[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 18896-18903]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING SERVICEMEMBERS IN GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Reichert). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. WAMP. Mr. Speaker, as I rise tonight to begin this hour, I rise 
with a very heavy heart, but with the most renewed sense of pride and 
patriotism I have ever had as I honor the life of Sergeant David Thomas 
Weir.
  Sergeant David Weir died 8 days ago on the streets of Baghdad in 
service to our country. He is from Cleveland, TN, where last night over 
2,000 people showed up at the Bradley Central High School football 
arena to honor a great American hero.

                              {time}  1815

  I spoke with Sergeant Weir's mother and father 2 days ago, Lynn and 
Jackie Weir, and it is just extraordinary to me that there are families 
in this country that love freedom so much, love our country so much 
that even in the most grief and sadness they could ever imagine or 
experience, a hundred percent believe in the mission, the service, the 
sacrifice of their own son to defend liberty for our Nation.
  Lynn Weir told me that if he would have tried, and he didn't, to keep 
his son from going, he could not have kept his son from going. He said 
David Weir, from the time he was a little boy, wanted to serve his 
country in uniform. He was a member of the 101st Airborne. This was his 
career. This was his way of life. He leaves a wife behind, Alison; a 
little 18-month-old son, Gavin, who does not understand what

[[Page 18897]]

has happened. But everyone else knows very clearly what has happened. A 
great American patriot died doing what he wanted to do, which was to 
stand in harm's way on behalf of our civilian population, as the 
Greatest Generation did, as other generations have been called to, at a 
time when there is a very real and imminent threat to our way of life 
called the Islamic jihadists.
  And Sergeant Weir goes to heaven, leaves this Earth, as others have, 
in the most sacrificial way, answering the scriptural call that says 
``No greater love hath any man than to lay down his life for his 
friends.''
  And I say to Jackie and to Lynn and to Alison and to Gavin, your 
father; your husband; Chris, his brother; your son gave his life for 
everyone in our country. We will never forget him. We will always 
remember him. We hail his life, a sacrificial life of service to 
others, putting everyone else above himself, believing in his mission 
and his comrades.
  His father said he talked to him the day before and he was so excited 
about getting out in the streets of Baghdad because he didn't want to 
be sitting behind a desk, because that was not what he was trained to 
do. That was not what he volunteered to do. That was not what he was 
prepared to do. He did what he went there to do, and it cost him his 
life. And while his parents grieve, our State and our Nation stand 
united, I believe, in their full appreciation of his life and his 
sacrifice and his extraordinary courage and bravery.
  On Monday, this coming Monday, I am honored to be with the family in 
Chattanooga, Tennessee, with full military honors as we lay him to rest 
in the national cemetery.
  Thank you, Sergeant Weir, for loving our country so much that you 
were willing to die for it.
  Another friend from my district, Lieutenant Colonel Brett Hale, is 
there serving in Iraq today. He is the commander of the Dragon Slayers. 
He too is a patriot. His family is back home praying for him every day, 
a wife and children.
  He sent me an e-mail 10 days ago. I want to read part of it in my 
tribute and our honor on the House floor tonight of these great 
American patriots who volunteered to serve our country and make their 
life secondary to ours.
  He wrote me and said: ``If we could only get the truth communicated 
to the public, they would know we have made great strides here in Iraq. 
Weekly we are transferring responsibility for the security in many 
provinces,'' and another one was transferred yesterday, ``and cities 
back to the Iraqi military. While certain people want to say it is a 
`civil war,' I want to tell you firsthand it is more about Islamic 
jihadists crossing over the borders. They continue to attempt to 
disrupt a young emerging democracy. The insurgents are capitalizing on 
the inexperience of this government and directly causing the sectarian 
violence and so-called fueling the fire. They get more and more 
strength and resolve when they hear the discourse in our country. They 
know it is only a matter of time before we give up because we perceive 
the war in Iraq is too difficult.
  ``We all know anything worthwhile is not easy. Freedom is not free. 
The Iraqis are trying to make it work. If we retreat, the terrorists 
win. They win now and they win in the future when they have a safe 
haven to plan, train, and operate and attack us again.
  ``It is our choice. We are either going to support our efforts to win 
the global war on terror, or we are going to support those that want to 
retreat inside our borders and wait for the next attack. We found out 
on 9/11 if we retreat, they attack.
  ``Finally, why did we go to Iraq? Ask yourself why did we fight 
Germany in World War II? Japan attacked us, not Germany. The same 
principle applies. We couldn't take the chance then and we can't now. 
Those that say otherwise are sympathizing with the enemy.''
  That is from Lieutenant Colonel Brett Hale to me on the ground in 
Iraq. What a patriot. As he says, the word is not getting out in this 
country in a fair way of the progress that we are making. As General 
Casey said, ``If we leave, they will follow us home.'' These threats 
are real.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been down here 4 weeks in a row as I have been in 
Washington to try to go through the severity of these real threats 
around the world and the fact that the jihadists are spreading like 
wildfire through Europe. Read the book ``While Europe Slept.'' Read the 
book ``Londonstan.'' You will know that through the mosques there is a 
radicalization under way. Even the Pope can't speak of it because it is 
not politically correct to say that fanaticism in religion is not good 
for the world. It ought to be obvious. Regardless of what the religion 
is or how many there are or what is politically correct, fanaticism 
does lead to holy wars and the crusades. And we don't want that. We 
want the mullahs and the ayatollahs to condemn suicide bombings. We 
want peace and security for the world. We want our allies to have a 
backbone and stand up and acknowledge the threat. We want our President 
to go to the United Nations and say we can't appease other countries. 
We have to stand behind security for all and freedom for people and 
liberty everywhere.
  We are all amazed in this country that from our own hemisphere to the 
south, the President of Venezuela come to our country and says this. 
Hugo Chavez is his name. In this country we call each other out of 
respect. Even the people who just spoke, whom I couldn't disagree with 
more. The people who just spoke are all talking politics. They are all 
interested in the next election, not, frankly, the future of our 
country and preserving liberty and standing up and meeting the 
challenge of this generation. It is all for them about 47 days from now 
in an election instead of ``I believe in my gut,'' standing up and 
protecting our country. But despite that, because we are decent, 
reasonable, we call them ``honorable.'' We call each other 
``honorable,'' regardless of whether we agree or not.
  I have got to tell you what the President of Venezuela did in this 
country yesterday was dishonorable. It dishonored his nation. It 
dishonors the people of his nation. It dishonors everyone south of here 
in our hemisphere because what it does is it causes people in this 
country not to trust or even like people who come into this country and 
say what President Hugo Chavez said yesterday.
  He said this: ``The devil was here yesterday. It still smells of 
sulfur around here,'' he added. He said, ``The President of the United 
States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking 
as if he owned the world, truly, as the owner of the world.
  ``I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday's 
statement made by the President of the United States. As the spokesman 
of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the 
current pattern of domination, exploitation, and pillage of the peoples 
of the world.''
  He said, ``The President of the United States came to talk to the 
peoples--to the peoples of world. What would those peoples of the world 
tell him if they were given the floor? . . . I think I have some 
inkling of what the peoples of the south, the oppressed peoples, think. 
They would say, `Yankee imperialist, go home.'
  ``I have the feeling, dear world dictator, that you are going to live 
the rest of your days as a nightmare because the rest of us are 
standing up, all those who are rising up against American imperialism, 
who are shouting for equality, for respect, for the sovereignty of 
nations.''
  This was the President of Venezuela, in our country, saying this.
  And let us praise a Democrat in this House named Charlie Rangel, whom 
I seldom agree with. But, boy, do I appreciate his patriotism in 
defense of our country and its traditions when he said this today. He 
said, ``You do not come into my country, my congressional district, and 
you do not condemn my President. If there is any criticism of President 
Bush, it should be restricted to Americans, whether they voted for him 
or not. I just want to make it abundantly clear to Hugo Chavez or any 
other president, do not come to the United States and think because we 
have problems with our

