[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 25388]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              WAR IN IRAQ

  (Mr. YARMUTH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Speaker, the President recently boasted that we were 
``kicking ass in Iraq.''
  With brave Americans dying in record numbers, I have two questions 
for the President.


                             Point of Order

  Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I have a point of order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will suspend.
  Mr. McHENRY. The gentleman's words are out of order. The gentleman is 
using language that is unbecoming of the debate.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will remind all Members to refrain 
from vulgarity.
  The gentleman will proceed.
  Mr. YARMUTH. With brave American soldiers dying in record numbers, I 
have just two questions for the President: Just whose posteriors are we 
kicking? And how do you know?
  With Sunnis and Shiites killing themselves and each other, plus an 
incompetent Maliki government, we don't know who we are fighting much 
less where we are kicking them. And while we are tied up in Iraq, al 
Qaeda thrives in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
  So the President's turn of phrase will go into the Blooper Hall of 
Fame with other Bush golden oldies, like ``last throes,'' ``links to al 
Qaeda,'' and ``mission accomplished.''
  There was a time when American success meant defeating Nazis, tearing 
down communism's iron curtain, and walking on the Moon. Supporting our 
troops meant honest safeguards, not trash talk. How low have our 
standards fallen when the President points to the debacle he created 
and says, ``This is what I am proud of''?
  Most Americans believe in a country that is capable of much higher 
standards. And if America were really kicking butt, the President 
wouldn't need to say anything. Everyone would know it.

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