[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 8987-8988]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  ELIMINATE THE ``YES, BUT'' MENTALITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pence). Pursuant to the order of the 
House of January 20, 2004, the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I came to the well today because I am starting 
to hear something that I think the American people do not want to hear, 
and that is, that these terrible things were done by a few individuals 
in Iraq, but. All too often I am hearing the word ``but'' creeping in.
  Mr. Speaker, last night I was listening to Michael Savage. Hundreds 
of stations around the country carry this man, and he was not just 
saying ``yes, but.'' He was saying, well, these people are Muslim; 
Islam is a religion of war, and we have to understand they have always 
been involved in war and they only understand violence and they only 
understand this. This is why Saddam had these torture chambers because 
that is the only way to make them understand.
  When I heard that said on national radio, I realized that the ``yes, 
but'' cannot be tolerated here on the House floor or in the other body 
or on K Street or on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it is extremely important that we in this body 
today eliminate that ``yes, but'' mentality. There is no ``yes.'' We 
must be above torture. We must be above violating the Geneva 
Conventions, but we must understand that these individuals may not be 
``conventional combatants.'' Mr. Speaker, that is not the way America 
stands for freedom. It is not the way we were brought up. There is no 
``but'' after ``yes.''
  Yes, we will honor the Geneva Conventions. Yes, every soldier, sailor 
and

[[Page 8988]]

Marine in Iraq, in Guantanamo, in Afghanistan and around the world 
understands or should understand that we hold them to a standard that 
we would want for ourselves, not the standard that the other side may 
subject us to. No matter what happens anywhere in the world to 
Americans, not in Somalia, not in Iraq, not in Afghanistan and not in 
the Twin Towers of New York, justifies us treating other human beings 
in a way differently than we would want to be treated.
  Mr. Speaker, to me this is the most important message for America to 
send. Mr. Speaker, I hope in this body, at least from this time 
forward, there will be no ``but'' after ``yes.'' We hold Americans to 
high standards.

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