[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7489-7490]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       PRESIDENT BUSH IS 0 FOR 2

  (Mr. EMANUEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. EMANUEL. Madam Speaker, in 1993, when professional baseball 
owners were deciding how to rehabilitate the reputation of baseball 
after the players' strike, they debated whether to enact a wild-card 
rule to allow the second place team into the playoffs. Only one owner 
at the time voted against this, Texas Rangers general partner, George 
Bush.
  When the rule passed 27-1, at the time the President said, ``I made 
my arguments and went down in flames. History will prove me right.''
  Since then, nearly a third of the World Series Champions have been 
wild-card teams, including the 2004 World Series Champion Boston Red 
Sox. The rule helped save baseball, as history has shown.
  And just like his baseball predictions, President Bush sings a very 
similar tune about Iraq. He says, as recently as yesterday, ``History 
will

[[Page 7490]]

prove whether I'm right, and I think I'll be right.''
  Really? Five years today since his speech on ``Mission 
Accomplished.'' And let's take stock. More than 4,000 lives have been 
lost, tens of thousands of American men and women have been injured, 
we've spent over 475 billion taxpayer dollars in Iraq, with the price 
tag continually going up.
  History will judge whether, once again, George Bush's record and 
America's reputation will go down in flames. At this rate, he's 0 for 
2.

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