[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6578]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         AT WAR WITH EACH OTHER

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, there is no question that the 
terrorists are at war with us. Unfortunately, it is becoming apparent 
that in Washington we are also at war with each other.
  Today, the senior Senator from Massachusetts, Mr. Kennedy, delivered 
an incendiary speech in Washington that deserves a strong rebuttal. We 
should all remember that last September Senator Kennedy made news and 
raised eyebrows with an astonishing claim that the war in Iraq was 
``made up in Texas'' and that ``the whole thing was a fraud'' because 
it was going ``to be good politically'' for the President.
  Of course, that suggestion was so absurd that the senior Senator from 
Massachusetts was roundly criticized for the recklessness of the 
charge, as well he should have been. Today the Senator has mounted 
another vicious attack on the President by leveling claims so 
outrageous, so completely outrageous I am not going to repeat them here 
on the Senate floor, although they are being carried on television 
across the world, presumably even in Baghdad where those who are 
fighting Americans in the street can view them.
  I would simply say this to the Senator from Massachusetts, that the 
only one responsible for the attack on America is al-Qaida. Further, I 
would say we need to focus on routing out global terrorism by fighting 
the terrorists and not each other. It is this Senator's opinion America 
would be much better served if the Senator from Massachusetts would 
remember who the enemy is. The enemy is terrorism and the enemy is al-
Qaida.
  But the political season is upon us and this will not be the last 
attack on President Bush. But while the debate over the election 
proceeds, I am hopeful the tone set by the Senator from Massachusetts 
will not become the standard.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.

                          ____________________