Baradei and Dr. Hans Blix, the U.N. inspectors, raised 
real doubts about the Administration's rush to war.
  And 72 members of Congress voted for my amendment to the use of force 
resolution that would have rejected the unnecessary rush to war and 
instead strengthened our commitment to the United Nations inspections 
process.
  Last March, before the first shots in the war were fired, I 
introduced a resolution disavowing the Doctrine of Preemption because I 
believed that preemptive first strikes in the absence of a proven 
imminent threat go against both American values and American interests.
  We had choices. We had options. We did not have to go to war.
  Now we are on the verge of commemorating a year of war led by a 
President who is proud to claim his record as a war president. In that 
year over 550 American service men and women have died and over 3000 
have been wounded, along with literally untold numbers of Iraqi 
civilians.
  This Republican resolution blatantly and shamefully disregards this 
fact.
  Some of us remember them today and their families. We also hope and 
pray for the safe and swift return of all our armed forces who are 
still in harm's way. As the daughter of a retired military officer, I 
know what we owe to these men and women.
  We owe them and their families economic security. And we owe them our 
best efforts to create a safer world.
  Now I tried to offer an amendment to this misleading resolution that 
said two things.
  First of all, my amendment expressed our deep sorrow and regret for 
all those who have been killed in this war and extending our support to 
their families in this moment of terrible loss.
  As I said, the resolution as written, never mentions the more than 
550 Americans who have died. How insulting and insensitive.
  Second, my amendment addressed the new world order--or disorder--that 
has been created by this war.
  It stated: The war in Iraq and the Doctrine of Preemption on which it 
is based have undermined long-standing alliances; weakened the 
effectiveness of the United Nations; cost hundreds of American and 
unknown numbers of Iraqi lives and billions of dollars; and have made 
the world a more dangerous rather than a safer place.
  We are not voting on this amendment today because the Rules Committee 
did not allow my amendment honoring the sacrifice of our troops or 
offering the truth about the war.
  Once again, true debate is being stifled. What a shame and a 
disgrace!
  Once again, this Administration and the Republican leadership are 
attempting to deceive the American people.
  We must call them on it and vote against this resolution which does 
not mention those who have been killed.
  It does not mention the weapons of mass destruction that supposedly 
were the justification for the war itself.
  And it does not accurately portray the fact that this war and the 
Doctrine of Preemption on which it is based have made the world a more 
dangerous, rather than a safer place.
  Is that the world that we want to turn over to our children?
  Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 
557, commemorating the 1 year anniversary of the liberation of the 
Iraqi people.
  In the past year, our soldiers, sailors, and airmen have performed 
magnificently, first liberating an oppressed country and now 
stabilizing peace and security. We could not be more proud of their 
efforts and dedication, and we thank them and their families for their 
commitment and sacrifices.
  Solid progress has been made in the past year in reconstituting an 
Iraqi civil society and public infrastructure--after nearly 30 years of 
oppression under Saddam Hussein.
  One sector I want to highlight is the work being done in improving 
the education system for Iraq's children. This is a critical step in 
giving them a viable, independent future, and it is necessary in order 
to secure Iraq's place in the world as a prosperous and peaceful 
country.
  More children are attending school--currently 5.5 million are in 
school. All universities and technical schools have been re-opened. The 
curriculum now focuses on teaching reading, writing, and math--not 
instilling fear of the government.
  As far as the Iraqi people have come in the last year, we know there 
is still more work to be done. Our troops and Iraqis still face threats 
from terrorists who have no future in a peaceful and prosperous Iraq.
  Some during this debate have questioned the wisdom of our decision in 
liberating Iraq and removing Saddam Hussein as a threat to the 
international community. Some have focused on what has gone wrong, 
rather than on what has gone right. The recent terrorist attack in 
Spain should drive home the point of why we must take the fight to the 
terrorists--rather than waiting to fight with them here on our soil. 
This is not a clash of cultures, peoples of religions--this is about 
fanatic fundamentalists who despise their peaceful fellow countrymen 
and believers.
  The new central front on the war on terror is Iraq. In order to 
defeat the fundamentalists, who love death and destruction more than 
they love life, we must stay the course in Iraq and in other parts of 
the globe where we and our allies work to defeat terrorism.
  The war on terrorism is a global effort; it is a long-term effort. 
Terrorists have many agendas and capabilities. Their supporters hide in 
dark shadows and are elusive. But the one thing they have in common is 
the desire to change our way of life.
  America is strong in its resolve in fighting terrorism. We will 
succeed, and we will continue to be patient, deliberate, and consistent 
in defending our citizens and interests.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, it has been one year since the brave men and 
women serving in the U.S. Armed Forces were ordered into Iraq. On a 
daily basis, these brave servicemembers are displaying tremendous 
patriotism and courage. They and their families have made enormous 
sacrifices, many even the ultimate sacrifice, to serve our Nation.
  I continue to strongly support our troops serving us in Iraq, 
Afghanistan, and around the world. My own district has seen the loss of 
four fallen heroes who gave their lives in defense of our Nation: Jorge 
Casanova, Atanacio Haro Marin, Francisco Martinez Flores, and Kelly 
Bolor. Many more from my district have been injured. One of my 
constituents, Eugene Serrano, was part of the unit that captured Saddam 
Hussein.
  Last month, I hosted a ceremony in my district to honor these fallen 
heroes and all of our Nation's veterans--those who have lost their

[[Page 4517]]

lives, those who have put their lives on the line, and those who 
continue to risk their lives in order to defend our Nation.
  We should honor our troops and our veterans. However, I cannot 
support the particular resolution before us today.
  I oppose this resolution not because of what it says, but because of 
what it does not say. It fails to express sorrow and condolences to the 
families of the more than 550 servicemembers that have died in Iraq, 
over 415 of whom were killed after President Bush declared an end to 
major combat in Iraq. It also lacks mention of the more than 3,500 who 
have been wounded in Iraq.
  Honoring our troops should go beyond mere words commending their 
service. We should also eliminate disparities in pay between our active 
duty military and the National Guard and reservists. Some reservist 
families in my district are struggling to make ends meet while their 
loved ones are serving our Nation abroad.
  We should also provide the health care and benefits our wounded 
service men and women earned when they come home. I've had the 
privilege of visiting Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC, where 
many of the wounded troops are receiving care upon returning from Iraq. 
Some of these soldiers, many of who have little financial resources, 
are facing substantial medical bills for injuries sustained during war.
  We should also take steps to ensure that the families of fallen 
soldiers have access to resources to cope with the loss of their loved 
one. This includes adequate funds for bereavement costs and translators 
for military personnel who visit families of fallen heroes whose first 
language is not English. When military personnel arrived at the home of 
one of the fallen service members from my district, his parents, like 
all parents in the same situation, feared the worst. Unfortunately, the 
parents were unable to fully understand why the uniformed military 
members were visiting them because they did not speak English. They 
feared for their son's condition. Language and cultural differences 
should be acknowledged and addressed, especially when families are 
hearing news that they have lost a loved one.
  Finally, this resolution ignores the important steps that must be 
taken to lay the foundation for a stable and secure Iraq. We should 
immediately remedy the deficiencies in the intelligence on which our 
troops rely and assemble a true international coalition so that the 
United States does not have to consume all of the costs and nearly all 
of the casualties. Doing so will help secure the region and bring our 
troops safely home.
  Today, we had an opportunity to truly honor our troops with words and 
action. Unfortunately, this resolution accomplishes nothing more than 
dividing us at a time when we should be united.
  I continue to support our troops. I want to extend sincere gratitude 
to them and their families for their extraordinary sacrifices.
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my 
concerns about the process by which H. Res. 557 has been considered in 
the House.
  Once again, a small group in the House--the majority party on the 
Rules Committee--has prevented a full and fair debate. Last night, I 
submitted an amendment to the Committee for consideration. The first 
part of my amendment would have struck the language in the resolution 
claiming that the Iraq war has made the world safer, replacing it with 
language about the deplorable and brutal regime of Saddam Hussein. The 
second part would have added a fifth clause to the resolution, 
commending the members of the Reserve and National Guard and their 
families for their dedication and sacrifice, given the extraordinary 
number of such members called to active duty and their length of 
deployment in Iraq. Unfortunately, not only was my amendment not made 
in order, but no amendments at all were made in order. In fact, the 
minority does not even have the right to recommit this resolution with 
instructions.
  Let me be clear that there is no doubt that the world is better off 
without Saddam Hussein and his horrible regime. But to put forth a 
resolution stating that the world is safer because of the U.S. invasion 
into Iraq, while claiming it ``should be'' bipartisan, is purely 
partisan politics. I am shocked at the audacity of the Republican 
leadership to force an up or down vote on a resolution with a clause 
justifying the war in Iraq, bundled with provisions that every member 
of this House supports--commending the Iraqis for their courage, 
commending the adoption of an interim constitution, and supporting U.S. 
and Coalition forces for their bravery. My amendment would have truly 
made this resolution something members on both sides of the aisle could 
support.
  I also share the concerns of many of my colleagues that this 
resolution does not acknowledge many of the questions surrounding the 
justification that the Administration used for going to war in Iraq. 
First, no weapons of mass destruction have been found. Second, CIA 
Director Tenet has stated that he never said the threat coming from 
Iraq was imminent, a claim that President Bush repeatedly made to the 
American people. Third, the Administration's alleged ties between Al 
Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's regime have yet to be proven. In my view, 
these discrepancies are the reason why the Republican leadership has 
decided to take up this resolution. I think that they believe if they 
can get the House to agree that the world is safer because of the U.S. 
invasion into Iraq, the war is justified. But I disagree wholeheartedly 
with this flawed logic.
  We should be spending our time talking about how to make our country 
and world safer. We should be talking about the security of our 
borders, of cargo, of our critical infrastructure. We should be talking 
about truly supporting our troops by making sure they are taken care of 
when they return to the U.S.--ensuring that they don't have to wait for 
six months to get an appointment at the VA; ensuring that the veterans 
who fought before them get the benefits they were promised; ensuring 
that their loved ones will be taken care of when they pass on. We 
should be talking about how to help the Reservists and members of the 
National Guard who have been called to serve longer then they ever 
envisioned, whose families need help paying the bills while the 
soldiers are gone.
  I have been moved by the bravery of the troops that have been 
deployed from my district in New Mexico. They include the 52nd Engineer 
Combat Battalion's Charlie Battery, the New Mexico National Guard's 
1115th Transportation Company, a group of soldiers from the New Mexico 
National Guard 3631st Maintenance Company, thousands of reservists, and 
countless active duty. I will continue working in Congress to help 
their families while they are gone and to help them with the transition 
when they return.
  Let's pass a resolution commending the bravery of our troops and 
coalition forces, thanking their families, commending the Iraqis for 
their courage in the face of a brutal regime and war, commending the 
adoption of an interim constitution in Iraq--but let's allow for a full 
debate and do it in a way that does not divide us. A resolution on the 
one-year anniversary of the beginning of the war should not be used for 
political purposes. Our armed forces, including the Reservists and 
National Guard members I sought to commend, as well as the Iraqi 
people, deserve better.
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H. Res. 557. I do so 
obviously not because I oppose praising our armed forces, but because 
our policy in the Persian Gulf is seriously flawed and an effort to 
commend our forces should not be used to rubber-stamp a policy of 
folly. To do so is disingenuous. Though this resolution may yield 
political benefits to those who are offering it, it will prove to be 
historically inaccurate. Justifying pre-emption is not the answer to 
avoiding appeasement.
  Very few wars are necessary. Very few wars are good and just, 
including this one. In reality, most wars are costly beyond measure in 
life and limb and economic hardship, including this one. There have 
been 566 deaths, 10,000 casualties, and hundreds of billions of dollars 
for a ``victory'' that remains elusive. Rather than bragging of victory 
we should recognize that the war that rages on has intensified and 
spread, leaving our allies and our own people less safe.
  Denying that we are interested in oil and that occupying an Islamic 
country is not an affront to the sensitivities of most Arabs and 
Muslims is foolhardy. Reasserting U.N. Security Council resolutions as 
the justification for war further emphasizes our sacrifice of 
sovereignty and Congress's reneging on its Constitutional 
responsibility on war.
  This resolution seems to forget that for too long we were staunch 
military and economic allies of Saddam Hussein. This in itself only 
demonstrates the folly of our policy of foreign meddling over many 
decades from the days of the U.S. installing the Shah of Iran to the 
current world-wide spread of hostilities and hatred, our unnecessary 
intervention abroad shows so clearly how unintended consequences come 
back to haunt generation after generation.
  Someday our leaders ought to ask why Switzerland, Sweden, Canada, 
Mexico and many other nations are not potential targets of an attack by 
Islamic extremists.
  Falsely claiming that al-Qaeda was aligned with Saddam Hussein and 
using this as a rallying cry to war has now resulted in al-Qaeda 
actually having a strong presence and influence in Iraq. Falsely 
claiming that Iraq had a supply of weapons of mass destruction has 
resulted in a dramatic loss of U.S. credibility, as

