[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6933-6934]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SUPPORT FOR OUR TROOPS

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I listened to the comments of my dear 
friend, the distinguished Senator from South Dakota. I share his grief 
and his concerns over how many of our young people have sacrificed 
their lives for all of us. There is no question about it; these are 
heroes to all of us. As the son of parents who lost their only other 
son in the Second World War, I know a family's grief over such a 
devastating loss. We know what it is like to have a son missing in 
action and, whose remains were found 2 years later. Our family had to 
go through all of the pain, difficulty, grieving, and remorse. But all

[[Page 6934]]

of that didn't take away the fact that my brother, Jesse Moreland 
Hatch, was a great hero like so many others who died in all of our 
wars, but in World War II in this particular case, and the 50,000-plus 
young men and women who died in Vietnam.
  These young people are doing the Lord's work. They deposed a tyrant 
that killed hundreds of thousands of his own people and threatened the 
whole Middle East, and, by his association with terrorists at war with 
us, threatened us. Our heroes are fighting to bring stability to the 
Middle East, and they have put pressure on all of the tyrannies of the 
Middle East. They have taken a stand against tyranny, against 
terrorists, and for the prospect of decent societies throughout that 
region.
  I have seen letter after letter of people who have served in Iraq who 
have made it very clear that the work they are doing is work for all of 
us, and we ought to be proud. They are helping people to find 
themselves in decent and safe societies. They are helping people down 
the road to freedom. They are helping people who have never understood 
what it is like to have a free market economy. They are helping people 
for the first time in their lives to have some sort of hope that they 
might be free--and free from brutality, terrorism, vindictive 
treatment, murder, and death.
  Our young men and women understand that what they are doing is very 
important; and it is important for everybody in America to stand with 
them. It is important for everybody in America to realize that we pay 
extraordinary costs, borne by the families who lost their loved ones in 
order to stand up for freedom.
  In this particular case, I think it is pretty hard to make a case 
that we shouldn't be there. It is pretty hard to make a case that we 
shouldn't have deposed Saddam Hussein. It is pretty hard to make a case 
that we shouldn't be trying to bring some sort of representative form 
of government to Iraq and, therefore, the whole Middle East. It is 
pretty hard to oppose the fact that our young men and women are serving 
with distinction for a good cause. It is pretty hard to make some of 
the ridiculous arguments that have been made by those who are opposed 
to U.S. involvement anywhere.
  I want to pay tribute to these young men and women who are serving 
over there, and also to the civilians who are serving over there. They 
may be getting paid for their jobs, but it is a dangerous place--at 
least some areas are very dangerous--to be. But what they are doing is 
critical to our security. I think they deserve the applause of all of 
us and the support of all of us.
  I hope all of our colleagues will always continue to support not only 
our troops over there but also our President who has all that any 
President really needs to handle.

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