[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9558-9561]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Chocola). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 7, 2003, the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) 
is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to visit tonight and talk about 
Iraq and perceptions about Iraq; but before I start, I would like to 
commend the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) for bringing to the 
floor this subject of the human rights violations, the countless deaths 
in the Sudan and other African countries.
  Mr. Speaker, I am going to draw conclusions that may differ from my 
colleagues, but I would explain to this House that his perceptions and 
my perceptions about what is going on in Africa are very similar, and I 
appreciate his heartfelt contending on behalf of them.
  Mr. Speaker, I looked at the photographs that America has been 
looking at and saw the expanded group of photos, and they were 
startling and disappointing. America and the President have apologized, 
but the silence that comes from the rest of the world over the 
beheading of Nick Berg parallels the silence that I hear from the rest 
of the world about the Sudan and about Rwanda.
  Mr. Speaker, it was not the newspapers that first drew my attention 
to Rwanda years ago. It was my pastor at a local church speaking up 
about the killings of hundreds of thousands in that country.
  I was in Vietnam in the 1970s, 1971, 1972, part of 1973 and part of 
1974; and we were aware of some of the things that were going on in 
Cambodia then and later, but the world was silent; and I share with my 
colleagues, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) and the gentleman 
from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. 
Jackson-Lee), the concern that no one speaks, that our press holds its 
force silent.
  Mr. Speaker, weekly I have my secretary print out a Web site called 
the Voice of the Martyrs that explains killings daily around the world 
unjustly and in the dark of the night simply because someone has the 
power to kill and torture and maim without consequence. Mr. Speaker, we 
must lend our voices to those injustices because the people who will 
suffer the most are going to be the least among us.
  The powerful, the rich, no matter what country, they will always have 
their way. They will always have the representation, but the last great 
hope for humanity is in this country where the rule of law stands and 
where our Constitution gives rights because the guaranteeing of those 
rights, the guaranteeing of those rights encourages those without 
political power and those without family connections, and so I thank 
the gentleman for his comments tonight.
  The examples of terrorism that exist around the world at this time 
and in the past will cause us to blanch in horror. The risks to 
humanity are extreme. The financial devastation is great.
  In Lebanon, the trading and banking center of the Middle East was 
destroyed by the PLO and Hezbollah with Iranian and Syrian funding and 
support.
  Terrorism has caused difficulties in El Salvador. It has been the 
victim of Farabundo Marti National Liberation terrorists for over a 
decade and a half. The FMNL and their allies the PLO, Black September, 
the Red Brigades and the terrorists worldwide bombed thousands of buses 
and bridges, assassinated mayors, elected officials and burned 
villages. They placed landmines in coffee plantations so women and 
children workers would hopefully not go to work. When they did, their 
limbs were blown off.
  In Afghanistan, the country was destroyed by the Taliban and al 
Qaeda. Killings and tortures were daily, routine tools of governance.
  This is what terror brings to us. Mr. Speaker, this is the reason 
that I commit myself to a fight against the war on terror because it is 
the weak, it is the powerless and the innocent who suffer most from 
terror.
  There are those who say that it is simply the United States policies 
that caused 9/11; and yet to the people who say that it was the United 
States policies who caused the extremists to attack our World Trade 
Centers, I ask them what is the policy in Sri Lanka that causes the 
attack of terrorists? What is the policy in the Philippines and 
Indonesia that caused terrorist bombings?
  Mr. Speaker, we need to remember at this point exactly why we are in 
the war on terror. It is because of the terrorism. It is because of the 
output and the effects of terrorism. It is because in this country on 
9/11 soccer moms became security moms. Soccer moms began to wonder how 
safe their children were at school.
  Mr. Speaker, families everywhere, whether it is Iraq, Sudan, Rwanda, 
Chad, Cambodia, families everywhere have a similar hope. They hope that 
their children will grow up and receive an education, that they will 
grow up and receive an education in safety knowing that their security 
is assured.
  Mr. Speaker, 9/11 for America changed that fact, but terrorism had 
taken away the security of much of the world previously. Mr. Speaker, 
it is my contention that you cannot have freedom, liberty and security 
at the same time as you have tyranny and terrorism. That, Mr. Speaker, 
is the reason that we are fighting this war on terror, in my opinion.
  For those who wonder exactly what the connection is between Iraq and 
the war on terror, we are just now learning from Jordan that al Qaeda 
terrorists planned to use chemical weapons to blow up the U.S. embassy. 
They were trained in Iraq before we liberated the country last year.
  Mr. Speaker, Jay Epstein of The New Republic wrote this week of new 
and convincing evidence that Mohammed Atta did, in fact, meet with a 
senior Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague in 2001.
  We are fighting the war secondly, Mr. Speaker, because of the 
consequences of Iraq's continued use of deceit and denial to hide 
weapons that risk the entire world, but especially the rhetoric and 
intentions were directed at the United States.