[[Page 18898]]

President that any foreigner can come to our country and not think that 
Americans do not feel offended when you offend our Commander in 
Chief.''
  Thank you, Charlie Rangel, for being an honorable Democrat who stands 
united at this time of war.
  Hugo Chavez is a troublemaker in a big way. He wants to work with 
Iranian President Ahmadinejad. I watched his interview last night on 
Anderson Cooper, and he calmly looked Anderson Cooper in the eyes, and 
he gave a very warped view of history, not even willing to acknowledge 
that the Holocaust took place. Completely in denial. You would have to 
wonder where in the world he gets his facts or his view of the world.
  This is a troubling time in American history. I say to young people 
everywhere I go, the days ahead will be very, very difficult. We need 
to be honest with them about this. But the character of this great 
Nation was born out of the sacrifices, the courage, and the willingness 
to face these challenges of our grandparents and our great-
grandparents. The Greatest Generation, they are the standard for 
stepping up to meeting global challenges, and they gave us our 
character. We didn't get our character by the big buildings or Wall 
Street or wealth or even military power. We got it by sacrifice and 
dedication and commitment and family, and they are the standard.
  They didn't cower or retreat from these challenges. They stood up. 
They faced them head on. They showed us what it took to preserve 
freedom and extend it from one generation to the next. And we must do 
the same thing. We must come together as a Nation.
  I hate it that we are in the middle of this political campaign while 
we are at war because it is not good for us to say the things we say, 
even on the floor of this House. It is not good for Lieutenant Colonel 
Hale and others to look back here and see the potshots being fired. I 
hate it that over half of the Democrats in the Senate voted to remove 
Saddam Hussein by force and almost half of the Democrats voted and now 
they all say it was a mistake.
  Let me tell you there has never been a pretty war. Never. There has 
never been one perfectly executed, and you do not remove a genocidal 
mass murderer with a picnic. It is ugly. And a brand new democracy 
takes a while to develop. And it is tough. Tough. But thank goodness 
that men and women in uniform will volunteer to go serve and carry out 
this tough mission and extend liberty from one generation to the next. 
These are difficult days. America needs to pull together.
  I want to yield to my colleagues that have come tonight, two of the 
people I respect the most in the House. First the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina.

