Date: 2007-04-19
Speaker: PATRICK J. MURPHY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Penn

sylvania. Thanks. Congressman. I appreciate it. Thank you to the gentleman from Minnesota. and to the gentleman from Connecticut. my colleague. the other Congressman MURPHY up there. Today is an important day in our countrys history. We are the new Congress. the 110th Congress. and we came together from all over the country to really change the direction of our country. I am so proud that I wore the Army uniform for the first time in 1993. following in the footsteps of my father and my uncle and my grandfather and my brother. who serves in the Air Force. that we served with pride and gave it our best. When I was asked to join the faculty at West Point. when I taught there. we took pride in ourselves in saying we are developing leaders of character for a lifetime of service. Yes. we were making military officers. Yes. they were tacticians on the law and the profession of arms. but they were leaders of character. They stood up for the truth. They stood up for justice. When our Nation was attacked on 9/11 of 2001. many of us who were called to serve deployed for our country. And I am proud that I deployed twice. first to Bosnia and then to Baghdad. Iraq. as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. So. within the first 100 days of this Congress. as you mentioned. when we took the steps to say we are going to be coequal branches of government. you see. when I was at West Point. I taught constitutional law and I taught about what this country was all about. and it was that we have three coequal branches of government. See. we did not believe in the theory of King George. one person being infallible. running a country. That is why we had the American Revolution. Our democracy evolved over 200 years to now. today. where we have leaders from both parties willing to stand up and say. enough is enough. Mr. President. we will not continue to give you a blank check while the Iraqis still sit on the sidelines. We will not sit there and say everything is okay when we understand what the truth is on the ground in Iraq. When I was there in 2003. I remember when it was August. I remember having the combat gear on. I remember riding up and down in what is called Ambush Alley in 138degree heat and wondering when that next roadside bomb might go off. scouting it out. looking. always being vigilant to make sure thb men I was leading down that path were safe. Now. vhat this 110th Congress has stood up to do and why I am so proud of the freshman class for doing is. when we had the emergency supplemental. the Iraq supplemental. we said. we will give you. Mr. President. every single dime. every single penny that you ask for to support the troops. but there is a policy attached. No longer is there an openended commitment. No longer is there unaccountability. This is a different Congress. This is the 110th Congress. This is a Congress that will stand strong. stand together. even though we know the political attacks are going to come. even though we know it takes personal courage. and even though they are going to try and distort what we are actually going to try to do. And what we are trying to do is to hold the Iraqi people accountable. now. over 4 years later. At 6:12 a.m. this morning. I got an email from Iraq. It was from a former cadet that I got to know who lost his brother on 9/11. He said to me. Sir. this is the first time I have ever written you. but he said. I want you to know there are legions. legions of junior officers. now company commanders. in Iraq and in Afghanistan and all over this country that are watching you. that are watching this 110th Congress. and that you are saying thank God someone is standing up and speaking truth to power. He said. I would never think that 5 years after my brother was murdered at the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001 that I would stand up against the foreign policy of the United States of America when it cofthes to Iraq. I want you to know that I am keeping you in my prayers. and if there is anything. anything I can do to help your cause. to put our country back on the right track. I am there. That is what is happening with all these Congresspersons here in Washington. When I get letters from people in Bucks County. Pennsylvania. or northeast Philadelphia. and they say. thank God we have a Congressman that is going to stand up for us. for our veterans. thank God that .they are speaking truth to power. that is what is going on. There is a movement. and it is a movement again to believe in America. a movement again to say. listen. we understand there are coequal branches of the government. We understand what the Congress is trying to do. We understand they are trying to do what is right. And it is not about partisan politics. It is not about Bush Republicans versus Democrats. It is not about that. I joke. My wife Jenni is at home. I just talked to her on the phone. My 4monthold Maggie just laughed for the first time today. It puts it all in perspective. But my wife was a lifelong Republican. She