                              {time}  1930

  It is not the policy of this country to wait until the first attack 
of weapons of mass destruction before we take the necessary steps to 
stop their proliferation.
  Mr. Speaker, when I was in Iraq last year, Mr. Kay explained to us 
that they had found 35 fermenters, fermenters having two types of 
activities associated with them: first, the making of biological 
weapons; and second, the making of chemical weapons. Mr. Kay stated at 
that point that though they did not have the weapons in their hands at 
that point, they were within 2 weeks at any point they would want to 
start making significant weapons.
  Thirdly, our critics should look at root causes to understand why we 
are fighting this war on terror. The entire effort to liberate Iraq and 
Afghanistan has been to show a different and new future to the Middle 
East, a future that contains the promise of at least the beginnings of 
democracy rather than the awful choice between living under a 
dictatorship or joining the Jihad.
  A fourth reason we are fighting the war on terror, Mr. Speaker, is 
the recognition that 23 other countries have realized we must fight 
terrorism. Our allies in this coalition, 23 nations, have sent over 
25,000 soldiers to help stabilize Iraq in order to allow self-
governance to emerge. They have helped us construct schools and 
telecommunications. Lives have been given by Polish soldiers defending 
and protecting southern Iraq, in charge of multinational forces working 
closely with pro-democratic Iraqi forces. British soldiers have 
defended and protected

[[Page 9559]]