                              {time}  1830

  Virginia Foxx is a new Member, but you would never know it because 
she has got tons of experience, and she has been down here standing up 
for what she believes, day in and day out. I want to yield to her on 
this most important issue of global security.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Tennessee 
(Mr. Wamp) for organizing this event tonight, and the other ones that 
he has mentioned. I think it is important that we stand up here and 
explain to the American people things that they may not hear on their 
local television station, and that we let folks know how strongly some 
of us feel about what is happening in this world and what options we 
have and what things we ought to be doing about it.
  Mr. Speaker, the proliferation of Islam extremism and jihadism has 
already inflicted our Nation with great pain; and it continues to grow 
and spread. And it is our job to continue to fight these Islamofascists 
on their land and on our terms. Any other option is unacceptable.
  When the Islamic religion is perverted, twisted and turned into an 
excuse for hatred, violence and the extermination of entire 
populations, we must stand against it and remain steadfast in our 
battle to eliminate this extremism.
  This situation has been brewing for a long time. It is not something 
that just happened overnight. It is a clash of ideologies. It is a 
fight between freedom and democracy versus terrorism and tyranny. This 
is a battle we cannot afford to lose.
  To allow the terrorists to win would destroy America and modern 
civilization as a whole. We must persist in rooting out terrorist cells 
and those who preach hatred and death and continue to adapt to the 
needs of the war on terror to ensure security, stability and freedom 
throughout the world.
  Make no mistake about it, this goal will yield a prolonged effort. We 
must never forget the day America awoke to the frightening new world 
where jihadists flew planes into buildings, killing over 3,000 innocent 
civilians. While we have yet to experience another attack on American 
soil, there are continuous plots that have been executed and others 
that have been foiled. The bombing of a night club in Bali, the bombing 
of a commuter train in Spain, and the bombings last summer in London on 
the subway and buses are only a brief list of terrorist attacks that 
have been planned and executed by Islamofascists.
  Yet, through intelligence sharing, surveillance programs, and 
effective antiterrorist initiatives, other plans have been foiled, such 
as the attempt of shoe bomber Richard Reed and the recent plot to blow 
up planes en route to the United States from Great Britain.
  Furthermore, due to the nature of their work, the greatest success by 
those in our intelligence community will never be known. There is no 
negotiating with Islamofascists who demand death and violence against 
anyone who does not accept their warped world view. We must remain 
vigilant against this very brutal and very real threat.
  As I speak of the rising threat of Islamofascism and its role in the 
global war on terror, I must object to the unbelievable and outright 
deceptive speech of the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. While 
we should be condemning such tyrannical leaders who preach hate and 
destruction, I was stunned that he was given the opportunity to address 
the United Nations, an organization whose resolutions he has repeatedly 
ignored.
  It points out again how dysfunctional the U.N. has become. He 
mentioned that justice was a victim of force and aggression, which it 
certainly was when he participated in the overthrow of the American 
embassy in Iran in 1979 and held American hostages for 444 days.
  He spoke of ridding the world of nuclear, biological, and chemical 
weapons, yet he continually refuses to halt the production of enriched 
uranium in Iran. He wants to rid the world of aggression and strive for 
peace, even though he created a proxy war in Lebanon and continually 
funnels weapons to Hezbollah.
  I was astonished when he spoke of dignity for all human beings and 
his longing for peace. These words are surprising to hear from a man 
who has prayed for the demise of America and constantly calls for 
Israel to be wiped off the map.
  His biography reads like a horror novel, directing multiple 
assignments while he was in elite military units and working with 
Ansar-I Hizbullah, the violent Islamic vigilante group. His main goal 
is the destruction of Western Civilization.
  That speech was a complete farce. He has shown his true agenda time 
after time, and one misleading speech at the United Nations will not 
fool America or the world. While we witnessed the Iranian dictator 
lecture us on freedom, democracy and justice, it is ironic that in his 
own country this tyrant denies his own people the basic rights of 
freedom of speech and freedom to assemble.
  His speech focused on freedom, justice and dignity for human beings. 
But as the president, he has done nothing to bring any of his so-called 
goals to his own people. Women are denied rights of inheritance, 
divorce and child custody, and use of their rights of self-expression 
and economic creativity.
  Basic rights are denied to the people of Iran, and that is why, even 
with the

[[Page 18899]]

