[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 27535]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            PROGRESS IN IRAQ

  (Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, since the defeat of 
Saddam Hussein in Iraq, we have seen political, security, and economic 
progress in a country that has suffered under tyranny for decades. In 
January, 8.5 million Iraqis voted in Iraq's first democratically 
elected government.
  In October, the constitutional referendum, the turnout neared nearly 
10 million; and since April 2003, Iraq has registered more than 30,000 
new businesses.
  Mr. Speaker, no war is without challenges, and the war on terror is 
no different. But to cut and run, as many of our colleagues are 
suggesting, would not only encourage our enemies; it will disillusion 
the Iraqi people, our allies, and the brave men and women in uniform 
risking their lives for this country every day.
  The security of our Nation should be bigger than inside-the-Beltway 
partisan politics. We need to learn from the mistake of the past, stop 
talking about exit strategies, and keep talking about freedom, 
democracy, and victory.

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