Basra and Um Qasr. El Salvador soldiers fought and repulsed Sadr 
terrorists in southern Iraq just a few weeks ago. The Jordanians run 
the hospitals in Fallujah. Peshmerga Kurds protect and build in 
northern Iraq. Our Japanese friends have helped in telecommunications 
and in reconstruction.
  It seems as though people in this city tend to forget why we are 
fighting the war on terror and they tend to believe that this war is 
like maybe an intramural conflict, a game of tag. Mr. Speaker, the 
stakes are far higher than that. The stakes literally seem at this 
moment to be whether the world will remain free or come under the awful 
persecutions we find in the Sudan, in Rwanda; that we found in Bosnia 
and Kosovo. The future of the world is hanging in the balance, Mr. 
Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, I am joined tonight by my colleague, the gentleman from 
South Carolina (Mr. Barrett), and I want to yield the floor to him. I 
appreciate his participation.
  Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman 
from New Mexico for yielding to me and I thank him for all his work.
  You know, when he was talking about being in Washington, sometimes, 
coming from South Carolina and being in Washington, it seems like a 
millions miles away from home. Things get convoluted, things get 
confused, and so many times this town has a different idea about what 
is going on in the world or what has happened. This past week, Mr. 
Speaker, I got a letter from Brandon Browlee. Now, Brandon is a fourth 
grader at Laurens Academy in Laurens, South Carolina, and I want to 
share this letter with you. I want you just to take a second and listen 
to this.
  This is Brandon talking: When I grow up I'm going to be a South 
Carolina Law Enforcement Division agent, a SLED agent, and a fighter 
pilot. I want to be a SLED agent when I'm not at war. I don't care if I 
die fighting for my country. My family will miss me, but at least I 
will die with honor and I'm protecting my country. I will send letters 
every day and we will stay healthy. I will always keep a picture of my 
family in my jet. I promise to take everybody for a ride, if I can. I 
will always wear a cross necklace, keep a pocket Bible by my side, and 
I will send letters to my wife, and she will read them to all of you.
  Out of the mouth of babes, I guess we should say. Crystal clear, if 
you ask me. Crystal clear.
  The last couple of weeks have been very trying times. We are dealing 
with things up here that are taking away our focus, taking away our 
guidance. This thing is bigger than any scandal could ever possibly be, 
Mr. Speaker. We are talking about 130,000-plus men and women that are 
fighting for democracy, fighting for freedom, and fighting for the 
security of this Nation every day. They are fighting for a way of life 
and they are fighting for everything that we know in South Carolina to 
be near and dear to us, and I think about it every day.
  I think about my two sons. I have a son that is 14\1/2\ and a son 
that is 12. And if my boys Jeb and Ross are like their father and like 
their uncle, and like their grandfather and their grandfather's 
brothers, and like their grandmother's brothers, they will fight. They 
will wear the uniform and they will sacrifice everything they have to 
keep this country safe and strong. I think about it every day.
  But as sure as I am standing here, as sure as I am in Washington, 
D.C. and standing in this room, in this hall tonight, if we do not 
defeat this enemy in the streets of Baghdad, in the streets of Mosul, 
in the streets of Tikrit, in Afghanistan and wherever, we will fight 
this enemy in the streets of Atlanta, Georgia, and Chicago, and San 
Francisco, and Columbia, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C.
  When I was in the service, I had the honor of presenting one of my 
best friend's wives with the flag of this country. Lynn Dial died in a 
helicopter accident. And I will never look a husband, a wife, a son, or 
a daughter in the face and tell them that I did not do everything I 
could possibly do to keep this country safe and strong, to keep their 
loved ones safe and strong.
  Make no mistake about it, we are going to win this war. And make no 
mistake about it, we will do everything within our power to keep our 
country safe and strong. That is what this letter that Brandon wrote 
did for me. It caused me to refocus. It caused me to understand exactly 
what is going on and exactly what the stakes are. They could never be 
higher, and the consequences could never be greater.
  I want to thank Brandon, and I want to thank the men and women 
serving our country today that are giving their all; that are giving in 
many cases their lives for everything we know and love.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Mexico for this 
opportunity and I thank him for his fight. And I want him to know that 
there are a lot of us out there that are by your side and that will 
help you every step of the way.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from South Carolina 
(Mr. Barrett). He is one of the distinguished colleagues in the 
freshman class, and I am always pleased to hear his heartfelt 
conviction as he speaks.
  My colleague talked about the fact that we will win this fight. And, 
Mr. Speaker, there are successes we should be proud of that indicate 
that we are doing what we set out to do. The American people will not 
always hear these on the evening news or read them in the newspaper. In 
fact, Mr. Speaker, when I went to Iraq, when I walked among the young 
people, our young men and women soldiers, the most frequent question, 
and not just young soldiers from New Mexico, but as I walked through 
the assembled dining halls three different days at noon and in the 
evening, Mr. Speaker, the continuing question, to which I had no 
answer, was why do my parents not hear the good things we are doing in 
Iraq on the evening news?
  Mr. Speaker, it is the same silence that affects the media that we 
were talking about earlier, the refusal to carry the actions of 
astonishing bravery, courage, compassion, valor, and sometimes just the 
plain steel nerve to be in that foreign land, fighting for a foreign 
people, and shedding American blood so that Iraqis can be free. Mr. 
Speaker, that is noble and we are doing an honorable task.
  One of the signs of success that I look at, Mr. Speaker, is that we 
have not been struck since our original attack on 9/11. The second 
component of success is that the Taliban has been uprooted and moved 
out of Afghanistan. The al Qaeda is on the move and has stopped 
training the thousands of terrorists in the training camp that they had 
set up in Afghanistan. The funding mechanism for the war on terror that 
existed in Saudi Arabia has been dismantled, Mr. Speaker. Saddam 
Hussein sits in a jail cell, as do over 40 of his top regime leaders.
  But, Mr. Speaker, one of the successes that I count great is that our 
friends in Pakistan have picked up the sword against terrorists. They 
were fighting on one side of the Pakistani border and U.S. troops were 
on the Afghanistan side of the border and were pinching rebels and 
terrorists in between us. Mr. Speaker, it is that willingness of other 
nations in that region that represents some of the most amazing 
turnarounds in this war on terror.
  There are many countries who would expel the terrorists, but they 
just could not do it by themselves. They did not have the funds or the 
military strength or the military might, and our participation has 
given them the will and the way to fight their own war on terror.
  Worldwide we are seeing more terror cells interrupted by 
international law enforcement. Our human information is getting better 
in this war on terror. Because of an election years ago, we made the 
decision to take our spying operatives out of the cells and simply rely 
on eavesdropping and electronic methods of information gathering. But 
those information-gathering techniques that were stopped under a 
previous administration led to our blindness, so that we could not know 
that were going to be hit on 9/11.
  Mr. Speaker, that reemergence of human intelligence is one of the 
most significant things in our finding different weapons in Iraq. Mr. 
Kay said that many of the scientists said, you