[[Page 4518]]

anti-Americanism spreads around the world. As a result of this, al-
Qaeda recruitment sadly has been dramatically boosted.
  That Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator was never in question, so 
reaffirming it here is unnecessary. What we must keep in mind, however, 
is that Saddam Hussein was attacking his own people and making war on 
Iran when he was essentially an ally of the United States--to the point 
where the U.S. Government assisted him in his war on Iran. This support 
is made all the more clear when viewing recently-declassified State 
Department cables in the days after Donald Rumsfeld traveled to Iraq as 
a U.S. envoy in 1983. Here are two such examples:
  (1) United States Embassy in the United Kingdom Cable from Charles H. 
Price II to the Department of State. ``Rumsfeld One-on-One Meeting with 
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister,'' December 21, 1983.

       Presidential envoy Donald Rumsfeld and Tariq Aziz meet for 
     two and one-half hours and agree that ``the U.S. and Iraq 
     shared many common interests,'' including peace in the 
     Persian Gulf, the desire to diminish the influence of Iran 
     and Syria, and support for reintegrating Egypt, isolated 
     since its unilateral peace with Israel, into the Arab world. 
     Rumsfeld comments on Iraq's oil exports, suggests alternative 
     pipeline facilities, and discusses opposition to 
     international terrorism and support for a fair Arab-Israeli 
     peace. He and Aziz discuss the Iran-Iraq war ``in detail.'' 
     Rumsfeld says that the administration wants an end to the 
     war, and offers ``our willingness to do more.'' He mentions 
     chemical weapons, possible escalation of fighting in the 
     Gulf, and human rights as impediments to the U.S. 
     government's desire to do more to help Iraq, then shifts the 
     conversation to U.S. opposition to Syria's role in Lebanon.

  (2) Department of State, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Near 
Eastern and South Asian Affairs Action Memorandum from Richard W. 
Murphy to Lawrence S. Eagleburger. ``EXIM [Export-Import] Bank 
Financing for Iraq'' [Includes Letter From Lawrence S. Eagleburger to 
William Draper, Dated December 24, 1983], December 22, 1983.

       Pursuant to the Reagan administration's policy of 
     increasing support for Iraq, the State Department advises 
     Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Lawrence 
     Eagleburger to urge the U.S. Export-Import Bank to provide 
     Iraq with financial credits. Eagleburger signs a letter to 
     Eximbank saying that since Saddam Hussein had complied with 
     U.S. requests, and announced the end of all aid to the 
     principal terrorist group of concern to the U.S., and 
     expelled its leader (Abu Nidal), ``The terrorism issue, 
     therefore, should no longer be an impediment to EXIM 
     financing for U.S. sales to Iraq.'' The financing is to 
     signal U.S. belief in Iraq's future economic viability, 
     secure a foothold in the potentially large Iraqi market, and 
     ``go far to show our support for Iraq in a practical, neutral 
     context.''

  This resolution praises the new constitution for Iraq, written by 
U.S. experts and appointees. No one stops to consider the folly of the 
U.S. and the West believing they can write a constitution for a country 
with a completely different political and social history than ours. The 
constitution that the occupying forces have come up with is unworkable 
and absurd. It also will saddle the Iraqi people with an enormous and 
socialist-oriented government. In this, we are doing the Iraqi people 
no favor.
  Article 14 of the new constitution grants the Iraqi people the 
``right'' to ``security, education, health care, and social security,'' 
and affirms that `` the Iraqi state . . . shall strive to provide 
prosperity and employment opportunities to the people.'' This sounds 
more like the constitution of the old USSR than that of a free and 
market-oriented society.
  Further, this constitution declares that Iraqi citizens ``shall not 
be permitted to possess, bear, buy, or sell arms'' except by special 
license--denying the right of self defense to the Iraqi people just as 
their security situation continues to deteriorate. The Iraqi 
constitution also sets up a quota system for the Iraqi electoral 
system, stating that women should ``constitute no less than one-quarter 
of the members of the National Assembly.'' Is this kind of social 
engineering in Iraq on very left-liberal lines really appropriate? Are 
we doing the Iraqi people any favors with this approach?
  We all praise our troops and support them. Had this bill merely done 
that I would have been an enthusiastic supporter. But in politicizing 
the issue rather than simply praising the armed forces, I regret that I 
cannot support it. Challenging one's patriotism for not supporting this 
resolution and our policy in the Persian Gulf, however, is not 
appropriate.
  We should all be cautious in endorsing and financing a policy that 
unfortunately expands the war rather than ending it. That, sadly, is 
what this legislation does.
  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our troops and 
the work of our armed forces in Iraq. About a year ago, our troops 
embarked on a mission to liberate the people of Iraq and end the threat 
posed by Saddam Hussein.
  Looking back on the year, it is important that we remind ourselves of 
the nature of the threat against the United States, the Middle East, 
and the Iraqi people. Saddam Hussein was nothing short of evil. He 
threatened his neighbors through war and invasion. He threatened his 
people through rape, torture, and intimidation. He threatened the 
United States through years of nuclear, biological, and chemical 
weapons development. Thanks to the brave efforts of the American armed 
forces and our Coalition allies, we are now safer. Terrorists still 
prowl the earth but one of their protectors and one who wanted to add 
WMD to terrorism is finished.
  The mission has not been easy. These are attacks by terrorist and 
Baathist forces who remain determined to undermine the United States, 
the war on terror, and democracy in Iraq. Our troops, however, are 
equally determined to root out and destroy these forces. Despite news 
reports and a constant barrage of negative commentary on our mission's 
success, American military personnel have routed the main Iraqi forces, 
rounded up countless rebels, and restored much of Iraq's long neglected 
infrastructure.
  I had the opportunity and honor to visit our troops in Iraq in 
January. I visited with a number of troops from my district and the 
State of Indiana. Among these troops and among troops in general, I saw 
no signs of the low spirits that some media reports say are plaguing 
troops. The troops I met complained about the food, sand fleas and 
weather conditions, but felt their service is worthwhile.
  None of Iraq's rehabilitation and reconstruction would have been 
possible without the hard work of American and Allied troops, including 
the thousands of National Guardsmen and Reservists who put their 
civilian lives on hold to serve their country. Our military relies 
increasingly on National Guard and Reserve units to supplement regular 
army deployments, and the liberation of Iraq was no exception. During 
this war, members of the 1-293rd Army National Guard Infantry unit and 
the 122nd Air National Guard Fighter Wing from the Third District of 
Indiana served our nation and kept us secure.
  I rise support of this resolution because I think the worst thing 
would be for our troops to think there isn't support for them or their 
mission in the United States. This resolution sends a message to our 
troops that we support them. The U.S. mission was and remains 
justified. Our troops were and remain the key to this mission's 
success. I will continue to support the American troops in the field 
and those who have returned from their duty.
  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to this 
resolution. We ought to be honoring those who gave their lives, their 
limbs and sacrificed their futures for our country. So far, 565 service 
members have lost their lives, more than 3,000 have been wounded--many 
losing limbs--and now we are seeing American civilians becoming 
targets.
  Instead, we are here today making hollow political pronouncements 
that the war was right and just and that somehow our Nation and our 
world are more secure. Unfortunately, the opposite appears to be true. 
Americans are less safe and the world is more dangerous--precisely 
because of the Bush policy in Iraq.
  On this anniversary of the war we ought to include in this resolution 
the names of the heroes who gave their lives. We ought to be honoring 
and commending these brave Americans for what they have given and 
sacrificed along with the troops who continue to serve valiantly. But, 
the Bush administration doesn't want to talk about--or expose--the 565 
Americans who've been killed and the 3,254 wounded.
  The omission of this remembrance demonstrates that President Bush and 
his Administration are good at taking credit, but terrible at accepting 
responsibility.
  We've seen in the past few weeks the President cloaking himself in 
September 11th. He's put images of ground zero in his campaign ads. I 
wouldn't be surprised if he didn't go so far as to give his acceptance 
speech for the Republican presidential nomination at that very site as 
the entire Republican Party politicizes September 11th at their 
upcoming convention.
  Yet, President Bush won't attend any funerals or memorial services 
for soldiers killed in action in Iraq.
  In fact, he's prohibited access to Dover Air Force Base to the media 
altogether. The Department of Defense has broken a long tradition by 
prohibiting arrival ceremonies because the images of these casualties 
are an embarrassment to President Bush.
  The President knows that American troops were sent to Iraq ill 
prepared and without

