[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13516]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           REALITY DISCONNECT

  (Ms. SCHAKOWSKY asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, at a time when the Bush administration 
continues to paint a rosy picture of the situation in Iraq, Congress 
should really be investigating why exactly the administration is 
misleading both the American public and Members of this institution.
  While most Republicans in this Chamber continue to take the Bush 
administration's rhetoric as fact, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of 
Nebraska states in this week's U.S. News and World Report: ``The White 
House is completely disconnected from reality. It's like they're just 
making it up as they go along.''
  That is a Republican Senator. It would be nice if other Republicans 
would follow suit. For some reason Republicans think they are 
supporting troops in Iraq if they remain silent about what is going on 
there. Are Republicans supporting our troops when they refuse to 
question misleading statements like that from Vice President Cheney 
that the Iraqi insurgents are in their ``last throes''? Are Republicans 
supporting our troops when they refuse to support investigation into 
prisoner abuse scandals, scandals that many, including former Secretary 
of State Colin Powell, believe are harming both our reputation and our 
troops?
  Silence is not the best way to help our troops.

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