Date: 2007-05-22
Speaker: LINCOLN DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Tennessee

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for the recognition. Ill be very brief. which is difficult for me to do. being from the mountains of Tennessee. Sometimes I get a little wordy. I had one of my folks back home tell me that after Id been here for about a year. he said. LINCOLN. youve gotten so windy as those folks in Washington. I believe you could blow up an onion sack. Im not sure exactly what he meant by that. but I had to tone down my rhetoric somewhat after that. But its good to be here to talk about accountability and. quite frankly. how the lack of accountability has gotten us in the situation were in in Iraq. as well as in our budget management. When we take a look at how the growth of government grew through the 1980s up to the early 1990s. in 1992. we were spending roughly 22 percent of gross domestic product on national expenditures. on our budgetary process. Mr. Speaker. And through the 1990s. we saw a downsizing of government through the ClintonGore years. where we were spending roughly 18.5 percent of gross domestic product. We now have seen that jump to the point to where its somewhat over 20 percent in gross domestic product. Weve seen government grow the last 6 years. We saw it downsized during the ClintonGore administration. and the 12 years prior to that we saw it grow to where it was well over 22 percent. So. when we talk about accountability. lets be sure that America understands. Mr. Speaker. that it has certainly not been the Democratic Party that has made that happen. Under our management. under our watch. we saw a downsizing. of government expenditures. I want to move now to Iraq. I recently had an opportunity to visit the White House. Mr. Speaker. with our President. along with 12 or 13 other Members. We had a very frank conversation. In one of the conversations. the comment was made that we have a strong commitment in the Middle East. and we do have a strong commitment there. We denied Hitler during World War II being able to obtain the oil in the Middle East. The tanks of Rommel ran out of fuel. and we were able. quite frankly. through the mass force we had. 16 million Americans. as well as help from Europe during World War II. the Allied Forces were able to eventually conquer Germany. We then continued to be there and have a presence all through the Cold War. which also denied the Russians from being able to obtain the oil that was there. Theres no doubt in my mind that were going to be in the Middle East for a long time when we leave the war zone and the hostile war zones of Iraq. And as we made that. conversation. Mr. Speaker. our President certainly agreed with that. that we have a longterm commitment and an interest in the Middle East for many years to come. and we" will have. Its kind of like 1953. in South Korea. when Eisenhower decided a ceasefire would be in order. and we signed a ceasefire and have been maintaining troops in South Korea since 1953. Well be in the Middle East for a long.. long time. After the first Persian Gulf War. we maintained a presence there in the Middle East. and well still do that. Its how we stay that determines whether or not well win. What my real concern is about this situation in Iraq is I dont think. Mr. Speaker. this administration. I dont think. Mr. Speaker. this President understands the gravity of whats going on in the Middle East. Every country in the Middle East. some our friends supposedly and some might continue to be our friends. during the 1950s. 1960s. and 1970s. the Shah of Iran was also our friend. When the ayatollahs took over. we lost that friendship. and Iran no longer maintained our friendship. But in places like Saudi Arabia. in Kuwait. in the Emirates. when you look at Jordan. King Abdullah. a decree made him King. not an election. He is our friend. and I personally like King Abdullah. but he had an uncle named Prince Hassan that most folks thought would eventually go on to be King of Jordan. That didnt happen. So. when we talk about having a freestanding democracy in the Middle East. in Iraq. Im puzzled somewhat that that becomes one of the major objectives to determine whether or not we win. We need to have stability in Iraq. stability. Mr. Speaker. My hope is that eventually a democracy will occur. For us to. assume that the Shias. the Sunnis and the Kurd.. in one of the most volatile mixed populations in any country in the Middle East. that we. you notice I say we. were going to use that country as a model of how we democratize the Middle East. I think. is a flawed failure. will continue to be.. and will be something that will be unsuccessful. If. in fact. this administration. led by our President. had decided that we ought to have democracy in the Middle East. maybe he should have started with this gentleman hes holding hands with. the monarchy. the royal family of Saudi Arabia. I wonder how many times this administration. Mr. Speaker. how many times this President. Mr. Speaker. has talked to the royal family of Saudi Arabia and say. wouldnt it be nice to have in Saudi Arabia a thriving democracy. a freestanding democracy.. . I wonder how many times. Mr: Speaker. this President. Mr. Rumsfeld and others. Mr. Speaker. asked the people of Kuwait after being liberated in 1991 that you should establish a democracy and not revert back to the royal families. to be dictatorial in the decisions that you made. Every nation in the Middle East has a strongmantype government. except for Israel -and except for Lebanon. Whether its Syria. whether its Iran. Iraq had theirs. the Emirates. Qatar. every country over there has a strongmantype government. and we believe that for us to consider having one.. that weve got to democratize Iraq. I think thats a flawed policy. and. Mr. Speaker. I hope our President engages with this Congress to try to find some solutions to how we establish stability in the Middle East and certainly in Iraq. I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for yielding.-