[[Page 4519]]

enough equipment to keep them safe. Soldiers face daily threats there. 
They don't have sufficient body armor or armored vehicles as rocket 
propelled grenades and roadside bombs take lives and limbs.
  The President knows the troops wouldn't be there in the first place 
if he hadn't misled the American people. We now know--far too late--
that the intelligence community never told the President or senior 
administration officials that Iraq posed an imminent threat or that it 
had weapons of mass destruction. Yet, President Bush continually 
referred to Iraq as an ``urgent,'' ``mortal'' and ``immediate'' threat 
in making his case for war.
  The President knows his mind was already made up to go to war. Today, 
he should know the world is not a safer place as a result, especially 
for our troops. I will not support a resolution that falsely makes any 
such claim.
  While senior defense officials have told Congress that we will run 
out of money and need another $19 billion in September, the President's 
Budget does not include a single penny of this spending. He simply 
refuses to give the American public the plain facts.
  America and our security would benefit from a new approach to foreign 
policy. Imagine a President who embraces global cooperation, respects 
international law and institutions and promotes political and economic 
freedom and human rights around the globe. Imagine America exercising 
responsible leadership that reflects our priorities and capable of 
partnerships that make our world safer.
  This would be a fitting tribute to those who gave their lives in 
Iraq. We should work for what these servicemen and women believed they 
could achieve: a more secure future for America and stronger, more 
peaceful world. That's the resolution I wish we were here considering 
today instead of this overblown rhetoric attempting to justify a failed 
Presidential agenda.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our men and 
women in uniform. I cannot however, in full confidence, rise in support 
of statements that the world is a safer place for the removal of Saddam 
Hussein from power. The human and financial costs of war are colossal. 
This action has been no exception. With the details of the tragic 
bombing of a hotel in Baghdad still developing as we debate this 
resolution, we are once again reminded of the horrors of war--and the 
long road ahead. Based on today's events, and the recent bombing in 
Spain, how can the authors of this resolution say that we are safer?
  No one has borne the costs of this military action more than our 
soldiers and their families. No one understands these sacrifices 
greater than the spouses and children of soldiers who spend month after 
month, deployment after deployment, in far away lands. No one 
understands sacrifices greater than the soldiers themselves who 
volunteer their time, but must sometimes pay with their health, their 
jobs, or even their lives.
  All of us in this Congress want to honor these men and women in 
uniform. I am sure that we all want to minimize their hardships and 
that of their families. A bipartisan piece of legislation that I 
recently introduced, H.R. 3779, the Safeguarding Schoolchildren of 
Deployed Soldiers Act, would seek to bring us one step closer to this 
goal. At a time when Reservists and members of the National Guard are 
being used at unprecedented levels, many of them are experiencing new 
problems when they leave home.
  According to the Department of Defense, there are currently 1.2 
million children with military parents in the United States. This 
number is only slightly less than the total number of adults currently 
serving in the Armed Forces.
  I learned firsthand how deployments can cause significant upheaval in 
a child's life when the brother of a deployed soldier recently 
contacted my office. He explained that his niece had moved to live with 
her mother while her father was away fighting in Iraq. As a result, she 
was prevented from attending her normal high school because she no 
longer resided within the school district.
  The Safeguarding Schoolchildren of Deployed Soldiers Act would ensure 
some measure of continuity for children who change residence as a 
result of their parent's military service by allowing them to continue 
to receive an education at their schools, even if they are temporarily 
residing outside the school district.
  While I will vote yes on today's resolution, Mr. Speaker, make no 
mistake that it is a vote of support for our troops and their families; 
troops such as Sgt. Christopher Kreiger from the 105th Military Police 
Company, who was informed this week that his unit's tour of duty has 
been extended indefinitely. It is my hope that he will come home 
quickly and safely to see his one-year-old daughter for the first time.
  Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, on this very day 8 months ago, Prime 
Minister Tony Blair stood in this chamber and addressed a joint session 
of Congress. He said, ``The spread of freedom is the best security for 
the free. It is our last line of defense and our first line of attack.
  ``And just as the terrorist seeks to divide humanity in hate, so we 
have to unify around an idea. And that idea is liberty.
  ``We must find the strength to fight for this idea and the compassion 
to make it universal. Abraham Lincoln said, `Those that deny freedom to 
others deserve it not for themselves.'''
  Mr. Speaker, for over 2 decades Saddam Hussein denied freedom and 
liberty to the Iraqi people. He killed Kurds because of their 
ethnicity. He killed Shiites because of their religion. He killed 
Sunnis for their political views. And he even killed Egyptians, 
Kuwaitis, and Iranians because their lives meant nothing to him or his 
evil regime.
  Today, Saddam's regime is no more. Overthrown in May and pulled from 
a spider hole in December, Saddam is now in jail.
  America and its great military--made up of men and women from all 
branches of our Armed Forces including our resilient National Guard and 
reserves--recognized that our security and freedom was under direct 
threat from Saddam Hussein.
  With the strength of an international coalition, America took 
decisive action and set out on a clear mission: to defend America. 
Nearly one year later we are seeing the fruits of our work take hold. 
Operation Iraqi Freedom has delivered hope and optimism to the well-
educated people of Iraq. Today, 25 million Iraqis are free from the 
grip of Saddam's oppressive regime.
  Our operation and responsibility in Iraq, however, did not end with a 
quick and decisive military victory. Finishing the fight and removing 
Saddam did not mean we finished the job.
  We pledged to see a new Iraq government grow into a model for 
democracy and freedom in the Middle East. We must stay until the job is 
done because America's security still depends upon it.
  Terrorism cannot be defeated unless we bring civility to Iraq. With 
assistance from our coalition, the Iraqi people have taken the first 
steps toward controlling their own destiny. Schools, medical clinics 
and hospitals have been reopened. An army and more effective police 
force have been rebuilt. A fair judicial system has been constituted. 
And a foundation has been laid for democratic elections.
  An interim constitution has been signed. Every Iraqi--no matter their 
gender, religion or ethnic origin--today has the guarantee of basic 
freedoms, rights and protections under law.
  I wish every member of this House could have taken the trip I took to 
Iraq last year. Led by Chairman Jerry Lewis, we traveled from Baghdad 
to Mosul to Al Hillah to witness the incredible work of our brave young 
men and women in uniform. We thanked them for their service to our 
country and let them know how grateful America was for job they were 
doing protecting our freedom and bringing democracy to Iraq.
  To see our mission up-close and through the lens of our soldiers gave 
me great hope that one day Iraq will be a country of great promise and 
able to demonstrate strong leadership in the region.
  On the first anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom let us honor 
every service man and woman who is making our country safer and more 
secure. And let us remember all those who have sacrificed and fallen 
while defending our freedom. We mourn the loss of very American soldier 
and pray for the early recovery of our wounded.
  Today, America's courage remains firm and steadfast. Yet, we know 
that dangerous days still lie ahead. Terrorists who have previously 
sought weapons of mass destruction from Saddam ``like ants to honey'' 
continue to plot against America. The terrorists will not rest. When 
they're not attacking, terrorists are planning or strategizing about 
where and when to attack next. And remember, we were attacked without 
provocation on September 11, 2001.
  For freedom and democracy to prevail over violence and terrorism, we 
must continue to take the fight to the terrorist before they again 
bring terrorism to our shores.
  Mr. Speaker, let us commend the members of the United States Armed 
Forces and Coalition forces for liberating Iraq by passing this 
resolution.
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I will vote for this resolution, 
although I do not approve of the manner in which it is being debated. 
The fact that the House is not permitted even to consider amendments 
means that our debate will be incomplete because the resolution covers 
only some of the issues that are

