[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3408-3409]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TOURING IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, on February 28 through March 4, just this 
past weekend, I participated in a bipartisan congressional delegation 
to Iraq and Afghanistan. I have written about this extensively on my 
Web blog, which my constituents should know is located at 
MikePence.house.gov. But I wanted to excerpt portions today by way of 
reporting back to the House on our findings in these two countries in 
which American forces face a war every day.
  It was a bipartisan congressional delegation, Mr. Speaker, to both 
Iraq and Afghanistan. In 4 days we took off and landed 20 different 
times in four different aircraft. We flew to Kuwait in a military jet. 
We flew into Iraq on a cargo plane. We flew around Iraq and Afghanistan 
in helicopters and Ospreys. We convoyed in military vehicles throughout 
both countries. It was a rare opportunity to meet with leaders and 
locals in both theaters of combat. I am personally grateful to the 
people of Indiana and our military for making it possible.
  Our visit also took place against the backdrop of several major 
events. The Iraq Government announced that Ali Hassan al-Majid, better 
known as

[[Page 3409]]

``Chemical Ali,'' a brutal military henchman of Saddam Hussein, was to 
be executed later this month. We arrived in the Kurdish region as that 
news was breaking and as Turkish forces were announcing their 
withdrawal for military operations in the north.
  And on the second day, our trip to Iraq coincided with the first 
official visit by a President of Iran to Iraq since 1952. It was a time 
of great significance for the people of Iraq in several respects.
  During our time in Iraq and Afghanistan, one inescapable conclusion 
emerged. After years of difficulty and setbacks in varying degrees, 
freedom is making progress in Iraq and Afghanistan. In northern Iraq, 
known as the Kurdish region, there is security, political process, and 
economic growth.
  And even in central Iraq, after years of insurgent violence, 
following the military surge, al Qaeda and the insurgency are in steep 
decline and political progress is beginning to take hold.
  As I saw firsthand in Baghdad and in the al Anbar province, the 
military surge and Sunni cooperation have resulted in extraordinary 
progress and security. But those gains are fragile. Violence in Iraq 
has declined by more than 60 percent since the beginning of the surge 
and has remained at relatively low levels since November of last year. 
The Iraqi Parliament has passed legislation that makes further 
political progress possible.
  Our visit was, Mr. Speaker, characterized by cautious optimism by 
American military leaders and ordinary Iraqis on the street.
  Afghanistan was also equally encouraging; and with President Hamid 
Karzai, we saw the determination of a leader devoted to his people and 
to defeating a resurgent Taliban effort to overturn their progress with 
terrorist violence this spring.

                              {time}  1530

  In the Kunar province particularly, we convoyed out and witnessed 
really the greatest threat to the Taliban terrorists who operate on 
that border with Pakistan, a bridge. A bridge is being built by local 
Afghanis with American resources. Seeing locals waving at our convoy, 
greeting laborers at this remote construction site showed me the depth 
of American generosity and the resilience of this proud people.
  My summary on my Web site is simply an effort on my part to report 
point by point, moment by moment on my trip. We speak about each of the 
days, from the Kurdish region to our time in Baghdad, to our time in 
Fallujah and our team even on the streets of Haditha, through 
Afghanistan and through a stop at Ramstein military base to meet with 
injured soldiers at Landstuhl Medical Center.
  And again, Mr. Speaker, my Web site is mikepence.house.gov. And my 
constituents could access that by visiting my blog and gaining that 
information. I would be grateful for any constituent who availed 
themselves of our writing.
  The message that we got from Iraq is clear. The surge is working, but 
the battle is far from over. Violence is down significantly in the past 
year. The enemy's abilities have been downgraded in both degree and 
type of attack. U.S. forces have made measurable progress against 
terrorist elements in Baghdad and al Anbar province, due to both the 
military surge and extraordinary expanded cooperation among the 
civilian population.
  And while the military surge is working, the good news is the Iraqi 
Parliament seems to have gone to work too. The adoption of a budget, 
the passage of a law permitting Ba'ath party members to work for the 
government and the plan for provincial elections that may well occur by 
October of this year represent exactly the kind of progress that many 
in our diplomatic team and many in this Chamber have hoped to see.
  Well, Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the courtesy, especially at the 
opening of this time on the House floor.
  I would be grateful if any of my constituents went to 
mikepence.house.gov, visited our blog and availed themselves of our 
firsthand account of what we saw in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  The progress is real. The progress of freedom is happening. It is 
fragile. And it is my hope that, by bringing back the information from 
this bipartisan delegation, that we will be able to find that 
bipartisan consensus necessary to see freedom win in Afghanistan and 
Iraq.

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