soaring prices of oil, more than 40 percent of the Iranians live below 
the poverty line. Today in Iran, dissent is brutally suppressed and 
terror is the regime's only instrument of domestic or foreign policy.
  While he may resent us for being powerful, he does not realize that 
the foundation of our power is rooted in the freedom of our great 
people to pursue happiness, to innovate and to speak freely.
  This tyrant accuses the free world that they are denying the people 
of Iran their right to nuclear energy. Yet he forgets that the Islamic 
regime is denying the great people of Iran their God-given rights to 
self-respect and human dignity. He spoke of universal justice, yet he 
denies the existence of the Holocaust.
  This regime wrongfully portrays the war on terror as a war of 
civilizations. Yet, he uses every opportunity to export its brutal 
ideology violently to other nations. We are not at war with any 
peaceful religion or civilization. We are at war with terrorists, and 
terrorists' warped interpretation of religion.
  We need to protect the civilized world from the threat that these 
people represent. Mr. Speaker, we suffered a setback on the war on 
terrorism by allowing this terrorist a podium from which to address the 
world.
  And, again, I think that it is our place here in the United States 
Congress to remind the world of who is the country that represents true 
freedom, true democracy, true opportunity for people, and to continue 
to bring this message to people and speak the truth, instead of 
allowing people like that to come to this country and live in a fantasy 
world that they live in.
  Again, I want to thank my colleagues for being here tonight, and for 
the other times that they have been here to bring this message to the 
country and to anyone who is watching us. I want to turn the time back 
over to my colleague, Mr. Wamp from Tennessee.
  Mr. WAMP. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her service and 
for her message tonight on this global threat.
  Before I yield to the gentleman from Michigan, let me just remind 
everyone here in the House of Representatives and anyone who may be 
watching our proceedings tonight, Mr. Speaker, that regardless of what 
some would have you believe, or even you may get filtered to you 
through the national media, this war is with fanatics called the 
jihadists, who, by their own charter and their own doctrine, want to 
reestablish a caliphate for themselves and their rule that extends from 
northwest Africa all of the way east, basically, to the Far East, 
through Indonesia, above Australia.
  And I say that because those are the words that were in the letter 
that Zarqawi wrote to Zawahari before we killed Zarqawi. The top al 
Qaeda leaders, in their own communication with each other, said, use 
the infidels', the U.S., that is what they call us, presence in Iraq to 
recruit insurgents and other terrorists to try to extend this 
caliphate, reestablish the caliphate for radical Arab rule. So this is 
an aggressive plan.
  If we left Iraq tomorrow, the terrorists would not only win, but it 
would advance their cause. And it is spreading. This is a real threat, 
and it did not just start on September 11. That was one more attack. It 
happened to be the largest. But it was not the first on American soil 
or American sovereignty.
  They tried to bring the World Trade Center down in 1993, and their 
engineering did not work. We did not pay enough attention to it. But 
they had hit our embassies, which is sovereign U.S. land in other 
countries, time and time again, the same people.
  It all started, Mr. Speaker, in 1979 in Iran, the sponsor of 
Hezbollah, which has now exported terrorism and frankly stolen the 
government of Lebanon from the Lebanese people and engaged in war with 
Israel, and elected terrorist leadership in Palestine called Hamas. And 
these terror networks are coordinating and spreading and the threats 
are growing, and our way of life in the future will be at stake if men 
and women do not stand in harm's way on our behalf.
  And you may say, well, that is over there on the other side of the 
ocean. But I will tell you when Hugo Chavez comes here and says what he 
said yesterday, and he is coordinating and communicating with these 
terrorist leaders from other countries, and identifying himself with 
them, standing with them, wanting to be on their team, and he is in our 
hemisphere, and through his oil he is trying to bribe and own other 
South American countries by lending them oil so they will be obligated 
to him, and he has a warped sense of reality, and comes and says these 
ridiculous crazy things like he said yesterday, we have threats.
  That brings us to the southern border. Because I will tell you, our 
security in this country is critically attached to our ability to keep 
people that we do not want in this country from coming across the most 
porous place, and that is our southern border. I want to talk about 
that again in a moment, but right now I want to yield to a Member from 
Michigan who people from one side of the spectrum to the other here in 
this House look at as one of the most knowledgeable, intellectual, 
thoughtful, tough Members of the House, Thaddeus McCotter from 
Michigan. I am so honored he came to the floor tonight to stand with me 
and go through this Special Order. The gentleman from Michigan.
  Mr. McCOTTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. For a moment there 
I thought you were introducing someone else. But I appreciate the 
compliment, however misguided it may be. We in America are so seemingly 
secure in our rights, our liberties, our God-given constitutionally 
recognized rights, that we too often cursorily scan our Nation's 
foundational truths which secure those liberties.
  We also as a young Nation far too often have a disdain for history, 
because since our inception, our eyes always have been fixed forward, 
towards the progression of our Nation and the expansion of liberty to 
our fellow Americans. We also, because of the size of our country and 
its vast beauty, tend to overlook world geography and the relative 
situation of other nations to each other.
  We cannot do that any longer. We cannot ignore the mistakes of past 
history. We cannot ignore the realities of geography. And we cannot 
ever endeavor to forget our own history. As the gentleman pointed out, 
we call each other in this house ``honorable,'' and rightly so. For we 
are all people who have been elected to serve our fellow Americans.
  And he rightly pointed out the remarks of the gentleman, the 
distinguished and honorable gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel). He 
could not have pointed to a finer example. Because Mr. Rangel not only 
serves his Nation in this Chamber; Mr. Rangel also is a decorated 
veteran who served his Nation in a foreign war.
  I bring up history to Mr. Rangel because like the gentleman from 
Tennessee and the gentlewoman from North Carolina, to Mr. Rangel 
history has a way of revealing the elemental truths of a Nation to 
itself however unwilling we may be at the time to recognize them, for 
the very same Mr. Rangel who defended our Nation abroad, had ancestors 
in this country who were enslaved by the government and the people of 
this Nation.
  The gentleman from Tennessee and the gentlewoman from North Carolina 
and myself doubtless had relatives in the United States at the time of 
the Civil War who were sworn enemies who endeavored to kill each other.