[[Page 4520]]

relevant to understanding where we are one year after the beginning of 
military action by coalition troops in Iraq.
  On this one-year anniversary, there is no question but that the House 
should commend the Iraqi people ``for their courage in the face of 
unspeakable oppression and brutality inflicted on them by Saddam 
Hussein's regime.''
  The resolution also very appropriately commends the Iraqi people on 
the adoption of Iraq's interim constitution, a key step toward what all 
Americans hope will be the Iraqi people's creation of a new, free, and 
democratic Iraq.
  And there is no question but that the members of the U.S. Armed 
Forces and the Coalition forces should be commended for serving in 
Iraq. For me, this is the most important clause in this resolution.
  We may not all agree on whether going to war a year ago was the right 
course for the U.S. to take--indeed, I was not persuaded that it was, 
and so I voted against the war resolution in 2002. But we can all agree 
that our brave men and women in uniform deserve our support, our 
respect, our gratitude for their service--and in the cases of over 550 
servicemen and women, their giving what Lincoln rightly called the last 
full measure of devotion by sacrificing their lives.
  But I must qualify my support for one clause in this resolution--the 
clause that asserts ``the United States and the world have been made 
safer with the removal of Saddam Hussein and his regime from power in 
Iraq.''
  I believe that Saddam out of power is infinitely better than Saddam 
in power. Saddam can no longer terrorize his people and his neighbors 
in the region. The Iraqi people are now able to move into an era of 
freedom--an incredible step forward for a country that has been 
brutalized for so long.
  And it's true that the U.S. and the world are now living free of fear 
from Saddam's possible use of weapons of mass destruction or his 
possible assistance to terrorists.
  But, while the removal of Saddam Hussein and his regime has liberated 
the Iraqis and freed us from some worries, I think there are still some 
things to fear.
  I still fear the consequences of the Bush Administration's ``you're 
either with us or you're against us'' approach. This approach rushed 
the diplomatic process at the United Nations and dismissed a strategy 
of ``coercive inspections.'' This same approach caused Pentagon leaders 
to exaggerate intelligence claims and mangle the planning for the post-
war occupation and rebuilding of Iraq. And by going in without broader 
support and without an adequate post-war plan, the Administration made 
long-term success in Iraq much more difficult to achieve.
  So I'm afraid we're stuck with a heavy burden for years to come. I'm 
afraid that America won't be safer if it continues to have to focus so 
much of our attention and resources on our mission in Iraq. I'm afraid 
America won't be safer if we continue to spend so much in Iraq--$120 
billion and rising--because it will mean we have that much less money 
to spend on ways to keep us safe from the proliferation of weapons of 
mass destruction, from terrorists in other areas of the world, or from 
potential threats right here at home. That would be troublesome enough 
if we were paying for it ourselves, through taxes--it is even more 
worrisome that the Administration is insisting on putting the burden on 
our children, who will have to repay with interest the massive amounts 
we are borrowing to cover the budget deficit.
  I'm afraid that unless we return to a foreign policy that reflects 
American priorities--putting a priority on promoting political and 
economic freedom and human rights; more closely cooperating with allies 
and friends; and more truly respecting international law and 
institutions--we risk fueling the very terror that we ultimately hope 
to prevent.
  I don't believe that the answer to these fears is to cut and run by 
prematurely pulling our troops out of Iraq. On the contrary, I believe 
we have to work that much harder to work with the international 
community to win the peace and to assist the Iraqi people to establish 
a new, free, and democratic Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe it is important to take this moment to reflect 
on this one-year anniversary. We can look back at the last year with 
pride at the service and sacrifices of our troops and with admiration 
for the Iraqi people, who are working hard to find their way in this 
new post-Saddam world. And we can look back at this last year to learn 
lessons from what we did right. But we also need to understand our 
mistakes and what we did wrong in Iraq so that we can move forward with 
a better understanding and greater confidence in our mission in the 
months and perhaps years to come.
  Ms. KILPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, today we are considering H. Res. 557, 
which is intended to praise the efforts of the United States to 
liberate the people of Iraq, and to commend the efforts of our valiant 
soldiers who are serving in Iraq. Let me state at the outset, I support 
our troops and their families who cling to hopes and prayers that our 
soldiers will not succumb to harm's way and will be home soon.
  I must offer some sobering words regarding this resolution. I believe 
that although well intended, the resolution is untimely. It does not 
contain any input from Democratic members; it does not honor the over 
550 soldiers who have died; or the over 11,000 who have been wounded. 
There is no mention of the fact that no Weapons of Mass Destruction 
(WMD) were found. I have concluded that the world is not safer today.
  There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein was a tyrant and dictator. A 
revisiting of the facts leads me to conclude once again though, that 
Americans and members of Congress were misled by the Administration. 
The administration acted on flawed CIA intelligence, alleged that Iraq 
had WMD, and was prepared to use them. The U.N. inspection teams did 
not uncover any weapons. Their search for WMD was prematurely aborted.
  Over 550 soldiers have been killed. Over 11,000 soldiers have been 
wounded. Here at home, the families of our military serving in Iraq, 
including reservists, are suffering financially and emotionally. They 
know that this mission was ill-conceived. Another problem is that our 
troop deployment is thin. Some of them have committed suicide. The 
administration and the Defense Department have our troops mired in a 
military holding action. The situation is compounded by the fact that 
there is no clear exit strategy.
  As we tout our efforts to promote democracy, it is still clear that 
we are attempting to export our version of democracy, as opposed to 
encouraging a form of democracy that will best suit the citizens of 
Iraq. Iraq has a long history of sectarian strife amongst Shiites, 
Sunnis and ethnic Kurds. As Americans, we are attempting to export our 
ideals of democracy. The fact of the matter is, we are still a young 
democracy. We still have not mastered the process. As Iraqis prepare 
for the adoption of new constitution, they will still be confronted 
with the realities of internal sectarian strife that could well 
undermine our vision and their hopes for democratic rule.
  Regarding the premise that the world is safer now than when Saddam 
was in power, the rhetoric fails to square with reality. Al Qaeda, 
which was purported to be operating in Iraq pre-invasion, was not. 
Clearly, there is no connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. 
The facts are clear, terrorist activity by Al Qaeda has escalated. We 
need only look at the bombings in Indonesia, Turkey and most recently 
in Spain. Does this mean we should cease our efforts against terrorism? 
Absolutely not! It does mean that we should be much more circumspect in 
the way we go about fighting terrorism. We must build coalitions to 
assist us.
  Finally, let me say our allies around the world continue to chafe at 
the bully of the world persona that is attached to the United States. 
We are seeing an increasing erosion of confidence throughout Europe 
regarding the foreign policies being promoted by this administration. 
The best way we can honor our troops is to provide them with the 
equipment they need to be effective. We must provide a clear exit 
strategy.
  It is indeed unfortunate that we are considering and debating this 
resolution which does not adequately honor our troops. I urge the 
leadership to withdraw this resolution, It is important for Republicans 
to include our Democratic leaders in the crafting of a new resolution. 
The new resolution should honor soldiers who have been killed and 
wounded. It should also contain language that addresses a plan to bring 
our troops home.
  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, on March 20, 2003, we were 
debating a similar resolution--then to express support for the 
President and the U.S. military (H. Con. Res. 104). I said on that 
occasion: ``I want to make it clear that our young men and women, who 
are putting their lives on the line in Iraq, have my unequivocal 
support. I will do everything in my power as a member of Congress to 
see to it that they have everything they need to win this war and 
return home safe and sound to their families. We can only hope and pray 
that this war will end quickly, and a minimum number of American, 
British, and Iraqi civilian and military lives are lost, destroyed or 
maimed for the rest of their lives.''
  Unfortunately, my worst fears have come true. Our troops, and the few 
other nations whose troops are involved, are not home. Families and 
many good Americans are volunteering to raise money to buy for our 
soldiers the kind of protective vests they need to be as

[[Page 4521]]

