[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 17821-17822]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    WAR IN IRAQ AND HOMELAND SECURITY TOP ISSUES FACING OUR COUNTRY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 31, 2006, the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Madam Speaker, the two most 
important issues facing our country right now are the seemingly endless 
and tragic war in Iraq and the need to ensure America's safety here at 
home.
  President Bush's speech to the Nation last night regrettably 
demonstrates that either he doesn't understand the security challenges 
we face, or that he is intentionally misleading the American people for 
partisan political purposes.
  This is a tough election year, and I can understand why the President 
and the Republican Party are desperately clinging to a campaign of 
misinformation, mudslinging and fear, given their

[[Page 17822]]

failures on the economy, the war and homeland security. But their 
campaign is not responsible, and it ill serves our troops, our people 
and our future.
  The President continues to try to convince Americans that the war in 
Iraq is part of the war on terror. Last week, the President said, and I 
quote, one of the hardest parts of my job is to try and connect the war 
in Iraq to the war on terror.
  I can understand why it is so difficult for the President, 
considering that Saddam Hussein's regime and Iraq were not responsible 
for the attacks of 9/11 or the war on terror. The only prewar 
connection between Iraq and Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda was that they 
were enemies. The bipartisan Senate intelligence committee report just 
released last week states that Saddam Hussein distrusted Osama bin 
Laden so much that he, quote, issued a general order that Iraq should 
not deal with al Qaeda.
  And, more importantly, while there was not an Iraq/al Qaeda 
connection before the invasion, certainly there appears to be one now. 
And that is what the President would say makes Iraq the central front 
in the war on terror.
  But, once again, the President is wrong.
  First, the only role the U.S. occupation in Iraq currently plays in 
the war on terror is making it worse. Our presence in Iraq has created 
more terrorists than we have captured or killed. In fact, the U.S. 
occupation of Iraq is one of al Qaeda's chief recruitment tools, and 
the American people have caught on to this.
  According to a recently released poll, by a 45 to 32 percent margin, 
people believe that reducing America's overseas military presence, 
rather than expanding it, will have a greater effect on reducing the 
threat of terrorism.
  The most effective weapon against terrorists is cooperation among 
nations in sharing critical intelligence to round up and disrupt 
terrorist organizations and activities. That effort is hampered by the 
recruitment and growth of terrorists because of the Iraq war.
  It is time for the President to be honest with the American people 
and to admit that the biggest threat to Iraq's future is the presence 
of U.S. troops fanning the flames of Sunni-Shiite civil war. And one of 
the biggest threats to the United States' security is the powerful 
motivation our presence in Iraq gives terrorists who seek to do us 
harm.
  The President and this Congress have wasted resources, time and 
precious lives in a diversion from making Americans safer, and it has 
been an enormous and costly diversion by this administration. But the 
facts are clear that we have not done enough to make America safer. In 
fact, we have done just the opposite by getting bogged down in the war 
in Iraq and fanning the flames of hatred and violence.

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