[[Page 9560]]

will not find weapons of mass destruction until we, until we the 
Iraqis, are ready for you to find them. It was through their efforts 
that we did find the 35 fermenters that we have found.
  Mr. Speaker, another great success is the fact that Libya simply 
walked to the table and said we want to give up our weapons of mass 
destruction; we have them and we want to give them up. Since then, 
Libya has been removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. 
Members of this House visited Libya, led by my friend, the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon), a senior member of the House Committee 
on Armed Services. They listened to Qadhafi himself detail Lybia's long 
and ugly support for international terrorism, and now that has ended.

                              {time}  1945

  Mr. Speaker, some claim that Libya was already prepared to do this, 
but I say nonsense. Just days prior to the beginning of the war to 
liberate Iraq, Mr. Qaddafi initiated negotiations; but only after those 
pictures of the capture of Saddam Hussein were shown worldwide did Mr. 
Qaddafi agree to the deal, all of his weapons gone, lock, stock and 
barrel. As supporters of terrorism, Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq are no 
more. As developers of weapons of mass destruction, they are no more.
  Mr. Speaker, we have positive effects inside Iraq that affect the 
social systems, for providing medical care and rebuilding schools; 
children are kicking soccer balls, and kids are spending time with 
organs. Our troops are building new and better societies in Iraq and 
Afghanistan. The immediate and long-term benefits for a more peaceful 
region and a more peaceful world are immeasurable.
  More than 250 Iraqi students and teachers welcomed soldiers at the 
grand opening of the Al-Walid Elementary School in Baghdad recently. 
The opening is the result of several months of work by soldiers from 
the 4th Battalion, the 1st Field Artillery Regiment, the 3rd Brigade 
Combat Team, the 1st Armored Division, and the 409th Civil Affairs 
Battalion, an Army Reserve unit from Abilene, Texas. Repairing the 
schools is a big part of our responsibility because these children will 
become the future of Iraq. Their attitudes control the future.
  Mr. Speaker, our troops have not stopped here. The soldiers 
understand that you can see the future of Iraq through the eyes of its 
children. The most recent project for the 105th Forward Support 
Battalion, headquartered in Germany, was giving away 150 soccer balls 
to local kids in Baghdad. Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division have 
been working to not only make Iraq secure, but have been putting time 
and effort into helping towns and villages with their Operation Helping 
Hands program. With the Operation Helping Hands, soldiers donate their 
own money, and many of them are financially strapped providing for 
their needs in Iraq as well as the needs back home for their family, 
but they have been donating their own money to help provide families 
with food and health care necessities. Brigades Commander Ben Hodges 
came up with the idea of helping the poor families in the area. They 
have collected several thousand dollars which goes a long way toward 
helping many Iraqi families.
  These compassionate troops are helping Iraqi families in a way that 
they have never been helped before. Soldiers are often out in Iraqi 
communities providing medical care and humanitarian assistance. A 
small, impoverished village about 10 miles from Baghdad was recently 
paid a visit from the Medical Civic Action Program. The program sends 
doctors and medics to provide free medical care on a regular basis. 
Because of conditions under Saddam Hussein, soldiers are treating 
diseases we rarely see here at home: tuberculosis, hepatitis, and 
polio.
  Mr. Speaker, we should be proud of our troops for fighting for 
women's rights. For the first time in history, women in Mosul, Iraq, 
were able to join the rest of the world in celebrating International 
Women's Day. That day recognizes coordinated efforts of women 
everywhere for equal rights and political and economic equality. The 