safe as possible in the middle of a war. Many Americans and thousands 
of Iraqi fighters, but mostly innocent Iraqi civilians, have died and 
been wounded. The wounded will spend a life-time of disability and 
suffering. They will spend the rest of their lives knowing that they 
will never be able to accomplish the highest and best of what God had 
intended for their lives.
  I said a year ago, ``While the troops have 100 percent of my support, 
when appropriate, I will continue to articulate the grave concerns I 
have about the policies that sent them there.'' Today I am keeping the 
promise relative to the President's policies in Iraq.
  This Congress did not vote to go to war in Iraq because Saddam 
Hussein was a bad guy. Everybody knew he was a bad guy. There are lots 
of bad guys in the world, and we are not even trying to remove them. 
Unfortunately, the fundamental lesson that President Bush has taught 
our children with his pre-emptive war strategy is that ``the end 
justifies the means.''
  We were told we had to go to war because Iraq had weapons of mass 
destruction. Americans would not have supported going to war just 
because Saddam was a bad guy. One year later, we have found no weapons 
of mass destruction, and have little evidence that we will ever find 
them. Why? Because, mostly likely, U.N. inspections had contained his 
ability to make or use weapons of mass destruction.
  President Bush has destroyed the unity, support and moral authority 
that the world gave to the United States after September 11. The latest 
evidence of that erosion of support was the Spanish election on March 
14.
  I said on March 20, 2003, ``There is no convincing evidence that Iraq 
was involved or connected to Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda or the events of 
September 11, 2001--despite President Bush's many failed attempts to 
morph the two, in order to convince the American people that there is 
such a connection.'' The attempt to weld 9/11, Iraq and the war on 
terror continues as we speak. The truth is we have virtually abandoned 
the real war on terrorism in Afghanistan. The truth is, Al Qaeda was 
not in Iraq a year ago, but they are today. As a result, the world has 
not been made safer, as the resolution suggests, but has become more 
unsafe and unstable.
  I said on March 20, 2003, ``Most Americans think that when our young 
men and women are risking their lives on the battlefield that 
Democrats, Republicans and Independents in this House would come 
together in a non-partisan manner to support our troops--because 
everyone does support them. . . . But the Republican extremists in the 
House have no shame and no limits. They will politicize the blood of 
our soldiers if they think they can gain a political advantage. They 
have never met an issue they were unwilling to `wedge'.'' This 
resolution is a continuation of that same strategy in an election year.
  I said one year ago, ``Many Democrats, myself included, separate 
support for the troops from support for the President's policy. But the 
Republicans deliberately joined the two so they could make it a 
political wedge issue. Therefore, if you vote `for' the resolution it 
appears that you support the President's policy. But if you vote 
`against' the resolution, the Republicans intend to paint you as 
against our troops and unpatriotic in future elections. In other words, 
the Republicans have deliberately tried to set a `Catch 22' trap.''
  Well, I support our troops, but I continue to oppose the President's 
policy in Iraq. I will vote ``no'' on this resolution because the world 
has not been made safer because of the removal of Saddam Hussein. If 
you doubt me, ask the families of the over 200 people in Spain who lost 
loved ones in the recent explosions on the train there, and the 
hundreds who were wounded.
  I filed a Federal lawsuit to try to stop the President from going to 
war in Iraq without a declaration of war from Congress. I believe the 
President's actions in Iraq were unconstitutional and in violation of 
international law.
  The Bush policy of ignoring the United Nations and the lack of decent 
respect for the opinion of mankind; the U.S.-led preemptive policy has 
weakened the United Nations, weakened the structures of ``collective 
security,'' weakened the rule of international law and has not made the 
world safer, but more dangerous and unstable.
  Again I repeat what I said on March 20, 2003: As the wealthiest and 
only superpower in the world, the U.S. has the most economic and 
military interests in the world. The United Nations, collective 
security, and the rule of international law have well-served those U.S. 
interests. Weakening any of them increases the threat to U.S. interests 
at home and abroad.
  So today, even as I give our young men and women in Iraq my 
unconditional support, I also renew my dedication to strengthening the 
United Nations, collective security, and the rule of international law. 
They help guarantee peace and security in the world and, when fully 
utilized, make it less likely that American service men and women may 
have to be sent to possibly make the ultimate sacrifice in defense of 
our country in the future.
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to make a few comments about 
the resolution we are considering today in recognition of the one-year 
anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The resolution before us on 
the floor has significant shortcomings that I want to point out for the 
Record.
  On March 19, 2003, offensive U.S. military actions were initiated 
against Iraq. Just two days later, on March 21, 2003, the House of 
Representatives approved a resolution which expressed ``the unequivocal 
support and appreciation of the Nation for our troops and their 
families.''
  Only 8 minutes before passing this feel good resolution, however, the 
House of Representatives passed a budget, which I voted against, that 
included a $28 billion cut over 10 years to veterans health care, 
disability compensation and pensions. While the Republican Party is 
able to eloquently express their support and admiration for our men and 
women in uniform via non-binding congratulatory resolutions, their 
follow through is non-existent.
  Here we are a year later, and this ``unequivocal support'' has not 
been translated into substantive action. Congress must deliver on this 
promise of support by providing our troops with the equipment and 
training they need. And, Congress must deliver on this promise by 
providing our nation's veterans with the health care and services 
they've earned and deserve.
  Words in a non-binding resolution will not provide a single soldier 
with the body armor necessary to protect his or her life nor will they 
ensure a single veteran can see a doctor in a timely manner or receive 
the disability compensation they've earned. Our soldiers and veterans 
need action, not words.
  Unfortunately, the actions of the President and his allies in 
Congress have repeatedly short-changed our men and women in uniform and 
the veterans who have served our nation honorably.
  Thousands of troops in Iraq remain in danger because the Pentagon 
leadership has failed to secure an adequate supply of body armor. 
Thousands of troops remain in danger because of inadequate supplies of 
armored Humvees and devices to disable roadside bombs.
  According to a recent article in USA Today, U.S. military officers 
are having to dip into their own unit's funds in order to get this 
critical protective equipment because ``bureaucratic delays'' in 
Washington, DC, have short-changed troops.
  I saw the dangers confronting U.S. troops first-hand during my recent 
trip to Iraq. I cannot understand why the President and the civilian 
leadership at the Pentagon would put our troops in harms' way without 
adequate protective equipment despite preparing for war with Iraq for 2 
years prior to the actual invasion and despite $400 billion in annual 
Pentagon spending.
  Yet, the resolution on the floor today will do nothing to solve this 
problem.
  Further, our citizen-soldiers in the National Guard and Reserve 
continue to be subject to second-class treatment. When I recently 
visited Fort Hood, Texas, I discovered that the 2nd Battalion, 162nd 
Infantry of the Oregon National Guard was sent to train without the 
basics: fuel, ammunition, toilet paper, field radios and other 
essentials, and they were housed in moldy, crumbling barracks.
  Media reports have documented that over 1,000 wounded Army National 
Guard and Army Reserve soldiers, evacuated from Iraq to Fort Stewart, 
Georgia, and Fort Knox, Kentucky, were housed in sub-standard concrete 
barracks with no air conditioning, indoor toilets or running water, 
while they were forced to wait weeks and sometimes months for medical 
care.
  Yet, the resolution on the floor today will do nothing to solve these 
problems.
  Next week, the House Republicans will present their budget on the 
House floor. Like last year's budget, this year's budget will fail to 
fully meet the needs of our troops and veterans.
  The budget resolution, as currently drafted, underfunds veterans 
programs by $1.3 billion below the level requested by the Republican 
Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
  The budget fails to repeal the age-62 penalty for military widows 
under the Survivor Benefit Plan. Yet, stand-alone legislation on this 
issue has 291 cosponsors, including 120 Republicans.

[[Page 4522]]

  The budget fails to fully fund repeal of the disabled veterans tax 
immediately for all veterans despite the fact that stand-alone 
legislation to repeal the tax, H.R. 303, has 377 cosponsors, including 
185 Republican cosponsors.
  The budget fails to fund an expansion of the military health care 
program TRICARE to cover uninsured members of the National Guard and 
Reserve.
  The budget fails to provide wage support for National Guard and 
Reserve members who are forced to leave civilian jobs with higher pay. 
These families are forced to do more with less.
  The budget fails to provide additional compensation for soldiers who 
are forced to stay in the U.S. military through stop-loss orders 
despite having plans to retire or otherwise leave the service after 
fulfilling their time commitment under their enlistment contract. I 
have drafted legislation to provide a monthly bonus of $500 for 
soldiers subject to stop-loss orders, orders that amount to an 
involuntary draft.
  The budget fails to fund an extension of imminent danger pay and 
family separation pay for troops in Iraq past the end of this year when 
even Pentagon officials admit that U.S. troops will be in Iraq for the 
next several years.
  And, the budget cuts funding for military construction and quality-
of-life improvements for U.S. troops by $1 billion from the levels 
approved before the Iraq war.
  The resolution on the floor today will do nothing to address these 
challenges.
  Finally, the resolution on the floor today fails to acknowledge the 
deaths of more than 550 American troops or the more than 3,000 wounded 
American soldiers.
  The resolution fails to acknowledge the deaths and injuries suffered 
by American and Iraqi civilians, United Nations personnel, and soldiers 
from allied countries.
  The resolution fails to adequately acknowledge the service and 
sacrifice of tens of thousands of National Guard and Reserve soldiers 
and their families.
  However, I intend to support this resolution. There is no doubt that 
Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator. He oppressed and killed his own 
people. He invaded his neighbors, and he used chemical weapons. The 
Iraqi people and the world are better off without him.
  But, the fact that I am glad he's out of power and in U.S. custody 
does not mean I agree that the Iraq war was necessary. The war was not 
necessary. It was elective. I voted against the authorization for war. 
It was obvious even at the time of the vote, which occurred months 
before the war actually started, that the Administration had hyped, 
manipulated, and misrepresented the intelligence regarding the threat 
posed by Iraq and that the Administration had not planned adequately 
for post-war Iraq. The Administration's rosy scenario for post-war Iraq 
has not come to pass. Instead, the U.S. is bogged down in a costly--
both in terms of dollars and lives--and lengthy occupation of Iraq.
  I believe that America and the world would have been better served if 
the Administration had not become distracted by Iraq. Saddam was safely 
contained and defanged by sanctions supported by a broad international 
coalition. The sanctions prevented Iraq from redeveloping chemical or 
biological weapons, and made it impossible for Hussein to achieve his 
ultimate goal of developing nuclear weapons.
  The Administration should have kept its focus on the single gravest 
threat to our society--al Qaeda. It was al Qaeda, after all, who 
attacked the U.S. on September 11, 2001, not Iraq. It was al Qaeda who 
bombed U.S. embassies in Africa. It was al Qaeda who bombed a U.S. 
warship in the Persian Gulf. And it is al Qqeda that continues to plan 
and carry out attacks against Americans and our allies around the 
world. The Administration should not have shifted intelligence and 
military resources away from the documented threat--al Qaeda--in order 
to invade and occupy Iraq.
  However, I will support this resolution because it is merely 
hortatory. The resolution does not set national policy. It is not 
legally binding on anyone or anything. It commends the Iraqi people for 
their courage in the face of the brutal Hussein regime and commends 
their adoption of an interim constitution. It also commends the members 
of the U.S. military for their valiant service. I am voting for the 
resolution because I want to express my support for the nascent 
democracy in Iraq and for our soldiers.
  I would urge the House Republican leadership to spend less time on 
resolutions like this, which offer merely words, and more time pushing 
through legislation that would actually provide our soldiers and 
veterans with the equipment, training and benefits they need and 
deserve.
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the valiant service from our 
men and women in our Armed Services. That's why I am disappointed that 
the House leadership decided to present this toothless resolution 
rather than provide real assistance for our troops.
  They say this resolution is meant to thank the American military men 
and women serving in Iraq. But if they truly wanted to honor these 
soldiers--this same leadership should have supported my amendment last 
year that would have given every American soldier serving in Iraq and 
Afghanistan a $1,500 bonus. But it failed with 210 Republicans voting 
against it.
  The President is traveling across the country to mark the war's 
anniversary and thank our troops. Yet his budget cuts Veterans health 
benefits--just like last year. Some thanks!
  I support this resolution. But let's be clear: this resolution won't 
save any lives; it won't provide adequate body armor and armored 
humvees to our troops any quicker; it doesn't repair the damage done to 
our reputation in the international community, it won't bring our 
troops home any sooner and it won't heal a single wound or restore a 
single American life lost in Iraq.
  The resolution also fails to answer some key questions:
  Why did this Administration mislead the American people 237 times in 
their statements about the so-called immediate threat from Iraq? As Mr. 
Murtha of Pennsylvania stated, ``never have so few, misled so many.''
  Why did this Administration say that reconstruction would only cost 
Americans $1.7 billion and that other countries and Iraqi oil would 
cover the rest? Instead American taxpayers have paid billions of 
dollars in rebuilding Iraq--and the tab is likely to increase in the 
next year.
  To date, we have spent more than $150 billion in Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, more than 560 soldiers have died in Iraq and another 
5,300 have been injured. We owe it to them, to their families and to 
all Americans to level with them and given them the straight answers on 
why we went into Iraq and how long it will take to get the job done.
  Like all Americans, I am proud of our Americans soldiers in Iraq who 
are serving their country with dedication and courage. But I am not 
proud of those in the Administration that may have misled our great 
Nation into war.
  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend Mr. Hyde and Mr. DeLay, 
the authors of House Resolution 557, for crafting legislation that 
truly exemplifies naked political strategy.
  This vapid proposal of phony patriotism does nothing to address the 
urgent concerns that are permeating the world stage.
  Instead of seeking real solutions to the problems our troops are 
confronting; instead of taking the time to exercise judicious oversight 
to remedy the hardships that are being faced--we are instead spending a 
significant amount of our time indulging ourselves with legislation 
that ultimately does not help anyone.
  And we are doing this today as Baghdad burns. How typical.
  550 American service men and women have been killed in Iraq. No 
weapons of mass destruction have been found. Our Nation's reputation 
has been damaged to such an extent that former allies now have 
populations consumed with anti-American fervor.
  Instead of affirming that Saddam Hussein is a bad guy--which we all 
know--shouldn't we be spending our time trying to decipher why the 
central arguments for a pre-emptive war appear to have been based on 
inaccurate intelligence?
  Shouldn't we be examining reports regarding how Iraqi exile Ahmad 
Chalabi fed misinformation about Weapons of Mass Destruction to the 
United States government and investigate why the Pentagon is still 
paying him $340,000 a month?
  Instead of proclaiming that the world is safer shouldn't we be 
analyzing the terrorist attacks in Spain that occurred last week?
  And while each and every single Member of Congress is awed and 
thankful for the bravery and valor of our men and women in the Armed 
Services, shouldn't we be discussing what we can do to help alleviate 
the daily deaths and bloodshed that they face?
  And shouldn't we, at some stage, focus our attention on Afghanistan 
as well?
  Wouldn't real action by Congress honor our military more than this? 
Wouldn't real action be more patriotic?
  Surely the leadership in the House of Representatives can focus on 
more important work than a celebratory resolution?
  Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our troops and in 
support of those who lost loved ones in the violence in Baghdad that we 
all witnessed today.

