Date: 2004-03-17
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H

of -Florida. Mr. Speaker. Iraq. 1 year later. First of all. I want to commend our brave troops who proudly serve our great Nation and risk their lives to preserve our freedom. I praise their courageous efforts to protect our country. and I am with them 100 percent. They are the best of the best. And I can truly say every Member of this House. this body. supports them 100 percent. What I do not support is this misleading Bush administration and this House that follows them like sheep. Let me repeat that. What I do not support is this misleading Bush administration and this House. the peoples House. that follows them like sheep. A new report has been released that shows that George Bush. DICK CHENEY. Donald Rumsfeld. and Condoleezza Rice made 237 misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq in 125 public appearances. Eightyfour of those statements misled the American people about Iraqs chemical and biological weapons. Mr. Speaker. I was horrified last year to learn that 44.000 of our troops were sent out to battle without proper armor. Fortyfour thousand. How can we ask young men and women to trust us when we make decisions that involve life and death and then not outfit them with the best tlat they need to save their lives. We deployed our young men and women to Iraq with Humvees that lacked armored protection and bulletproof windows. I personally went to Walter Reed where six troops had lost their legs while riding in Humvees. If they had been riding in the right type of vehicles. this may not have happened. This use of Humvees in Iraq was not what they were made for. We need to get our troops the equipment they need now. And. Mr. President. you need to spend more time planning for the safety of our troops and their families in your war efforts and less time fundraising and cutting taxes for the rich country club friends of yours. There are two or three other points that I want to make. One. many of my constituents approach me about BRACC and the base closing amendment that we will be doing in 2005. They are telling me we are looking forward to your fighting to make sure our bases are not closed in our area.. And my question to them is. why do you think that this Bush administration insisted. insisted. after the House and Senate both voted down and said we should not have a base closure. or BRACC scenario. during this time of war. why do you think this administration insisted that we go through this? It is destabling to the families and the communities during a time of war. I have heard that someone from the other body indicated that if they were elected that that is one of the first things they would scrap. I also want to comment on the 2000 election. which I cannot get past because the election determined who is in charge. and certainly I do not think we are headed in the right direction. I am going to submit for the RECORD an article that was in The New York Times last week indicating that Florida could be Florida again. In other words. the problems that we experienced in the 2000 election have not been corrected. It is a disservice to the people that we serve that we do not straighteir out the problems with the elections. not just in Florida but all over this country. and we have not properly funded the program. Lastly. let me mention the coup detat that took place a couple of weeks ago in Haiti. It is very unfortunate that this Bush administration has chosen to go in and take out a duly elected president. Just take him out. Just take him out. The poorest country in the western hemisphere. We have to make sure that the Haitian people get the assistance that they need from the super Bush administration. after going in and taking out the duly elected president.