                              {time}  1845

  Yet because of the foundational truth of this Nation, we stand here 
today recognizing each other as honorable and joined in the peaceful 
resolution of our political disputes, because where there is liberty, 
there is a chance to transcend history to a better tomorrow. In our 
Nation's history, we have always done so.
  When we look abroad, we can go back to the past of that great 
conflagration that emancipated a race and forged a more perfect Union, 
to what we are trying to do today. For it is by remembering that in the 
age of industrialization America could not endure half

[[Page 18900]]

slave and half free that we realize in an age of globalization our 
world cannot endure half slave and half free.
  When we face the grim contest, the unsought struggle in which we find 
ourselves against Jihadist fascism, which is more akin to a death cult 
than any governing political philosophy, we can trace the strain of our 
own trials and tribulations to ensure more perfect liberty to ourselves 
and to the efforts that young men and women of our military and our 
State Department and others are trying to expand throughout the globe, 
because we know that America's security rests in the promotion of 
liberty.
  We face an enemy that seeks to enslave the globe under its warped 
worship of death. If we fail in the task before us in the Middle East, 
if we allow the newly emancipated people of Iraq, the newly emancipated 
people of Afghanistan, to be thrown to the wolves at their door, and 
allow Iraq to evolve back into a state sponsor of terror, if we allow 
the Taliban and its bloodthirsty ilk to again rule Afghanistan and turn 
female parliamentarians back into property, slavery will have consumed 
them, and our liberty will be imperiled.
  When we look at the efforts of Ahmadinejad and Chavez, we see a 
common union between oppressors. We see that the Iranian President 
would seek to impose the oppression that he puts upon his own people, 
and his common link with the Venezuelan oppressor of his own people. It 
would be easy at this point in time to see Mr. Chavez is nothing but a 
third-rate Castro clone, but he is not, because while Mr. Chavez may 
seem to us to be a bit of a caricature, he is actually a very cunning 
individual, as is the President of Iran.
  The President of Iran, I believe, has a very good grasp of geography. 
The President of Iran understands that while we have helped to expand 
liberty on the frontiers of Iran in places such as Afghanistan and 
Iraq, which have put nascent democracies on his doorstep, he needs only 
to look to South America to see the conditions of poverty and 
oppression that are rife within that continent and seek to prey upon 
them by joining league not with duly elected democratic governments 
that are out to better the quality of lives of their people, but he 
joins hands with Hugo Chavez to attack the President of the United 
States, to attack the United States of America, to distract both their 
citizens, citizens of both countries, from the reality that it is they 
who are oppressing them, not the United States, who is emancipating 
them.
  If we look at our southern border and the absence of security, the 
comity between Mr. Ahmadinejad and Mr. Chavez is clear, and the danger 
to our security becomes clear. If we have, as some reports lead us to 
believe, indications of Jihadist fascism in South America, in Mexico, 
in other places, that are willing to cross the border, or joining with 
gangs to cross the border, it is painfully obvious to see that what the 
President of Iran will do is export his version of worldwide slavery, 
through the person of Mr. Chavez, with the assistance of the Cuban 
dictator Fidel Castro, and try to utilize our lax and porous southern 
border to help these individuals infiltrate the United States.
  You see, we may not know geography, we may not learn the lessons of 
history of how dictators band together to attack free people, and we 
may be devoid of our own knowledge of our own responsibilities to each 
other and to our fellow citizens, but our enemies are not. Our enemies 
believe our strengths are our weaknesses. It is up to us to prove them 
wrong.
  For as every generation of Americans before us, when faced with a 
challenge to their own liberty and security, have met that challenge 
directly, they have defeated it, and they have expanded liberty to 
their fellow human beings abroad.
  I have no doubt we will continue to do the same, because as Americans 
it has been our tradition, and it is our duty, and we have never 
shirked from our duty as a free people.
  Mr. WAMP. I thank the gentleman so much for his articulation of these 
problems, and the potential threats. Clearly our hemisphere could 
become a serious problem for us because of these relationships. If you 
don't think it's a global problem, you should follow what has happened 
in East and North Africa just in recent weeks where, in Somalia, one of 
the top al Qaeda members on our watch list is put in charge of the 
Government of Somalia.
  The Sudan is a meltdown, there is a vacuum; Algeria, much the same. 
Just last week, for the first time, our country established a U.S. 
military command in northern Africa. Why? Because there is a vacuum in 
leadership.
  What interests do the terrorist networks have in a vacuum of 
leadership? That is what they had in Afghanistan. The Taliban took over 
Afghanistan because there was no leadership, and it gave them a 
sovereign nation from which to operate.
  Frankly, one of the elemental factors in my decision to vote to 
remove Saddam Hussein by force was to make sure that in the heart of 
the Middle East we didn't give them another sovereign nation from which 
to operate, and we sure don't want to let them come into one of these 
areas in northern Africa and take over a country like they did 
Afghanistan.
  You know, it was a crafty way that Hezbollah took control in Lebanon. 
Go in with some money backed by Iran, money and oil revenues, and 
basically put people to work, make them obligated to you. Frankly, it 
is the same kind of thing that Castro did years ago with communism in 
Central and South America. Meet them at their point of need, make 
friends with them, and then put them to work for your way of thinking, 
dictatorial; speaking of imperialism, repressing all human rights. You 
know, I tell you what, I daresay that people in Venezuela don't have 
the right to speak there as Chavez spoke here in just the most blatant 
way. These threats are real. No one, no one likes war.
  John Stuart Mill said this: War is an ugly thing, but it is not the 
ugliest of things. He said the decayed and degraded state of patriotic 
feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. He said a 
person who has nothing for which they are willing to fight, nothing 
they care more about than their own personal safety, is a miserable 
creature, who has no chance of ever being free, unless those very 
freedoms are made and kept by better persons than himself, end quote.
  Those better persons are the men and women in uniform of our Armed 
Forces, who every single one volunteered to serve our country; whether 
in the Guard, Reserve or Active Duty, every single one of them 
volunteered to stand in harm's way on our behalf.
  The President of the United States believes deep in his soul that 
this mission must be carried out and completed, and I agree with him. 
It is so important, especially right now, with all of these voices in 
the world and all of these people jockeying for legitimacy and 
position, that we are not in retreat, that we follow through on our 
commitments, that we don't leave the people of the Middle East 
wondering if America has all of a sudden, for the first time in 230 
years, lost our heart, lost our backbone, our resolve.
  We can't afford to fail in Iraq. No matter how you voted, or no 
matter how many mistakes have been made, or no matter how you spin it, 
we can't afford to fail. We can't afford to retreat. We can't afford to 
leave early. There is a lot at stake. The enemy is real. The enemy is 
all over the place.
  I am a member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, 
have been since we established the Department of Homeland Security. 
Some things I can say, some things I can't say. There are a lot of 
people in this country we don't want here, because we are free, because 
there are 2,000 miles along the Mexican-U.S. border, because there are 
5,500 miles along the Canadian-U.S. border, because there are 12,000 
miles of U.S. coastline, because there are 328 million people that come 
across our land border crossings each year, because there are 71 
million people that come in through our international airports from all 
over the world. There are 157 land ports of entry.

