[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 22884]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            ON THE IRAQ VOTE

  (Mrs. BLACKBURN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, the Washington Post has done it again 
for us. They ran an article on the retirement of Turkey's ambassador to 
the United States, and I was struck by a comment that the ambassador 
made regarding Iraq and our efforts to reshape that country in the 
Middle East.
  This is what he said: ``Pessimism debilitates you. Don't ignore the 
facts, but be optimistic. Some of the apparent clumsiness is democracy 
in the making.'' Democracy in the making.
  Mr. Speaker, too many in this body and in the media have fed the 
pessimism. Those of us standing with the President and our military in 
Iraq are not playing Pollyanna on this. We know it is going to be a 
tough, tough endeavor. But we believed and we still believe that 
failing to act was a poor long-term solution to the fundamental crisis 
of terrorism that exists in the Middle East.
  Today, we should all take a moment and praise our troops, our 
leadership, and the Iraqi people for voting on a constitution last 
Saturday. Nearly 63 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot. That is 
tremendous, and it should be cause for celebration both here and around 
the world.
  Again, to quote the ambassador, ``Pessimism debilitates you.'' Let us 
celebrate this success.

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