[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9301-9302]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBER THE MISSION IN IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, as we consider the implications of the 
debate about the photographs that our news media has been putting on 
the front pages and on the TV screens, it is important that we begin to 
calm down and to take a look at what we are doing and to remember why 
we are in Iraq.
  Frankly, as we hear the discussions about having the President 
impeached and the Secretary of Defense resign, it is important for us 
to remember that 9-11 changed everything. So soon we forget, Mr. 
Speaker. 9-11 is the day that innocent civilians in this country went 
to work in the morning expecting they would come home to their families 
that night. 9-11 was the day that this body convened for its normal 
business. 9-11 was the day soccer moms became security moms, worried 
about the safety of their children in the streets. And President Bush 
said that he would fight terror; that if you harbored a terrorist, you 
were a terrorist; if you funded a terrorist, you were a terrorist; if 
you allowed them to pass through your country, you were a terrorist. 
And, Mr. Speaker, he has been solid and resolute about that commitment.
  No matter how despicable the acts of our soldiers in Abu Ghraib 
prison, they remain the actions of just a few. They do not reflect the 
majority opinion. They do not reflect American values, and they do not 
reflect what is going on in Iraq. Because there are magnificent tales 
of sacrifice and commitment going on in Iraq.
  For those people who wonder why the Secretary of Defense should not 
step down, it has not been that long ago, Mr. Speaker, that we saw 
Rodney King in those famous videos where members of the Los Angeles 
Police Department were beating him. That circumstance did not reflect 
the policemen in L.A. any more than our current actions reflect our 
soldiers in Iraq. To put it in perspective, we should have, if we want 
equivalent actions, have called for the Governor of California to step 
down.
  Secretary Rumsfeld is a tremendous political and military leader. If 
we look at the advances and the accomplishments that have occurred, to 
suggest change at this point in this war begins to seem irresponsible. 
Al Qaeda is completely uprooted and on the move. Thousands of al Qaeda 
members are dead or in prison. The Taliban is gone from Afghanistan. 
Saddam Hussein sits in a prison cell. We have over 40 of his top 
officials in prison cells awaiting trial. Libya has begun to give up 
its weapons of mass destruction, its nuclear weapons. Pakistan worked 
with us on the Afghanistan border fighting terror. Worldwide, we are 
seeing terrorists captured and imprisoned by the network of people on 
the side of good and against evil.
  Mr. Speaker, Secretary Rumsfeld is greatly responsible for the 
actions that are positive and that show that we are winning the war on 
terror. And to suggest that he step down is irresponsible.

[[Page 9302]]

  But we must also consider what it is going to take to win this war on 
terror. It is going to take valor, valor like that of Pat Tilghman, who 
gave up a lucrative career to go serve his country. It is going to take 
sacrifice, like a young helicopter pilot from my district who died in a 
night crash in Afghanistan. It is going to take courage, because this 
is going to be a long fight, Mr. Speaker. And if we are going to run 
right now, I will guarantee you that we will not win this war on 
terror, and that every American life will be affected. And those soccer 
moms who became security moms will have been justified in their fears, 
and they will have been let down by the leadership of this country, 
many of whom are calling for the President to come back home and to 
leave that fight.
  Mr. Speaker, we owe it to the people of this country and to the free 
people in the entire world to stand our ground and to fight and to have 
the resolute intent to see that this war on terror is won. Mr. Speaker, 
I cast my lot on the side of those people who will fight this war, who 
will see that liberty triumphs over tyranny and over terrorism.

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