[[Page 18901]]

  We have a lot of people coming and going from this country, and now 
there are a lot of people in this country that, the truth is, we don't 
want them here; that because we are a free country and they haven't yet 
done anything wrong here, we don't remove them. We don't line them up 
and ship them out until they do something wrong. But I have got to tell 
you, we are watching them, because the threats are real.
  Hezbollah is the A team in terrorism. They are the source of the 
conflict between the Lebanese, well, actually, between Hezbollah and 
Israel in Lebanon, because they pirated the country from the Lebanese, 
not their fault. That was a huge conflict 2 months ago. Thankfully they 
are not warring today, but that is Iranian-based, started next door to 
Iraq, still the source of the terrorist insurgents into Iraq.
  These threats are real, they are global, and we have to watch our own 
southern border.
  Let me continue on the southern border. There is a lot of talk about 
immigration reform, and we need to continue to carry it out. But I will 
tell you, the American people just want to see that southern border 
that I mentioned was 2,000 miles long secured. But one thing that we 
haven't had much help in is the word getting out of what has happened, 
because I want to tell you, as a member of that subcommittee, what has 
happened in the last 12 months, because there has been a serious effort 
under way to secure the southern border in the last 12 months.
  Last week our chairman, Hal Rogers from Kentucky, gave testimony to 
our entire leadership at a hearing, and I attended it, that is really 
compelling. One of the most important things that the Department of 
Homeland Security has done is they ended the policy that had evolved 
from 20 years back that was known as catch and release, and replaced it 
with a new policy called catch and return.
  Now, catch and release said that if you were an illegal immigrant 
coming across our southern border, and you were apprehended, you would 
be arrested for a misdemeanor charge of illegally entering the United 
States and released on your own recognizance depending on your open 
court date, and people obviously would not come to court. So thereby 
people would gain into our country and disappear into our country and 
probably get a bogus Social Security card so that they could be hired 
by somebody, and that would constitute the 12 million illegals that we 
have here now.
  We stopped that policy. In the last 60 days, 99 percent of aliens 
apprehended along the southwest and northern borders are detained and 
removed from this country. So catch and release was replaced by catch 
and remove. A year ago, it was 34 percent were sent back to their 
country of origin. Today it is 99 percent, a huge change in the 
culture.
  Now, let me tell you what that act says, and the gentleman in the 
chair knows that better than anybody because of his background. It acts 
as a deterrent. What you want in law enforcement is not a perfect 
system that catches every single person every single time; you want a 
deterrent that is raised a level at which it keeps things from 
happening because most of the people get caught.
  This is an effective deterrent, because word has spread back through 
Central and South America that if you go to all the hassle of getting 
to the southern border, and then somehow you get across, I am going to 
tell you in a minute that is not as easy as it used to be either, and 
you get caught, you will not be released into the United States of 
America. You will be held and then sent back to your country of origin. 
Once that word spreads, a whole lot less people come because they don't 
want to go to the hassle and the risk of dying or being injured or 
whatever, and then not be released into our country.
  But it was so easy for so long that it happened so often, and we 
ended up with 12 million. As a matter of fact, in July of this year 
alone, our Border Patrol apprehended 66,000 illegal aliens along the 
Mexican border, a staggering number in 1 month, 66,000 illegal aliens.

