[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11520-11521]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            IRAQ RESOLUTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross) is recognized for 5 minutes.

[[Page 11521]]


  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, it was September 26, 2002, I was sitting in 
the cabinet room of the White House with Condoleezza Rice, Andy Card, 
and President Bush, and the President explained to us that day, and I 
took notes and still have them, that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass 
destruction; that Saddam Hussein was training terrorists on weapons of 
mass destruction; and that if military force was used, in President 
Bush's words, it would be swift. September 26, 2002.
  It is now June 15, 2006, some 2,500 soldiers have died and more than 
18,000 injured, many like Kevin Pannel, from Glenwood, Arkansas, who 
have been injured in ways that will forever change his life and so many 
others.
  One thing we know for sure, Mr. Speaker, is that our intelligence 
failed us. There is not a more difficult decision that Members of 
Congress are asked to make than whether or not to send our men and 
women in uniform into harm's way. And when we are faced with making 
that decision, we must know our intelligence is right.
  This has been a war that has touched most families, and mine is no 
different. My brother-in-law spent Christmas in the Middle East 
supporting a mission to refuel Air Force aircraft over Afghanistan. My 
first cousin was in Iraq serving our country when his wife gave birth 
to their first child.
  We all have a story like that. We all know someone who has been 
there. I escorted a young woman and her two children to the White House 
this morning for a tour of the White House. They are in Washington, 
D.C. with her mom and dad on vacation. Her husband was in Iraq when she 
gave birth to their second child, and he is in Iraq today on his third 
mission in 4\1/2\ years.
  I want you to know that our men and women in uniform and their 
service to our country is much greater, much greater than that of any 
Member of Congress or any President could ever be, and tonight I honor 
them.
  There has been a lot of talk about this resolution that we will be 
voting on tomorrow. I have read it three times. It says that we support 
our troops, and I do. It says that we are against terrorists, and I am. 
It says that we are against a date certain for withdrawal from Iraq, 
and I agree with that, and so I plan to vote for this resolution 
tomorrow. But here is where I disagree with this President.
  This President is spending $279 million of your tax money in Iraq 
every 24 hours. And yet if you ask him to be accountable for it, if you 
ask him how he is spending that $279 million of your tax money in Iraq 
every day, he will tell you that you are unpatriotic. I disagree with 
that. I believe in accountability. I believe that this President, this 
administration and this Republican Congress, must be held accountable 
for the $279 million of your tax money that they are spending in Iraq 
every 24 hours.
  I also believe that this President lacks a plan. This resolution is 
full of saying things like, we support our troops, and I certainly do. 
It is full of things like saying, we are against terrorists, and I 
would hope we all are. But there is nothing in the resolution about how 
we are going to win, how we are going to win, and it is time for this 
President to give us a plan on how we can win in Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, I was in Iraq. We had some 3,000 Arkansas National Guard 
troops there August 11, 2004, and I went to let them know we support 
them and to make sure some of this money was being spent on them and 
the equipment they need to get the job done. I visited with young 
soldiers from my hometown, soldiers I had taught in Sunday school, 
soldiers I had duck hunted with.
  And so I said to them, what do we need to be doing differently? They 
said we need to be hiring Iraqis to rebuild their nation's 
infrastructure. The insurgents are hiring them and they are accepting 
the money and lobbing cheap bombs at us. Why? Because they need to feed 
their family. And they also told me we need to be training a lot more 
Iraqis to take control of their military and police force. August 11, 
2004.
  February 2006, as a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly I was 
in Brussels visiting the Ambassador to NATO, the U.S. Ambassador to 
NATO, at his home. I visited with the Iraqi Ambassador there, and I 
asked him the same question. And you know what? Some 2 years later, he 
gave me the same answer.
  It is time for this President, this Congress, to give us a plan to 
establish a democracy, to win the peace, a plan that will eventually 
allow us to bring our men and women in uniform home.

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