state of the woman in Iraq was in horrible condition prior to our 
arrival. Eighty-eight percent of women could not read. Today, 77 
percent of all school-age girls are in school. The People's Assembly 
Building was rededicated as a center for Iraqi women. The center will 
serve as a meeting place for all women of Iraq where they can share 
ideas, offer training, coordinate communication, and build a safer 
homeland.
  In Mosul, Iraqi police say they are grateful to soldiers from the 
U.S. Army's 503rd Military Police Battalion for their assistance in 
rebuilding police stations. Coalition forces helped to renovate several 
police stations which enable the Iraqi police officers to protect their 
fellow citizens. In the past year, 4,570 police, correction 
specialists, and firefighters from the Ninevah Province have completed 
this training. They are better prepared to maintain security for the 
people of Iraq because of the training the coalition forces have 
provided.
  Iraqi security forces continue to take huge steps along with the 
political process. Less than a year ago, the Department of Border 
Enforcement was created consisting of the border police, immigration 
inspections, and civil customs inspection stations. Today there are 
more than 82,000 border policemen and nearly 9,000 border enforcement 
agents operating along a 3,600 kilometer border. Coalition forces are 
actively involved in border security operations. In addition to 
conducting joint patrols with the Iraqi border police, coalition forces 
routinely visit border posts and continue to train and mentor the Iraqi 
border patrol officers.
  More than 11,000 experienced policemen who have completed the 
transition integration program have learned democratic principles and 
values, basic fundamentals of policing, policies and standards for 
conduct, law and order, and their responsibilities to their 
communities. There are more than 1,600 policemen who have trained from 
scratch in an 8-week training program. In early March, 450 additional 
policemen graduated from the first class of the 8-week Baghdad Public 
Safety Academy. Another 1,500 new policemen will graduate in April. Two 
academies are expected to have more 2,100 new professional policemen by 
the end of 2004.
  The new Iraqi Army is growing. In early March, more than 1,000 
recruits of the 4th Battalion graduated from the 9-week basic training 
program.
  These are amazing stories. These are the stories of the Americans 
that I know. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands more.
  I am proud of our soldiers and want to say thank you. These are not 
the stories that you will hear on the news or in the newspapers, nor 
will you hear them many times during this election year; but I would 
like at this moment to say thank you to the young men and women in Iraq 
who are fighting for the freedom of a foreign land.
  One story that is told from Iraq, a U.S. soldier recently evaluated 
an Iraqi woman, Farha Abed Saad, for medical treatment after she had 
been harmed by Iraqi thugs who wished to rob Iraqis of their right to 
freedom. Her comments say it well, ``Thank God you have come here to 
Iraq to make us free,'' said Mrs. Saad, kissing a soldier's hand. 
``When I see you, I see my own sons. Thank you, thank you.''
  Mr. Speaker, compassion is a common language. Compassion is what we 
are showing to the people in Iraq when we fight side by side with them.
  Mr. Speaker, we have other advances in this war on terror and in the 
social setup in Iraq. Already the transition to Iraqis is beginning. 
People are talking about the end of June, but this week the transition 
began with the transition of the Ministry of Agriculture and the 
Ministry of Culture, both responsibilities being moved across to Iraqi 
civilians.
  Mr. Speaker, the oil in Iraq has begun to flow again. It is moving 
through pipelines that we have found damaged and we as coalition forces 
have repaired. Because of that flow of oil and because of U.S. 
reconstruction of oil facilities, over $8 billion, almost $9 billion is 
in the bank now in trust for the Iraqis. It is being used to fund the 
operation of their government.