                              {time}  1900

  But, guess what? That was 31,000 fewer than the previous year in the 
same month. Word is getting out: we are not going to allow you to stay; 
don't come here illegally.
  Yet we are going to come up with, I believe before the end of this 
year, not only strengthened border security in a meaningful way, which 
is well under way with 6,000 National Guard troops. $21.2 billion has 
been spent on the southern border in the last 12 months. $21.2 billion, 
on everything from agents to detention beds.
  We now have 13,000 agents and 4,000 new detention beds, 1,500 new 
Border Patrol agents, for over 13,000 agents and 6,000 Guardsmen. That 
is 18,000 people on the southern border, catching these people by the 
minute and sending them home and getting the word out: you are not 
going to be released into this country. It is an effective deterrent. 
Things are changing.
  But I do believe by the end of the year we are not only going to have 
additional legislation to continue the fence, sometimes it is visible, 
sometimes it is not because you can have a protective barrier by using 
the latest in technology depending on the frequency of people coming, 
but we are also, I believe, going to come up with some kind of a guest 
worker plan, so that the work gets done in agriculture, in 
construction, that needs to be done; but everybody is going to know.
  You have got to identify yourself and have a real card, biometrically 
certified, that this is you. Employers are going to have a period of 
time to comply, or there will be serious enforcement. I believe we are 
going to deliver this whole thing by the end of the year.
  But the border is much more secure than it was a year ago. Tremendous 
progress has been made.
  More Members have come to join me. When the gentleman from Texas is 
ready, I want to yield time to him, because few people have the 
experience that he has, both in the law and being from the State of 
Texas on this particular issue of border security.
  Let me also say that the Department of Homeland Security is going to 
roll out this month, in September, a multi-billion dollar border 
security technology and tactical infrastructure program called SBI Net, 
a program that is committed to obtaining control of the borders within 
the next 5 years.
  What they are doing now in the Science and Technology Directorate at 
the Department of Homeland Security under the incredibly capable 
leadership of Admiral Cohen is deploying finally all the abundant 
technology that we have. Even Thomas Friedman, who wrote ``The World is 
Flat,'' has had to amend his book to say, I overlooked a lot of 
technology that exists in this country.
  We are now taking that technology to the border to put it to use 
through the Department of Homeland Security to secure the border and 
biometrically certify people.
  Now, we don't want a national ID card, but we want people who are 
coming here to work to have a card that shows that is them. I believe 
that is going to be part of this more comprehensive solution. I don't 
want to even use the word ``comprehensive solution,'' because the 
Senate passed a bill earlier this year that they called comprehensive 
immigration reform that is going to cause many, many, many more 
problems than it is going to solve.
  So we don't want to be associated with that comprehensive approach. 
We want to say that we want a guest worker plan with border security 
and get it done, and we are getting it done.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Gohmert).
  Mr. GOHMERT. I thank the gentleman. I appreciate the time, and I 
appreciate your calling attention to so many of these important issues. 
We have heard today that there is an agreement between the White House 
and the Senate on the issue of interrogation.
  It has amazed me, Mr. Speaker, that so many people that work here in 
the Capitol, most of them down at the other end, have not understood 
what really goes on. You would have

[[Page 18902]]