still considers herself a Republican. She said to me when we first met. and she gave me a hard time for being a Democrat. she said. you know. Patrick. I will support you. and I will support you for one reason and one reason only. besides the fact that I am in love with you. She said. I was a YAFer. That is called a Young American for Freedom. it is a conservative wing of the Republican Party. She said. the Republican Party left me. I did not leave the Republican Party. So when I talk about what we have done. what we have accomplished in the supplemental bill against all odds. because we remember. we were through this when we were voting for this. we understood when they said. why are you wasting your time trying to pass this emergency supplemental. putting a timeline on Iraq? Why would you do that? You know it is not going to pass. I was there and talking to the press. and I said. I will give every cent. every fiber of my being. to talk to my colleagues together. all of us as one. and say how important it is to pass this. Then when we passed it against all the odds. when they told us it wasnt going to happen. and we passed it. then they said. well. why did you do that? Th& Senate is never going to pass it. The Senate responded and the Senate took our bill. and now it is in conference and they passed it. also a supplemental bill with a timeline. That is why it is so important that all of us do not lose hope. all of us continue to stand up and speak truth to power. all of us stand up. and say. no longer are we just going to have an openended commitment in Iraq. Because when you look at the full spectrum. some people say. bring all the troops home tomorrow. we dont care. just bring them all home tomorrow. Others say. it is the President. he is infallible. you cant ask any tough questions. you cant give him a timeline. You cant demand accountability from the Iraqis. who are still sitting on the sidelines 4 years later. But this 110th Congress. made up of all races. of all sexes. of all parties. came together and we said. this is a moderate approach. this is an approach that will change the direction in Iraq. When welook at how almost every day hundreds of people are dying there. and we said to the Iraqi people that we will support you. but we will not sit idly by. We will not stand idly by and watch .you continue to sit on the sidelines. when our troops. our men and women who wear the military uniform of our country. continue to lead the- efforts there when. now. it is 4 years later and it is imperative that they stand up for their country. Because if we remember when it was the American Revolution. it was Americas revolution. it was the Americans standing up. When it was the American Civil War. it was the Americans fighting each other. So that is why all of us in good conscience cannot stand here while our brave young men and women serve in places like Iraq and referee a religious civil war. That is not what they were supposed to do. That is not in the national interests of the United States of America. That will not keep our families safe. When we all vote. when we all take these so important and these crucial votes and these timely votes and these historic votes. when we vote for our families and for our constituents. we think about how is it going to affect our children and our childrens children. How is it going to affect my daughter. Maggie Murphy. when she reads in the history books what we have done? How is it going to affect who we call Joe. that GI Joe. that soldier on the ground in the 138degree heat in Baghdad. those memjbers of the 82nd Airborne Division that I so proudly served with that are now back over there on their third deployment? . When I was there weeks ago. and I know some of my colleagues here were also just recently there. I talked to these guys. I talked to the guys I served with. I talked to the guys. Sergeant Juan Santiago. who left his wife and two kids at home. is now in his third deployment in Iraq. I broke bread with him over there. I said to him when I was in Baghdad. he used to be Private Santiago. now he is Sergeant Santiago. and his nickname is Santi. I had lunch with him. I said. "Santi. what is going on?" And he said. "Sir. it is like Groundhog Day. but 4 years later. They are still sitting on the sidelines. We are still doing everything for them. I dont know what it is going to take to get them to come off the sidelines." What it is going to take is the political pressure so we are clear and we act as one. that we tell the Iraqis that the 110th Congress is different. that the spirit of America is there and we love you. but -we cannot hold your hand. You need to stand up finally for your country. You need to stand up and secure your neighborhoods. secure your street corners. You need to be the ones that are leading those convoys up and down Ambush Ally. not our troops. That is exactly What our supplemental did and what we will do when we vote on it after it comes back from conference in just a few days. With that. I would now take it back. probably to the gentleman from Minnesota. Mr. ELLISON. Thank you.