[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24030]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        OVER 2,000 FALLEN HEROES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, it has been a long, long, long slog, 
whether measured in lives or limbs lost.
  So many days with no real plan for peace, no real plan for security 
for our families, so many tears shed by too many families. Too little 
armor and too little equipment for those who were too quickly placed in 
harm's way.
  Over 2,000 fallen American heroes. Over 15,000 wounded Americans, and 
tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians who have died in this conflict. 
The administration is attempting to relieve itself from the duty to 
offer any strategy at all, even as it constantly recasts the purpose of 
its tragic go-it-alone invasion.
  Like the President's wishful, staged declaration of ``Mission 
Accomplished'' on that aircraft carrier 2\1/2\ years ago, the Vice 
President blithely states that the insurgency is in its ``final 
throes.'' Well, each day's news shows how out of touch he continues to 
be.
  But for this administration, any sense of genuine accountability is 
certainly in it final throes. Its credibility is certainly in its final 
throes, and the patience of the American people with an administration 
that lacks any plans for success in Iraq is in its final throes.
  And with each wasted week, other families with a son or daughter, 
with a husband or a wife in Iraq, who are seeing their first or second 
or maybe even their third tour of duty, they wait, they hope, they 
pray, and some toss and turn in the middle of the night fearing that 
knock on the door will ultimately come.
  All who have fallen are heroes, and all who have lost their limbs, 
their lives, their sight, or their way of life because of this very 
unnecessary conflict are heroes to whom our Nation owes an enormous 
debt.
  But we do not honor the memory of these fallen by building permanent 
bases in Iraq, by licensing the CIA or others to torture in the name of 
the United States, or by calling on the same military families to again 
and again send their loved ones into danger, even while the richest 
corporations and the wealthiest Americans are not asked to sacrifice a 
dime, but are rewarded with tax breaks and no-bid contracts and crony 
appointments in this administration.
  More than any grim statistics can reveal, each of these unique losses 
is measured by the milestones of life missed by loved ones: births and 
baptisms, ball games and holidays, graduations, weddings, 
grandchildren, the natural journey of life, cut short or completely 
sacrificed in this administration's war of choice.
  And even as this morass in Iraq worsens, more than 90 percent of the 
American deaths have come about since President Bush declared an end to 
major combat operations. The administration's plan, if it ever even had 
one, has simply failed to evolve. So the budget deficit soars, gas 
prices rocket, billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars that are 
needed here are sent there, and the numbing count of dead and wounded 
continues to soar.
  Beyond the power of any prosecutor, it is history that will indict 
this administration.

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