[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 8989]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       FAILURE FROM THE VERY TOP

  (Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, American soldiers 
are serving with honor, and we stand behind them. We are grateful for 
their patriotism, courage and sacrifice, and we continue to support 
them as they finish their dangerous mission. The disgraceful acts in 
the Iraqi prisons have endangered our troops and made their mission 
more difficult to accomplish. They have endangered our chance to 
succeed in Iraq, and they have endangered our national security.
  Reports of mistreatment have been available for a year and a half at 
least, yet the Bush administration failed to take them seriously. These 
abuses occurred because soldiers were put into situations they were not 
trained for and for which they did not have proper supervision. This is 
a failure from the very top, and it is time for the President and 
Secretary Rumsfeld to stop shifting the blame and take responsibility. 
Congress must conduct a full and open investigation.

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