[[Page 4523]]

  On a day that should have shown the unity of our government, we have 
seen the parties divided. The Republican resolution has left out 
Democratic input.
  It has left out our condolences to the families of those killed in 
Iraq.
  It has left out feelings that our troops must be equipped with body 
armor and armored vehicles.
  And it has left out steps to correct the intelligence failures in the 
run-up to the war.
  Even though the Republican resolution leaves out so much, I'm 
supporting it to show my support for our troops.
  After one year in Iraq our troops are still suffering.
  Our soldiers were sent to Iraq without enough of the equipment they 
depend on to do their jobs safely and without a plan to bring them 
home.
  564 Americans and 100 other coalition troops have been killed. 
Americans deserve to know what happened in the events leading up to the 
war in Iraq.
  We demand accountability. We are tired of the President and the 
Administration obstructing the 9/11 commission.
  We must be able to trust that what the President tells them is true 
and we shouldn't have to bear the burden of rebuilding Iraq alone.
  American taxpayers are paying almost all the bills, $120 billion and 
rising.
  We deserve a detailed plan for future spending, so our troops are 
guaranteed to get the resources they need.
  Part of winning the war on terror is taking care of those who helped 
us fight it.
  We must ensure our veterans health care, their pensions, and their 
survivor's benefits.
  But the Administration wants to raise health care costs for over 1 
million veterans, increasing co-payments and imposing new enrollment 
fees that will cost veterans $2 billion over 5 years.
  Just this past month the VA said it will cut 540 positions from the 
Veterans Benefits Administration. How can the Administration reduce the 
veteran benefit backlog when it cuts the resources needed to help our 
veterans?
  I keep thinking about the young men in my district that we recently 
lost.
  There was Corporal Jorge Gonzales. His parents, Mario and Rosa are 
from Rialto and they still grieve.
  And then there was Corporal Sean Grilley of San Bernardino who was 
killed while he was enforcing a curfew.
  These brave men and their families deserve truthful accountability so 
our soldiers are protected, our veterans are taken care of and our 
troops can come home as soon as possible.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose this resolution. Our troops 
should not be a pawn in a political power play. This resolution is not 
a simple statement of support for the incredibly valiant work of our 
men and women in Iraq. It is a cynical, political tool to further the 
agenda of the Bush Administration during this election year.
  This resolution was pushed through the House of Representatives 
without input from a single Democrat. I wanted to vote for a resolution 
that truly recognizes the sacrifice of our troops and the importance of 
living up to our commitments to them, but the Republican leadership 
would not allow a vote on any other measure but their own. I refuse to 
bow to the politization of the grave matter of our young people at war, 
and for this reason I voted against the resolution.
  Let me be clear: our troops deserve our qualified support as they 
serve our Nation in such dangerous circumstances. But that support must 
be more than empty words, it must be in promises kept.
  I would have voted today for a resolution that reiterated our 
commitment to providing our troops with the body armor and armored 
vehicles they need to keep them safe, to immediately address the 
intelligence deficiencies that continue to put our troops in further 
danger, and to insist on a clearly articulated strategy for post-war 
occupation and exit of Iraq.
  This alternative resolution I supported included provisions to 
eliminate the disparities in pay between our active duty military and 
the National Guard and reservists, and provide the health care and 
benefits our wounded veterans need when they come home. But the 
Republican majority never allowed for a vote on this fair-minded 
alternative.
  Last week I sat in the Budget Committee and watched in shock as the 
Republican members of the Committee voted on party lines to reject a 
``Support Our Troops'' amendment that would have raised funding levels 
for the military by $2.5 billion. This money would have been spent on 
family separation pay, imminent danger pay, education funding for 
military school children, and TRICARE military health coverage for 
reservists, and military housing programs. How can we look our troops 
in the eye and tell them Congress rejected actual funding that would 
help them and their families through this difficult time, but instead 
passed a relatively meaningless resolution of our support? This is 
unconscionable.
  I also strongly object to the clause in today's resolution claiming 
that the ``world is safer'' as a result of the Iraq war. Mr. Speaker, I 
disagree. Iraq is still in chaos. American soldiers, international 
diplomats, and Iraqi civilians are being killed every day. And the 
Administration is still a long way from pacifying Iraq or setting up a 
stable government. The Administration made claims that Iraq was a base 
of International terrorism and that turned out to be false.
  Our troops deserve better than more empty words from Congress. On the 
one-year anniversary of the start to this misguided war, they deserve 
to be supported with sound policy, real dollars, and the commitment to 
bring them home safely.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, this is a deceitful resolution not for 
what it says, but for what it does not say. It is unfortunate that our 
Republican colleagues would once again use an issue that unites all 
Americans--support for our troops--into a naked political stunt that 
attempts to rewrite history in a divisive manner. The American people 
should understand that the Republican leadership in this House has 
prevented any Member of Congress from offering any change to this 
resolution.
  The main defect of this resolution is that it tells only a small part 
of the story about Iraq. In an obvious attempt to change the subject, 
the resolution contains absolutely no mention of the primary 
justification President Bush gave for going to war in Iraq--the alleged 
existence of stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. Instead, the 
resolution attempts to justify the decision for war on humanitarian 
grounds alone. It cites, among other things, Saddam Hussein's use of 
chemical weapons against Iraq's Kurdish citizens in 1988.
  No one needs to tell me about Saddam Hussein's human rights abuses 
against the Kurds. In 1988, at the end of the Iran-Iraq war, I traveled 
to the Iraq-Turkish border as a staffer on the U.S. Senate Foreign 
relations Committee with my colleague Peter Galbraith. At that time, 
thousands of Kurds were fleeing across the border to seek refuge in 
Turkey. We interviewed hundreds of those refugees and documented Iraq's 
use of chemical weapons against the Kurdish people. Our report formed 
the basis for legislation to impose economic sanctions against Iraq for 
its use of chemical weapons against the Kurds. The bill passed the 
United States Senate; but the Reagan Administration, which included 
many of the key officials now in the Bush administration, opposed and 
helped block that sanctions legislation from passing. I challenge 
anyone to explain to me how you can oppose economic sanctions in 1988 
in response to Iraq's use of chemical weapons against civilians and 
then today turn around and say that those same actions are the reason 
the United States went to war in 2003.
  Moreover, if Saddam Hussein's use of chemical weapons against his own 
people was the reason for military action, we should have finished the 
job during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Iraq has not used chemical 
weapons since 1988, since the time my colleague Peter Galbraith and I 
went to the Iraq-Turkish border at the end of the Iran-Iraq war. But 3 
years later in 1991, not only did we not remove Hussein in Baghdad, but 
at the end of the war the United States looked the other way for many 
days while Saddam Hussein turned his guns on the Shias in the south and 
the Kurds in the north. This history exposes the hypocrisy of this 
attempt to rewrite history in order to change the argument for going to 
war in Iraq in 2003.
  The fact is that the Bush Administration told the American people 
that we had to go to war because Saddam Hussein currently possessed 
stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction and posed an imminent threat 
to the United States. When the U.N. inspectors asked for additional 
time to determine whether Iraq possessed stockpiles of such weapons, 
the Administration rejected the request and went to war. We now know 
that--based on the report of Chief U.S. weapons inspector, David Kay, 
that to date no stockpiles of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons 
have been found in Iraq. This resolution says nothing about the serious 
blow to U.S. credibility and security around the world caused by the 
Administration's misuse and abuse of intelligence information.
  The Republican leadership would like to equate support for our troops 
in Iraq with support for the President's decision to go to war in Iraq. 
But my constituents and the American people deserve better than the 
false choice presented by this resolution. I will not play the game of 
having to support the President's

[[Page 4524]]

views on Iraq in order to express support our troops. I continue to 
stand behind our troops and am grateful for their valiant service. I 
recently returned from a trip to Iraq where I had the honor of meeting 
with many of the men and women in our Armed Forces. I expressed to them 
the gratitude of the American people for their sacrifice and for their 
service to our country. It is a disservice to our troops that the 
Republican leadership here would exploit them to attempt to gain 
partisan political advantage.
  I have crafted an alternative resolution that presents the part of 
the story that the Republican leadership would like the American people 
to forget. This substitute resolution does not change a single word of 
the underlying resolution. However, it presents a fuller picture of the 
real story behind the decision to go to war in Iraq. Every one of the 
``Whereas'' clauses in this alternative resolution is factually 
accurate and incontrovertible. Why does the Republican leadership want 
to hide from these facts? Why does it want to prevent the American 
people from knowing the full story? Why will it not allow this 
substitute to be voted on? Mr. Speaker, I submit this alternative 
resolution for the Record.

