[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 23]
[House]
[Page 31490]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            THE WAR IN IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, this afternoon we saw a 
varying level of discourse and debate over an enormously important and 
I might say singularly important issue that is facing the American 
public, and that is the question of the war in Iraq.
  No matter how you touch the hearts and minds of Americans, whether or 
not they suggest that this Congress and this President is not paying 
enough attention to the domestic concerns, woven into the crisis of 
where we stand today is the conflict in Iraq.
  I think Americans understand Afghanistan more than we might think 
they do. They know that this Nation was attacked on September 11, 2001. 
They know that when the Nation is attacked, the Commander in Chief, 
leaders of this government have the responsibility of defending the 
honor and the security of America. They see Afghanistan as defending 
that honor and that security. They know that the Taliban, Osama bin 
Laden, those who collaborated were the basis of the attack against the 
World Trade towers and other sites in this country. They know that our 
lives have changed because of the horrific tragedy of 9/11. And they 
are willing to accept that. They faced up against new laws that seem to 
undermine their liberties, and within reason they are willing to 
acknowledge that things must change. I am grateful, however, that there 
are those of us who understand that the greatest success of a terrorist 
is to cause you to terrorize yourself. So many of us have asked to 
modify and assess the PATRIOT Act. We are looking to redo the FISA law 
that deals with electronic surveillance. But mostly in debating this 
question, Americans understand that their lives have changed.
  But the Iraq War continues to be a questioning action by this 
administration. All of us have tried to give respect to the basis and 
the reason of this direction that this government took in the fall of 
2002. I, for one, was very hesitant to speak about a war for oil. I 
recognize that there might have been many deliberations that have 
occurred that might have caused this administration to make this 
unfortunate leap of preemptive attack.
  I have come full circle now, however, and I am enormously 
disappointed in the thought process and the respect not given to the 
American people. For the American people, over 56 percent, want this 
war to end, want these troops to come home, want to see a troop 
reduction.
  So this debate today was not a frivolous debate. And the leadership 
of the Democratic Caucus, the leadership of this Congress took great 
pains to try to address this in a fair and dignified manner. They 
worked very hard to bring a concise document that spoke to the safety 
and security of the troops, the respect of the troops, the 
acknowledgment of their hard work; but yet to insist that a plan be 
laid out by this administration to reduce the number of troops in Iraq 
while at the same time ensuring that if there are outstanding 
conflicts, firefights, terrorists to be fought, that we'd have the 
troops on the ground.
  I believe that this has been the most misdirected war that history 
will record. I believe that it beats out the Civil War, the War of 
1812, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, 
Persian Gulf. For any of those who opposed those wars, and I was not 
there for all of them, if there was any opposition for reasons that I 
don't know, this has to be the single most dangerous and devastating 
action that this Nation could have ever taken. There is no sense for 
it. There is no basis for it. But if there was a case that you could 
make, you could make the case that the military has done every single 
thing that it was asked to do.
  So, Mr. Speaker, that is why I was moved to write the Military 
Success Act of 2007. It indicates that Congress recognizes that the 
military, in the invasion of Iraq, as authorized by a resolution given 
to the President in 2002, going into Baghdad was probably one of the 
best executed military operations in modern history, alongside of the 
Persian Gulf. The armed services successfully toppled the regime of 
Saddam Hussein.
  And as I close, it lists a whole series of successes. And then it 
indicates that every single aspect of the 2002 resolution has been 
complied with. And, therefore, that means that the task of the 2002 
resolution has ended. And it calls then for the troops to come home, 
for them to be acknowledged, for them to be given free, with no 
attachment, $5,000 for each returning troop from Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, this was a difficult debate, but I think and know that 
we made the right decision. But we could do even more. We can affirm 
that these troops need to come home, and we can celebrate them for the 
heroes that they are.

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