[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8616]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    REFLECTING THE 2-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE PRESIDENT'S ``MISSION 
                         ACCOMPLISHED'' SPEECH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, last Sunday marked the 2-year anniversary 
of President Bush's now infamous ``Mission Accomplished'' speech aboard 
the USS Lincoln. Tomorrow the House of Representatives will vote on 
another $82 billion for the Iraqi conflict and Afghanistan conflict, 
bringing the total cost to the American taxpayers of $300 billion. 
Sunday, the 2-year anniversary of the ``Mission Accomplished'' speech; 
tomorrow the United States Congress puts the tab at $300 billion for 
the Iraqi and Afghanistan engagements.
  What have we accomplished? We have defeated Saddam Hussein; yet we 
find ourselves mired in an endless occupation. This past January we 
witnessed a successful election; yet the progress on developing a 
functioning government has been slow at best. Terrorism and the 
insurgency remain as strong as ever and at times seems to be 
escalating.
  Today we learned about another explosion killing 50 individuals. Last 
week over 100 individuals were killed in different terrorist acts. The 
economy is stalled, the civil society cannot form a consensus, and 
millions of Iraqis remain without basic services such as electricity. 
The brave men and women in the American Armed Forces continue to fight 
a valiant effort, but the battle has taken its toll.
  In addition to the $300 billion it has cost the taxpayers, we have 
lost 1,600 sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles; and 12,000 
citizens are wounded, some permanently. And the strain is so great the 
recruiters in the armed services cannot meet their enlistment goals. 
Through the first 5 months of fiscal year 2005, the Army is short its 
recruitment goal by 15 percent. The Pentagon now says that they are 
stretched so thin, it would be difficult for the Armed Forces to meet 
other obligations should they need to.
  Mr. Speaker, Operation Iraqi Freedom was a war of choice. As 
President Kennedy once said, ``To govern is to choose.'' One can only 
hope that the war in Iraq was the right choice, and as I said, tomorrow 
we will add an additional $82 billion, bringing the total cost to $300 
billion.
  But in the meantime, while we have made this effort in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, what has happened here at home? Every President has always 
thought in the middle of a military engagement, how do I make America 
stronger post this war? What do I do to think about America's future, 
raise its sights to see another horizon?
  President Lincoln, in the middle of the Civil War, he thought of the 
transcontinental railway system. President Lincoln thought of the land 
grant colleges. President Eisenhower thought, in the height of the Cold 
War, of the highway system in America. President Kennedy, in the middle 
of the escalation of Vietnam and the Cold War, thought of putting a man 
on the moon. President Roosevelt, during World War II, thought of the 
GI bill that built and made this an American century the last century.
  So as we go through it, Eisenhower thought of the highway system here 
in America; President Bush is threatening to veto the highway bill. 
President Lincoln thought of the transcontinental railroad system; 
President Bush wants to veto Amtrak and eliminate it. Every President 
has thought of America as a greater and bigger vision. This is the 
first President who is now talking about a lesser vision for America in 
the middle of a war.
  We must not have the legacy only of 1,600 dead, 12,000 wounded, and 
costing $300 billion and an America that is weaker and smaller and all 
we have left them is $2 trillion of additional debt to dig their way 
out. We can do better. We must have a vision of America that is 
stronger past this conflict, not one that leaves Iraq stronger and us 
weaker.

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