[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 27819-27820]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          WE ARE WINNING THE WAR AND WINNING THE PEACE IN IRAQ

  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time of 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Indiana?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, despite what many Americans may see on cable 
television networks over the last several months, as I learned again 
today in a meeting with the President of the United States; the 
Secretary of Defense; with General Casey, the four-star general in 
charge of Operation Iraqi Freedom, through a satellite link, Mr. 
Speaker, we are winning the war in Iraq. And 7 days from today in the 
midst of an ongoing victory for the freedom of tens of millions of 
Iraqi people, we will once again see the people of Iraq use the freedom 
won by the American soldier in forming their own government and 
adopting parliamentary elections.
  The ongoing victory in Iraq was described by the President at a 
speech just 1 week ago at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland; and 
like the meeting that I attended at the White House today, I had the 
privilege of joining the President for that address, and there he 
described his strategy for victory.
  And let me say that while there have been sometimes loud and 
cacophonous debates on this floor about the need for a plan or the lack 
of a plan, what is available today, Mr. Speaker, at whitehouse.gov for 
all Americans to examine is a recently declassified version of what has 
always been the plan. It is, in effect, a three-track approach that 
involves political, military, and economic initiatives to achieve a 
free and stable and democratic Iraq, and we are winning in this cause.
  With less than 7 days to go before the Iraqi people will engage in 
parliamentary elections, I am delighted to report to the Members and 
any looking on that the American people, the people in Indiana that I 
serve, will be proud to hear what I have heard, to see what I have seen 
in my three different trips to Operation Iraqi Freedom, and they too 
would conclude inexorably that we are winning the war in Iraq.
  On the military front, as General Casey described today, over 200,000 
Iraqis have been trained and equipped, both military and police 
personnel. For the national elections that took place earlier this 
year, there were 80,000 fewer Iraqis in uniform. Today there is one 
full Iraqi division, four Iraqi brigades, four Iraqi battalions that 
are leading the fight in places like Najaf, Karbala, the dangerous road 
to the airport in Baghdad, in Tikrit. In one city after another, these 
Iraqi military personnel are on the point. They are leading the fight, 
along with 160,000 American military personnel.
  And the Iraqi people themselves are becoming more involved in 
advancing their own security and stability. Here is an interesting 
fact, Mr. Speaker, that I just learned today: in March of this year, 
there were essentially 400 tips by Iraqis of insurgent activities, tips 
made to U.S. and coalition forces. In the month of November, we logged 
more than 4,700 tips from regular and ordinary Iraqis. The people of 
Iraq are partnering in their own security and in their own freedom, and 
that 10-fold increase of that partnership speaks for itself.
  On the economic front, we have seen 30,000 new businesses. And GNP 
per capita in the last year has more than doubled in Iraq for ordinary 
Iraqis. It is an extraordinary record of success.
  Politically, we have around the corner parliamentary elections; and 
as we speak, Mr. Speaker, there are 327 political entities, or as we 
might call them, parties or organizations, and 7,000 candidates that 
will be answering the call of millions of Iraqis who will put 
themselves, as 8.5 million Iraqis did in January of this year, in 
harm's way to exercise their own freedom.

[[Page 27820]]

  It is my fondest hope, Mr. Speaker, that when the President of the 
United States comes into this well on January 31 of 2006 that maybe in 
this Chamber, in a seat in this Chamber, might be a legislative leader, 
or two, of the newly elected Iraqi Parliament.
  I have been to Operation Iraqi Freedom three times. I have sat even 
today with our military commanders and the President of the United 
States. As we go into this weekend, let the word go forth from here: we 
are winning the war and winning the peace in Iraq.

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