[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 21]
[House]
[Pages 28765-28766]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       IRAQ AND THE 56TH BRIGADE

  Mr. GOHMERT. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to speak out of 
order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Schmidt). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOHMERT. Madam Speaker, it was truly great to have the 56th 
Brigade home this past weekend from Iraq. Commanded by Colonel James 
``Red'' Brown of Lindale, Texas, they did a great thing this past year. 
It was the largest deployment of troops from the Texas reserve unit 
since World War II. This was not just a difficult year in their own and 
their families' lives, it was a historical year for the ages.
  Many believe that the area Iraq occupies was where mankind had its 
beginning. There, in the cradle of mankind, Iraq, had an historic 
election of representatives to write a constitution. It drafted and 
approved its constitution, and now today, because of the efforts of so 
many military members, including the 56th, that area elected its first 
true representatives to lead a democratic form of government.
  There are those who have said it is a quagmire in Iraq and it is a 
mistake for us to be there. Some made these statements because of 
personal heartache. Some, on the other hand, were made from partisan 
political motivation, and some from disdain for our president and a 
desire to see his efforts fail, even though it risked world stability 
and national security.
  But our soldiers were there. They know they have done a great thing. 
They have seen the admiring faces of Iraqi children that were never 
present in Vietnam. They have heard gratitude from many there in Iraq, 
our soldiers have. We have not heard as much here.
  They not only fought, protected and defended, the 56th, for example, 
built a

[[Page 28766]]

school and other important infrastructure improvements. They also saw 
the frantic efforts of terrorists who were terrified that democracy and 
the people will begin to rule over them and their oppressive 
dictatorial ways. They kept many terrorists occupied there, rather than 
here in America.
  Some say that the freedom, democracy and liberty they were fighting 
for and the evil they have fought against simply was not worth it. My 
friends, it is worth it, and they are our heroes. They and their 
families have sacrificed for us, and we are grateful.
  My friend from Lindale, who is also a Texas Aggie and a citizen 
soldier, Colonel Brown, is an American patriot. He and his 
distinguished command Sergeant Major Chambless led a band of great 
American patriots, and they led them well.
  The quote from the 1800s by philosopher John Stewart Mill certainly 
applies to our present situation. He said, ``War is an ugly thing, but 
not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and 
patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. 
The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing 
which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable 
creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the 
exertions of better men than himself.''
  Those who have been serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and in harm's way 
on our behalf are some of the better people of whom Mills spoke.
  Today was just an incredible day in Iraq. That for which we have been 
hoping and fighting happened. The Iraqis elected their first elected 
officials who will preside for the next years to come. There have been 
threats this year against any Iraqi who voted on. Those Iraqis who 
stuck their fingers into the ink knew they were readily identifiable 
for two to three weeks to any terrorist that wanted to kill them. What 
courage. We have voters here who will not even go out if it sprinkles 
or rains, and yet they were willing to risk the threat of death. They 
are not out of the woods. They can see the home lights though glowing 
from where they have gotten.
  It was particularly distasteful though that so many had stepped up 
their screaming and their histrionics to ``pull out now.'' Have you 
wondered why the surrender call became so shrill just weeks and days 
before this historic election? Many of those knew if things went too 
well, the President's numbers might go up, the Republicans' numbers 
might go up. So, some had good motives, some did not. They risked the 
national security.
  Now, because of the work of our heroes in Iraq, a great thing 
happened today, and we are grateful. May God comfort those who have 
paid with the sacrifice of a loved one in our Nation's defense. May God 
bless our defenders, our champions, our servicemembers. God bless their 
efforts and keep them safe. And through their valiant efforts may God 
continue to bless our America.
  To those in Iraq, I say I look forward to seeing you in just a couple 
of days.

                          ____________________