[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 27769]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                        ANOTHER IRAQI MILESTONE

  (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to thank the Latvian government 
for extending their troop commitment to Iraq for another year. Last 
January, 8.5 million Iraqis voted. Last October, more than 10 million 
voted. In both of these elections, the Iraqi people refused to be cowed 
by terrorist threats.
  A week from today, Iraqis will, once again, defy terrorists and go to 
the polls a third time this year. They will choose their first 4-year 
parliament since Saddam Hussein was removed from power.
  More than 300 parties and coalitions are registered for this 
election, and even those who opposed the October constitutional 
referendum have organized for this vote.
  In his speech last week, President Bush mentioned Marine Corporal 
Jeffrey Starr who died fighting in Iraq. In a letter found after his 
death he wrote, ``I don't regret going, everybody dies, but few get to 
do it for something as important as freedom. It may seem confusing why 
we are in Iraq, it's not for me. I'm here helping these people, so they 
can live the way we live.''
  Mr. Speaker, it is because of soldiers like Corporal Starr that 
Iraqis will one day live like we live, under freedom and democracy.

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