thought, especially someone who had been a POW, would understand what 
people like my hero, former POW Sam Johnson, understands, that, as he 
has pointed out to me, Korea signed on to the Geneva Convention, 
Vietnam signed on to the Geneva Convention, they did not observe it at 
all. Yet we had people in this Capitol saying, gee, we have got to be 
careful because it might cause mistreatment of our troops.
  All you got to do is look around, look at the news, read the news. 
Our troops have been, are being, mistreated. When you stick a knife and 
cut the guy's throat and head as he is screaming, that is not somebody 
that observes the Geneva Accords. We don't do that kind of thing. We 
never have, never will. But we are in a war for our survival.
  One of the things that has probably amazed my friends on this side of 
the aisle is we have heard even from a former marine lambasting current 
active duty marines as being cold-blooded killers, as saying the 
Defense Department is all engaged in this coverup. They need to give 
credit where credit is due.
  I spent 4 years in the Army, and I can tell you having visited troops 
around different spots in the globe and the country, we have the best 
fighting forces, men and women, ever in our history; and they deserve 
better treatment than they have been getting. Oh, yes, we hear, oh, we 
support our troops, and in the same breath turn around and lambaste 
them.
  So if it would be permissible, I would like to pay tribute to one 
more. I did this last night, a man that won the Congressional Medal of 
Honor for his bravery and heroism. I would like to pay tribute right 
now to another gentleman. I have been asking for information on people 
that won our Nation's highest awards, to pay tribute, as a contrast to 
what some of our friends across the aisle have done in lambasting and 
criticizing so unfairly our troops.
  Tonight, I would like to recognize another true American hero. On 
October 28, 2005, Dallas native Captain Joshua Glover was presented 
this Nation's third highest award for valor in combat, the Silver Star 
Medal.
  The 2001 Naval Academy graduate received his award in Washington, 
D.C. from the commandant of the Marine Corps, General Michael Hagee.
  Glover received the award for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity 
in action against the enemy while serving as 81mm mortar platoon 
commander with Weapons Company and quick reaction force platoon 
commander, 1st Marine Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine 
Division, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on April 13, 2004, in 
Fallujah.
  That morning, First Lieutenant Josh Glover led and directed his 
platoon through enemy lines to recover classified material from a 
downed CH-53 helicopter. As the sun came up, they started receiving 
incoming fire, including a mortar fire explosion that created three 
casualties.
  With wounded marines, Glover got permission to return to base. On the 
way back, the convoy ran into between 30 and 40 insurgents hiding in 
reeds, irrigation ditches and standing by the road firing from the hip. 
As they plowed on, one of the Humvees was hit, wounding several more 
marines, which also included one fatality.
  Running on flat tires, the convoy made its way back to base, only to 
be sent out again 7 hours later. Despite losing one of their own that 
morning, Lieutenant Glover's marines were ready to go again under his 
command.
  About 15 marines were trapped behind enemy lines after insurgents hit 
their amphibious vehicle with several rocket-propelled grenades, 
killing one marine and wounding two others. Under heavy insurgent fire, 
a rocket-propelled grenade, or an RPG, was shot at Glover's vehicle at 
close-range and thankfully missed.
  Glover and his marines found themselves up against a company-sized 
Iraqi force along the enemy's main line of resistance where as stated 
in the Silver Star citation: ``He repeatedly exposed himself to enemy 
fire as he engaged enemy targets at point-blank range while directing 
the rifle platoon's relief and coordinating recovery operations.''
  Ultimately, Lieutenant Glover and his marines fought their way 
through to the marines trapped and were able to get them and the slain 
marine's body out.
  When asked about the war, Lieutenant Glover humbly diverted attention 
away from himself and said, ``I received this award because of 
something we did as a platoon. I am really proud of what we 
accomplished that day.''
  He said, ``When you are in combat, I think you do it for your fellow 
marines. You know you got 60 reasons why you have got to do it well.''
  While the battle for which Glover was awarded was a success, he feels 
the enormity of the price that was paid. ``I lost a marine that day, as 
did another unit in the battalion. We cannot separate the victory from 
the loss, and I think we need to do our best to make them and their 
families proud.''
  In addition to the Silver Star, Captain Glover has also received two 
Purple Hearts, a Navy Achievement Medal and a Navy Commendation Medal, 
both with combat distinguishing device for valor. He served three tours 
in Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to stand here tonight and share this 
story of heroism, bravery and humility. Josh Glover, like so many 
others fighting alongside him, represent the best of the best. That is 
the kind of story America needs to hear, not predetermined judgment of 
our fine troops. They deserve our support, not just in lip service 
that, oh yes, we support the troops, but are they ever a bunch of cold-
blooded killers. That is not support. That is both condemnation and 
hypocrisy.
  So it is an honor to stand here with my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, and 
pay tribute to our troops. They are not only protecting freedom, they 
are spreading freedom, and we ought to thank God for them, as we do, 
and thank God for our freedom, thank God for our liberty, and thank God 
for the opportunity all of us have to serve.
  Mr. WAMP. I thank the gentleman from Texas. I want to yield again to 
the gentleman from Michigan.
  Mr. McCOTTER. Mr. Speaker, I know our time is short. I thank the 
gentleman.
  I wish to emphasize why, as the gentleman from Texas pointed out, our 
border security efforts to date have been a good step, but they must be 
increased.
  History shows us that once before an enemy of the United States, the 
communist Soviet Union and its Bolshevik dictators, joined league with 
the communist Castro on the island of Cuba to plant nuclear weapons 70 
miles off the United States shores.
  What a sad irony in history it would be for the United States today 
to see a dictator in Tehran join league with the oppressive dictator 
Mr. Chavez in Venezuela to potentially place nuclear devises within 
America's borders.
  I think we should look back to what President Kennedy talked about 
when he addressed the Cuban missile crisis in order to steel ourselves 
for the struggles ahead. President Kennedy pointed out that America 
does not keep its word only when it is easy. America does not keep its 
word only when it is easy. And while the price of freedom is always 
high, Americans have always paid it.
  I am convinced that if we learn from the lessons of histories and 
from the successes of individuals like President Kennedy, from his 
commitment to defending this Nation, to the expansion of liberty, we 
ourselves will see the day where both Cuba and Venezuela and the people 
of Iran are free.
  Mr. WAMP. I thank the gentleman, and in closing, let me say this. I 
am not the most partisan person here at all. As a matter of fact, I 
don't think either party has an exclusive on integrity or ideas. I grew 
up a Democrat, and now I'm a Republican.
  Argue with us about the role of the Federal Government in education 
and whether it is best at the local level, the State level or Federal 
level. Argue with us whether the health care system should be turned 
over to the government or private.
  But don't argue with us whether we are fighting these threats of 
global jihadism and whether we unite anymore at the water's edge in 
defense of

[[Page 18903]]

liberty. Don't argue with us on that. Join us. Be patriotic and honor 
the sacrifice and the legacy of the Greatest Generation.

                          ____________________