   Substitute Resolution Proposed by Representative Chris Van Hollen

       Relating to the liberation of the Iraqi people, and the 
     valiant service of the United States Armed Forces and 
     Coalition forces and the failure to find stockpiles of 
     weapons of mass destruction.
       Whereas Saddam Hussein and his regime committed crimes 
     against humanity, systematically violating the human rights 
     of Iraqis and citizens of other countries;
       Whereas Saddam Hussein's terror regime subjected the Iraqi 
     people to murder, torture, rape, and amputation;
       Whereas on March 16, 1988, Saddam Hussein's regime had and 
     unleashed weapons of mass destruction against Kurdish 
     citizens, killing nearly 5,000 of them;
       Whereas in September 1988, the United States Senate 
     unanimously passed legislation (S. 2763) to impose economic 
     sanctions against the regime of Saddam Hussein for the use of 
     chemical weapons against its Kurdish citizens, but the bill 
     failed after the Reagan Administration opposed the 
     legislation and threatened a veto;
       Whereas as many as 270 mass grave sites, containing the 
     remains of as many as 400,000 victims of Saddam Hussein's 
     regime, have been found in Iraq;
       Whereas rape was used to intimidate the Iraqi population, 
     with victims often raped in front of their families;
       Whereas the regime punished the Marsh Arabs by draining the 
     marshlands, which created hundreds of thousands of refugees 
     and caused an ecological catastrophe;
       Whereas in 1991, explaining the Bush Administration 
     decision not to advance on Baghdad, then Secretary of Defense 
     Dick Cheney stated, ``Once you've got Baghdad, it's not clear 
     what you do with it. It's not clear what kind of government 
     you would put in place of the one that's currently there now. 
     Is it going to be a Shia regime, a Sunni regime or a Kurdish 
     regime? Or one that tilts toward the Baathists, or one that 
     tilts toward the Islamic fundamentalists? How much 
     credibility is that government going to have if it's set up 
     by the United States military when it's there? How long does 
     the United States military have to stay to protect the people 
     that sign on for that government, and what happens to it once 
     we leave?'';
       Whereas the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-
     338), passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 360 
     to 38, made it United States policy to support efforts to 
     remove from power the regime headed by Saddam Hussein;
       Whereas on September 8, 2002, Secretary of State Powell 
     said, ``There is no doubt that he [Hussein] has chemical 
     weapons stocks.'';
       Whereas on September 8, 2002, Vice President Cheney said, 
     ``We do know, with absolute certainty, that he [Hussein] is 
     using his procurement system to acquire the equipment he 
     needs in order to enrich uranium to build a nuclear 
     weapon.'';
       Whereas on September 8, 2002, Secretary Powell said, ``With 
     respect to biological weapons, we are confident that he has 
     some stocks of those weapons, and he is probably continuing 
     to try to develop more.'';
       Whereas on October 2, 2002, President Bush said, ``The 
     Iraqi regime is a threat of unique urgency.'';
       Whereas on October 10, 2002, the House of Representatives 
     passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against 
     Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243) and on March 19, 
     2003, the United States initiated military operations in 
     Iraq;
       Whereas with the Iraqi regime failing to comply with 16 
     previously adopted United Nations Security Council 
     resolutions, the Security Council unanimously approved 
     Resolution 1441 on November 8, 2002, declaring the Iraq ``has 
     been and remains in material breach of its obligations under 
     relevant resolutions, including resolution 687 (1991), in 
     particular through Iraq's failure to cooperate with United 
     Nations inspectors''
       Whereas on January 28, 2003, President Bush said, ``The 
     British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently 
     sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our 
     intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to 
     purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear 
     weapons production.'';
       Whereas on February 5, 2003, Secretary Powell said, ``Our 
     conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of 
     between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent. That is 
     enough agent to fill 16,000 battlefield rockets. Even the low 
     end of 100 tons of agent would enable Saddam Hussein to cause 
     mass casualties across more than 100 square miles of 
     territory, an area nearly 5 times the size of Manhattan. . . 
     .'';
       Whereas on March 7, 2003, IAEA Director General Mohamed 
     ElBaradei reported to the United Nations Security Council 
     that: There is ``no indication of nuclear activities . . . 
     nor any indication of nuclear-related prohibited activities 
     at any inspected sites . . . There is no indication that Iraq 
     has attempted to import uranium since 1990.'';
       Whereas on March 7, 2003, IAEA Director General Mohamed 
     ElBaradei concluded that the documents purporting to show a 
     uranium purchase in Niger provided to the IAEA by the United 
     States were unsubstantiated and likely forged. He told the 
     United Nations Security Council that ``Based on thorough 
     analysis, the IAEA has concluded, with the concurrence of 
     outside experts, that these documents, which formed the basis 
     for reports of recent uranium transaction between Iraq and 
     Niger, are in fact not authentic. We have therefore concluded 
     that these specific allegations are unfounded.'';
       Whereas according to UNMOVIC'S 13th Quarterly Report, 
     between November 27, 2002 and March 18, 2003, the 731 
     inspections conducted by UNMOVIC did not reveal any 
     ``evidence of continuation or resumption of programs of 
     weapons of mass destruction or significant quantities of 
     proscribed items.'';
       Whereas in March 2003, United Nations weapons inspectors 
     requested additional time to determine whether Iraq possessed 
     stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction;
       Whereas the Bush Administration rejected the United Nations 
     request for additional time, to complete the mission;
       Whereas on March 16, 2003, Vice President Cheney said, ``. 
     . . we know he [Hussein] has been absolutely devoted to 
     trying to acquire nuclear weapons. And we believe he has, in 
     fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.'';
       Whereas on March 16, 2003, President Bush said, ``The 
     dictator of Iraq and his weapons of mass destruction are a 
     threat to the security of free nations.'';
       Whereas on March 25, 2003, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld 
     said, ``The threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass 
     destruction will be removed.'';
       Whereas on October 2, 2003, Chief Weapons Inspector David 
     Kay said, ``Information found to date suggests that Iraq's 
     large-scale capability to develop, produce, and fill new CW 
     munitions was reduced--if not entirely destroyed--during 
     Operations Desert Storm and Desert Fox, 13 years of UN 
     sanctions and UN inspections . . . Our efforts to collect and 
     exploit intelligence on Iraq's chemical weapons program have 
     thus far yielded little reliable information on post-1991 CW 
     stocks and CW agent production. . . .'';
       Whereas on October 2, 2003, David Kay said, ``. . . to date 
     we have not uncovered evidence that Iraq undertook 
     significant post-1998 steps to actually build nuclear weapons 
     or produce fissile material.'';
       Whereas to date, despite an extensive search by the United 
     Nations and the United States no chemical, biological, 
     nuclear or any other weapons of mass destruction have been 
     found: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) affirms that the United States and the world have been 
     made safer with the removal of Saddam Hussein and his regime 
     from power in Iraq; however, the main question for the 
     American people is not whether the United States is better 
     off without Saddam Hussein, but whether the United States is 
     better off for having gone to war in Iraq to remove Saddam 
     Hussein;
       (2) finds that, despite the removal of Saddam Hussein from 
     power, it is premature to conclude that going to war in Iraq 
     has made the United States safer; indeed, the weight of the 
     evidence to date suggests that President Bush's approach to 
     Iraq has not made the United States safer;
       (3) affirms the findings of former Chief U.S. Weapons 
     Inspector David Kay, that no weapons of mass destruction have 
     been found in Iraq;
       (4) affirms that no evidence has been found to support the 
     statements made by president Bush, Vice President Cheney, 
     Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Defense Donald 
     Rumsfeld and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice 
     between September 8, 2002 and the present that are cited in 
     the ``Whereas'' clause above;
       (5) commends the Iraqi people for their courage in the face 
     of unspeakable oppression and brutality inflicted on them by 
     Saddam Hussein's regime;
       (6) commends the Iraqi people on the adoption of Iraq's 
     interim constitution;
       (7) commends the members of the United States Armed Forces 
     and Coalition forces for liberating Iraq and expresses its 
     gratitude for their valiant service; and

[[Page 4525]]

       (8) extends condolences to the families of the American 
     forces who have been killed in Iraq.

