[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16291]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           INALIENABLE RIGHTS

  (Mr. ARCURI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to say how 
thankful I am to live in such a great country, a country where we have 
inalienable rights guaranteed to us by our Nation's founding documents, 
and the knowledge that our government is set up to protect those 
rights.
  We know that we are guaranteed the right to peaceful, public protest, 
and we see many great Americans utilizing that right here in 
Washington, D.C., on a daily basis. It is not until haunting and 
disturbing images of blatant violence and oppression run across the 
front pages of our newspapers and TV screens that we realize how 
important these rights are.
  The people of Iran are expressing themselves peacefully in the 
streets, and are being viciously attacked by armed guards and police. 
The violence needs to end now, and the people of Iran should be heard.
  I want to commend President Obama for his leadership and his judgment 
in such a difficult and intense foreign policy crisis, and I agree with 
his resistance to instigate a foreign nation through demagoguery, a 
distinct difference from the carelessness that sometimes was used by 
administrations in the past.
  Let me be clear, I know the world understands that the United States 
will always vehemently oppose oppression and violence against a 
nation's people and we will do everything we can to ensure this type of 
behavior is not tolerated. I thank President Obama for his thoughtful 
leadership on this matter and offer my support in the future.

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