[[Page 9561]]

  Mr. Speaker, you will not hear that story either as we read the 
evening news because it seems that the news does not want to report the 
positive and the progress that we have seen in Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, we heard eloquent points from a gentleman on the floor 
earlier this evening. The gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) spoke 
about the fact that in any contest some people will win and some will 
lose. Then he gave the four points that create the winners, that help 
determine the winners. Mr. Speaker, when the gentleman from Nebraska 
(Mr. Osborne) speaks about winning, I listen. The gentleman from 
Nebraska coached the 1994 national champions and came back the next 
year in 1995 and coached the same Nebraska Cornhuskers to another 
national championship. And then he took a year off and came back in 
1997 to win his third national championship.
  Mr. Speaker, when this gentleman speaks about winning, I believe he 
knows what he is talking about; and he says for us to win in Iraq will 
require the same elements as to win in any other situation. It will 
require a unity of purpose. Secondly, it will require sacrifice; the 
willingness to pay a greater price than the competition often 
determines the winner.
  Third, we must have confidence in a successful outcome.
  Fourth, there must be a bond among the team, a caring, a respect, a 
love among the group.
  Mr. Speaker, when we begin to talk so violently in this Nation and to 
politicize the war, we begin to undermine the unity of purpose, the 
willingness to pay a greater price, we undermine the confidence and the 
successful outcome, and we begin to damage that bond that needs to 
exist among the group members if an effort is to be a winning effort.
  Mr. Speaker, as I listened to the many complaints and to the calls 
for resignations, my mind goes back to World War II. I just cannot 
imagine what it would have been like in World War II after Pearl Harbor 
if we had gone through the same sort of questions from the press and 
from the political parties. Can Members imagine Mr. Roosevelt taking 
time off from the war to come in and speak about why Pearl Harbor was 
allowed to be attacked? There are many in this Nation who felt that the 
attack was known to be coming, and yet both sides for the good of the 
moment said we will let those questions go because we have got a 
greater enemy here.
  I cannot imagine the consequences if we had chosen at that moment to 
pull the President in front of a commission and ask him to explain and 
justify every action. I cannot imagine, Mr. Speaker, asking the 
President at that point in the conflict in the first year or even 2 
years, what is your exit strategy? Our exit strategy then is like our 
exit strategy now: it is to defeat the enemy.
  Mr. Speaker, if we are going to win this war on terror, it is going 
to take valor, valor like that of Pat Tillman who gave up a lucrative 
career in pro football to serve his country, and he paid the ultimate 
price.

                              {time}  2000

  It is going to take sacrifice like a young woman helicopter pilot 
from my district who died in a night helicopter crash in Afghanistan, 
or like the young man from Lovington, New Mexico, just 18 miles from my 
hometown, who paid the ultimate sacrifice and was just recently laid to 
rest.
  Mr. Speaker, as I talked to his mother, she explained that he never 
liked school much, he did not like to read, he did not like to study, 
but when he got involved as a gunner in the military, he found an 
understanding of what he thought he was about and he began to read 
constantly, read his operational manuals, to work to improve his 
capabilities.
  Mr. Speaker, it will take those kinds of sacrifices. Freedom is not 
free. It takes tremendous sacrifice. It will take courage to win this 
war on terror. It is going to be a long fight and it will take 
commitment. It will take commitment from the young men and women who 
are required to go. It will take commitment from their families. It 
will take commitment from political leaders who are required to vote to 
fund the efforts.
  If we are going to cut and run now, Mr. Speaker, we can be sure that 
we will not win this war on terror. We can also be sure that the 
security moms will have been concerned justly. It is our obligation to 
see that we fight the war on terror outside this country's borders, 
that we take the fight to them and we take the desire away from them, 
take the desire away from them that makes them want to strike us.
  We have had losses and they cannot be minimized. The loss of a single 
life is too many. But far more of the enemy have paid the full price 
than of our young men and women. We owe it to the people of this 
country and to the free people of 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 the people who will fight 
this war and who will see that liberty triumphs over tyranny and over 
terrorism.

                          ____________________