  Ms. MAJETTE. Mr. Speaker, today I rise because we have reached the 1-
year anniversary of the war in Iraq. One year ago, we invaded Iraq 
because the President said Saddam Hussein posed an imminent threat to 
the United States. A ``mortal threat,'' he said.
  We were told Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. We 
were told the international community would be involved, providing 
troops and financial assistance. We were told the troops would get 
whatever they needed to get the job done.
  So on March 19, 2003, we invaded Iraq. And here we are, 1 year later. 
Let's examine the facts:
  CIA Director George Tenet said intelligence agencies never told the 
White House that Iraq posed an imminent threat. No weapons of mass 
destruction have been found.
  American taxpayers are paying almost all the bills--$120 billion and 
still rising. Most importantly, American soldiers are enduring almost 
all the casualties--more than 560 Americans killed and thousands more 
wounded.
  Our troops did not get the equipment they needed to do their jobs 
safely--the President failed to include enough funds in his budget to 
pay for the war in Iraq. Moreover, there is no money in the President's 
own proposed budget for 2005 to pay for the war in Iraq. He apparently 
chooses to keep Congress and the American people in the dark about how 
much we will need to spend.
  Let me tell you what's going on today with this resolution. It is an 
attempt to rewrite history. And if any of us vote against it, we will 
be attacked for not ``supporting the troops.''
  This resolution is intellectually dishonest. It selects facts that 
portray the President and his decision to invade Iraq in a positive 
light, while conveniently ignoring other facts that do not support the 
President. It tells only of what we already knew--that Saddam Hussein 
was an evil tyrant. No one disputes that. It tells us of the atrocities 
he inflicted on his people--no one disputes that. It tells us that the 
American people applaud the Iraqi people for adopting an interim 
constitution--and no one denies that. And it affirms our country's 
unending support for our troops.
  All of these accomplishments are worthy of our commendation, and I 
support them.
  But this resolution ignores other facts--that we went into this war 
with faulty intelligence and sent our soldiers in without adequate body 
armor. It ignores that there were no weapons of mass destruction, and 
that Saddam did not pose an ``imminent threat'' to the U.S. It doesn't 
tell us that the administration continues to veil the true cost of this 
war--and it does not say that these costs will be borne by our children 
because this administration refuses to pay for them today. Instead, 
this administration gives tax cuts to the people who make over $1 
million--and does not provide adequate resources for the veterans and 
their families.
  It does not even acknowledge the deaths and injuries suffered by the 
men and women in uniform.
  So I cannot in good conscience support such a deceptive resolution. 
It simply does not tell the whole truth.
  Make no mistake--I support our troops, and I will do everything I can 
to help them get what they need. It is not their fault they were sent 
to Iraq--they are doing their sworn duty for this country. I will do 
everything I can to fight for their safe return and for an end to this 
sham of a war.
  The authors of this resolution might think it will provide them 
political cover, but I am here to tell you that the American people are 
wise and will not be fooled. They understand that domestic priorities 
are being sacrificed to fund a war it turns out we didn't have to 
fight. They understand that landing on an aircraft carrier and floating 
a banner declaring ``mission accomplished'' does not make it so. They 
understand that the Republicans refused to allow anyone to offer 
amendments to the language of this resolution.
  After last week's explosion in Madrid, Spain, and today's bombing in 
Baghdad, I cannot in good conscience state today that the United States 
and the world has been made safer than it was before we went to war 
with Iraq.
  Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, as the war in Iraq continues, our military 
personnel, veterans and their families face a myriad of hardships. Our 
troops in Iraq have lacked adequate body armor and armored vehicles to 
keep them safe. Their families have to scrape by because of the pay 
disparity between serving in the military and in civilian life. When 
the troops return home, they do not have the health care and benefits 
they have earned through their service to our country.
  Republicans proposed a resolution to supposedly honor our troops. But 
it does not truly acknowledge the real hardships our troops and their 
families face. It merely ``commends the members of the United States 
Armed Forces and Coalition forces for liberating Iraq and expresses its 
gratitude for their valiant service.''
  Republicans also say in their resolution we are safer now that Saddam 
Hussein has been removed from power. But we cannot claim the mission is 
accomplished. We must continue to fight the battle against terrorism to 
ensure safety and stability in Iraq. And we must be honest about the 
true task ahead of us, or risk America's credibility with our 
international partners diminishing further.
  Ironically enough, on the same day Republicans claim to honor our 
troops, they approved a budget proposal for the next year that would 
slash funding for military pay, health care, education and training for 
military personnel, veterans and their families. It also fails to 
extend imminent danger pay and family separation pay for troops in Iraq 
past December 31 of this year.
  I supported an alternative resolution that would appropriately honor 
the military personnel and veterans who have served our country so 
courageously. It praises the work our troops are doing and urges the 
President to provide protective gear for our troops, ensure quality 
health care to treat both short- and long-term injuries among our 
troops, and correct pay disparities among civilian and military pay for 
guards and reservists.
  We need to stand behind our courageous men and women in uniform who 
are bearing the burden of this military action in Iraq. Supporting our 
troops and giving them the tools they need to carry out their mission 
in Iraq is the only way to truly honor their service, courage and 
sacrifice.
  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, the Governor of my State recently went 
on a trip to Iraq. When she returned, she announced that the 
President's Iraq policy should not be the subject of political 
discussion. That suggestion is as problematic as it is unrealistic. 
Foreign policy and defense policy are always legitimate topics of 
political debate. That's how we do things in a democracy. The voting 
public has every right to a full and open airing of different points of 
view--especially when the lives of our service members and the treasury 
of our Nation are being committed.
  Now, with this resolution it seems the Republicans want it both ways. 
They tell us Iraq policy is out of bounds for political discussion, and 
at the same time they present us with this resolution. This document 
amplifying the administration's spin is nothing less than an election-
year endorsement of the President's Iraq policy. It will no doubt be 
denied that it has anything to do with politics. In fact it's blatantly 
political. It's transparently political. It's in-your-face political.
  Our troops deserve better than this cursory salute swaddled in 
suffocating layers of political celebration. They've earned our 
gratitude for their patriotism, courage and spirit of sacrifice. More 
to the point, they deserve a solid commitment to their well being and 
the well being of their families. But that is something the majority 
refuses to do. Last week in the House Budget Committee, Mr. Edwards and 
others proposed some simple measures along these lines: TRICARE for 
reservists; a boost in imminent danger pay; improved military housing; 
higher pay for senior enlisted personnel; increased family separation 
allowance; and more funding for family support centers.
  All of this is to be offset by a very modest rollback in the tax 
bonanza we granted to people making a million dollars a year and more. 
The majority's response? Forget about the troops--our allegiance is to 
people making a million or more. I don't have any statistics, but I 
suspect there aren't too many millionaires serving in Iraq or en route.
  So let's not pretend this resolution has nothing to do with politics. 
It's about the politics of deception underlying this war. It's about 
the politics of delusion that we can remake the world in our own image. 
It's about the politics of desperation flowing from the realization 
that we're becoming stuck in a no-exit quagmire.
  As for the troops, they're getting thin rations from the majority in 
this House. Saying you support the troops is easy. The issue here isn't 
whether anyone in this House supports the troops. We all do. The issue 
is whether we can fashion a policy worthy of their valor, dedication 
and sacrifice.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Isakson). All time for debate has 
expired.
  Pursuant to House Resolution 561, the resolution is considered read 
for amendment and the previous question is ordered on the resolution 
and preamble.
  The question is on the resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.

[[Page 4526]]


  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, this 15-
minute vote on adoption of the resolution will be followed by a 5-
minute vote on House Joint Resolution 87. Votes on motions to suspend 
the rules postponed earlier today will be taken tomorrow.


                             Recorded Vote

  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 327, 
noes 93, answered ``present'' 7, not voting 7, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 64]

                               AYES--327

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baca
     Bachus
     Baird
     Baker
     Ballenger
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Beauprez
     Bereuter
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Bradley (NH)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burgess
     Burns
     Burr
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Capuano
     Cardin
     Cardoza
     Carson (OK)
     Carter
     Case
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chandler
     Chocola
     Coble
     Cole
     Collins
     Cooper
     Costello
     Cox
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Cunningham
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (TN)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeFazio
     DeLauro
     DeLay
     DeMint
     Deutsch
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Dooley (CA)
     Doolittle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     English
     Etheridge
     Everett
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Flake
     Foley
     Forbes
     Ford
     Fossella
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Frost
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gephardt
     Gerlach
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Goss
     Granger
     Graves
     Green (TX)
     Green (WI)
     Greenwood
     Gutknecht
     Hall
     Harman
     Harris
     Hart
     Hastert
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hill
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley (OR)
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hyde
     Inslee
     Isakson
     Israel
     Issa
     Istook
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jones (OH)
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     LaHood
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lowey
     Lucas (KY)
     Lucas (OK)
     Lynch
     Manzullo
     Marshall
     Matheson
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McNulty
     Menendez
     Mica
     Michaud
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, Gary
     Moore
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Nethercutt
     Neugebauer
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Ortiz
     Osborne
     Ose
     Otter
     Oxley
     Pascrell
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Portman
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Rodriguez
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ross
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Sandlin
     Saxton
     Schiff
     Schrock
     Scott (GA)
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Snyder
     Souder
     Spratt
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Sullivan
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thompson (MS)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Toomey
     Turner (OH)
     Turner (TX)
     Udall (CO)
     Upton
     Vitter
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Weiner
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Wu
     Wynn
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                                NOES--93

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Baldwin
     Ballance
     Becerra
     Bell
     Blumenauer
     Brady (PA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Capps
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Conyers
     Cummings
     Davis (IL)
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     Doyle
     Eshoo
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hastings (FL)
     Hinchey
     Honda
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Kanjorski
     Kilpatrick
     Kleczka
     Larson (CT)
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lofgren
     Majette
     Maloney
     Markey
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pastor
     Paul
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Rush
     Sabo
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Schakowsky
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Solis
     Stark
     Tauscher
     Thompson (CA)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Wexler
     Woolsey

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--7

     Carson (IN)
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Lantos
     Meehan
     Waxman

                             NOT VOTING--7

     Hoeffel
     Kucinich
     Sherwood
     Simmons
     Smith (WA)
     Tauzin
     Weldon (PA)


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Isakson) (during the vote). Members are 
advised that 2 minutes remain in this vote.

                              {time}  1950

  Mr. RUSH and Mr. JEFFERSON changed their vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
  Mrs. NAPOLITANO changed her vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
  Mr. HILL changed his vote from ``present'' to ``aye.''
  So the resolution was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  Stated against:
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, on the vote on House Resolution 557, 
I spoke on the floor in opposition to H. Res. 557 and by mistake voted 
``yes'' on the floor. I seek the record to be clear that I intended to 
vote ``no.''

                          ____________________