[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7995]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            TIME FOR THE IRAQIS TO PAY FOR THEIR OWN FREEDOM

  (Mrs. MILLER of Michigan asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, our entire Nation honors the 
brave men and women in our armed services who have sacrificed so 
greatly in the effort to bring freedom and liberty to the people of 
Iraq, and we also recognize the sacrifice of the American taxpayers, 
who have shouldered the financial burden of this effort to protect 
America.
  It is now time for Iraq to stand up and shoulder the burden of 
protecting their own freedoms, and it is long past time for Iraq to 
start paying its own way. With the cost of oil, and the money that Iraq 
is making on their oil, they need to be paying, at a minimum, entirely 
for their own reconstruction.
  As we continue to transition from American forces to Iraqi security 
forces, we also need to quickly transition from the American taxpayer 
footing the entire bill to the now free country of Iraq paying to 
protect their own freedom and rebuilding their own country.
  Americans understand that freedom is not free, and the Iraqi people 
need to understand that securing their own freedom will require their 
own investment.

                          ____________________