[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 4962-4963]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING GENERAL JAMES MATTIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2013, the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter) is 
recognized for the remainder of the hour as the designee of the 
majority leader.
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, how much time remains?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Twenty-two minutes.
  Mr. HUNTER. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  And this is probably appropriate coming after Mr. Jones speaking 
about the United States Marine Corps. I come before you today, Mr. 
Speaker, to talk about a great marine, a marine who was just in charge 
of Central Command and has retired and resigned after decades of 
service to this Nation, and let me start at the point where I was able 
to meet him.
  Ten years ago today, the war in Iraq was under way. Nineteen days 
after the invasion, marines and soldiers had dismantled Saddam 
Hussein's regime. The takedown of Baghdad and Iraq was precise and 
supremely coordinated, much to the credit of Marine General James 
Mattis, who led the 1st Marine Division in Baghdad, and just recently 
completed his tour as the commander of Central Command.
  On March 20, 2003, Mattis led the 1st Marine Division to the borders 
of Iraq. The marines' success and effectiveness, sustaining light 
casualties, was due to the intellect and the skill of one of the most 
cerebral warfighters of our lifetime, General Mattis. General Mattis is 
a tough man, exactly what you would expect from a United States Marine. 
He's practical in combat while laser-focused on securing the objective.
  Let me give you an example, Mr. Speaker. On the march to Baghdad, 
General Mattis landed C-130s on the highway to keep vehicles and tanks 
moving. Mattis' marines outsmarted and overpowered Saddam's forces. In 
the aftermath, Mattis took a totally different tactic. It was harder to 
win the peace in Iraq to a certain extent than it was to win the war, 
but that is when Mattis let his intelligence and his outside-of-the-box 
thinking show through. In the aftermath, General Mattis and his 
commanders, working to build trust, establish alliances, and support 
projects that were important to the Iraqi people, befriended what some 
thought were the worst people in Iraq in the Anbar province where the 
bloody battles of Fallujah and Ramadi roared.
  General Mattis was able to make friends with those sheiks and with 
those elders and brought about the awakening where those local tribes 
realized that al Qaeda was their enemy and not the Americans, and they 
then turned on al Qaeda in Iraq and that was able to precipitate the 
surge and the drawdown from Iraq where we won, largely as a testament 
to General Mattis' leadership.
  There were a lot of other great generals--General Odierno, General 
Petraeus, General McChrystal, General Kelly, General Dunford, who's now 
in Afghanistan in charge of the International Security Assistance 
Force, a lot of great generals. But General Mattis stands out to me, 
and I would like to relay a quick experience.
  When I got to Iraq in 2003, I was driving north to join the 1st 
Marine Division, and we got ambushed. My marine that was on the Mark 19 
in the gun turret got shot in the arm. And at that point as a 
lieutenant, we were taught to drive out of an ambush as quick as 
possible and link up and go back and prosecute the enemy if we were 
able to. We weren't able to at this point. It was 2003. There was no 
radio communication at this point in time. We couldn't talk with higher 
headquarters. So me being the highest ranking officer in this convoy, 
and I was brand new in Iraq and, frankly, didn't know much about 
anything, we continued north to where the 1st Marine Division was 
headquartered in a little place called Diwaniyah.
  General Mattis happened to be in the command operations center when I 
got there and dressed me down for not prosecuting the enemy that had 
ambushed my convoy. He was angry not that a marine was shot or not that 
we had escaped; he was angry because we didn't get after the guy that 
got after us. That's a real trait of General Mattis. But for a 
lieutenant like me who had been in country for a few hours, it was a 
stark awakening to, hey, you're in the war, and you have to live up to 
the expectations and the presence and the example set by people like 
Jim Mattis.
  I got to meet General Mattis again in 2004 when I returned to Iraq in 
the battle of Fallujah. We would call General Mattis ``Chaos.'' That 
was his call sign because not only was he the cerebral and intellectual 
architect regarding a lot of what the Marine Corps did in the Anbar 
province, but he was also fearless. He would drive alone and unafraid 
by himself in his own light-armored vehicle, and he would show up 
anywhere he wanted to, day or night, in any kind of situation, whether 
there was a fire fight going on or not. And I tell you, he earned the 
respect, rightfully so, of every single marine and every single soldier 
who saw him on the front lines during those wars.
  General Mattis is now CENTCOM commander. Through his leadership, 
CENTCOM has overseen the Afghan war with a level of confidence and 
strategy that is indicative of General Mattis' touch. Aspiring leaders 
would be smart to take a lesson from General Mattis. He well served the 
United States Marine Corps and America for more than 40 years.
  I would argue, Mr. Speaker, that this administration with this 
Commander in Chief likes military leaders who agree with it, military 
leaders that give this administration the answers that they like to get 
about the way that the world is today. And they are opposed, frankly, 
to military leaders who give their honest opinions, regardless of who 
is Commander in Chief.
  General Mattis is the type of person that our military needs now more 
than

[[Page 4963]]

ever before. And as he prepares to leave CENTCOM, for reasons that 
appear to possibly hinge on politics and this administration and 
General Mattis' take on Iran, I can say that I speak for the marines 
who have served under Mattis that a leader of his kind is near 
impossible to replace.
  I would like to read a couple of quotes. This book is called 
``Victory in Iraq: How America Won.''

                              {time}  1720

  The opening page, General Mattis is featured speaking to his Marines, 
the 1st Marine Division, in Iraq, or in Kuwait before the invasion. 
Here's what he said:

       When I give you the word, we will cross the line into Iraq. 
     For the mission's sake, our country's sake, and the sake of 
     the men who carried the division's colors in past battles, 
     who fought for life and never lost their nerve, carry out 
     your mission and keep your honor clean. Demonstrate to the 
     world that there is no better friend, no worse enemy than a 
     United States Marine.

  I would like to give General Mattis the appreciation of the entire 
United States House of Representatives and every single Marine, past, 
present and future, and every single American that owes, at least 
partly, the safety of this Nation to people like him and to him, 
literally and explicitly, for what he's done for this Nation.
  Semper Fi, General Mattis. We hope that retirement treats you as well 
as your Marine Corps did.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________