Date: 2006-09-13
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. we have seen these past few days events to remember the tragic incidents of September 11. And. frankly. when we were reliving that tragic day. among the many things that crossed my mind was the realization that thousands of Americans died. Thousands of Americans died in their place of work for the simple sin. their only. crime being that they were free people who live in a free country. They were people who love freedom. and their only crime was that that morning. like every other morning. they went to work so that they could help their family. they could feed their children. they could pay their bills. and they could continue to live and prosper in freedom. [] 2100. Mr. Speaker. 9/11 was not the only attack against America. It was the largest attack. the terrorists most successful attack against America. but by no means was it the only attack or the first attack against America. The problem. Mr. Speaker. however. was that America did not realize until that horrendous wakeup call of 9/11 .that there were a number of radicals around this world who had already for a generation declared war. They had. declared war against the United States and our allies for the simple reason that we live in freedom. that we cherish freedom. that women can work and live in freedom and have equal rights to men. For those reasons. there is a group of people who declared war against the United States. Not only did they declare it verbally. as they did. but they did so in actions. And again. we just didnt wake up to that realization. When President Jimmy Carter withdrew the United States support from the Shah of Iran. in essence facilitating and allowing the Ayatollah Khomeini to take power in Iran. he didnt realize the type of enemy we were dealing with. More recently. in February of 1993 when the first bombing of the World Trade Center took place killing six people. the United States didnt realize who the enemy was. and we didnt fight back. But the killers persisted in trying tokill Americans. In October of 1993. in Somalia 18 valuable. decent brave American soldiers were killed. Osama bin Laden later personally claimed credit for organizing the Somalia fighters. We didnt fight. On the contrary. we withdrew immediately from Somalia. I will quote what bin Laden said about our withdrawal. He said. "America exited. dragging its tail in failure. defeat and ruin. Caring for nothing. America left faster than -anyone expected." Again. we didnt fight. In June 1996. a truck bombing in the Khobar Towers barracks in Saudi Arabia. killing 19 Americans and we did nothing. We did not fight back. But the killers were not content. They kept trying to kill Americans. And then in August 1998. the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya where 224 people were killed. including many Americans. we didnt fight back. We did nothing. In December 1999. the plot to bomb .the Millennium celebrations in Seattle that was foiled when custom agents arrested an Algerian person smuggling explosives into the United States. The killers continued to persist. and we were not fighting back. And then of course the -tragic bombing of the USS Cole in the port of Yemen where U.S. 17 sailors were killed. and we did not fight back. But the killers were not satisfied and they continued to persist. And then of course we got the big wakeup call. September 11. 2001. the destruction of the World Trade Center. the attack on the Pentagon where a total of 2.992 Americans were murdered on that horrendous day. Finally. America woke up to the realization that there had been a war declared on our country and our way of life and it was time that we fought back. that we started bringing justice to those terrorists wherever they may be so we would not have to fight them here on" our streets. so we would not have to deal with another- September 11 or another World- Trade Center explosion like the first time or another attempt on the celebrations like those in Seattle. America started fighting back finally because we found out that these killers are not going to stop if we dont fight because that is what we always did. We didnt fight back. In many cases we withdrew. Did that appease them? No. It emboldened them. like bin Laden said. After that then. after September 11. this. President and this Congress decided to fight back and decided to remove the Taliban from power. Our brave men and women in uniform have done an incredible job under the most difficult circumstances and removed the Taliban and that which was a state sponsor of terrorism is no longer a state sponsor of terrorism. and there is a struggling democracy that is gaining ground and taking root in that land where al Qaeda used that land to plan the horrible events of 9/11. Also on a bipartisan vote of this House and the Senate there was a vote to basically remove a state sponsor of -terrorism and a threat that was Saddam Hussein. Let me read a quote from December 16. 1998 about why Saddam Hussein was dangerous and what the bipartisan attitude here in Congress was. "The hard fact is that as long as Saddam remains in power he threatens the wellbeing of his people. the peace of* his region. and the security of the world. The best way to end that threat once and for all is with a new Iraqi government. a government ready to live in peace with its neighbors. a government that respects the rights of its people." That was not President Bush that I quoted. that was President Bill Clinton that I quoted when he mentioned the only way was to remove Saddam Hussein. Let me read another quote on how Congress and the country was united against international terrorism. "Saddam Hussein in effect has thumbed his nose at the world community. and I think the President is approaching this in the right fashion." That is Senator REID. the nowminority leader in the Senate. Let me give another quote about how the country felt in a bipartisan. unified. united front against international terrorism and against that state sponsor of terrorism that was Saddam Hussein. "I can support the President. I can support an action against Saddam Hussein because I think it is in the longterm interest of our national security." That is a quote from NBC Meet the Press. Senator HILLARY CLINTON. There was bipartisan support because there was a realization that Saddam Hussein was so dangerous. One last quote. Mr. Speaker. This is I think a -very powerful quote. "It would be unrealistic. if not downright foolish. to believe we can claim victory on the war on terrorism and a more secure world if Saddam Hussein is still in power 5 years from now." That sounds like I plagiarized President Bush. but no. that was by Senator JOE BIDEN in February of 2002. Again. as Senator JOE BIDEN said. and I think it is worthwhile reading that quote again. He mentions that we cannot claim victory. in his words. he says. "the war on terrorism and a more secure world if Saddam Hussein is still in power-." JOE BIDEN understood that Saddam Hussein. a state sponsor of terrorism. the leader of that terrorism. had to go for our national. security and for the fight. as he said. against international terrorism. It saddens me to see now how the very same people who I just read their quotes who were so united. who so supported this countrys efforts in the fight against terrorism. including in the fight against Saddam Hussein. recognizing that he was a major state sponsor of terrorism. where Senator BIDEN says we cannot win or claim victory. And I will quote him again. "It is unrealistic. if not downright foolish. to believe that we can claim victory on the war on terrorism and a more secure world if Saddam Hussein is still in power." Yes. that was the consensus. So what happened? I keep hearing now the country is divided. But the President has not changed his tune. The Presidentagrees with what these fine Members of Congress from the other party said and believed and were sure of because they were right then. The United States is the source of good for the entire world. For all of the oppressed people. we are the source of good and the source of light. the beacon of light for the entire world. When you had a regime like the Taliban or a regime like Saddam Hussein. it was a threat to our national security. as Senator CLINTON said and as Senator BIDEN said and as Senator REID said. But all of a sudden. when things get a little bit more difficult. then all of a sudden. oh. everything they said. everything they believed in. year after year. is thrownout the window because it is election season. because it is an election year. The reality. Mr. Speaker. is that we are at war. The reality is that we have people. men and women in uniform. in harms way doing an incredible job. The reality is we are winning the war against terrorism. against these evil thugs who murder. have murdered and would like to continue murdering Americans if they could. I would like to talk about some of the many accomplishments. which is why we have not had another attack on U.S. soil despite the attempts of the terrorists because of what this Congress did under the leadership. the Republican leadership and the leadership of the President. Butbefore I go into more detail. I would like to yield to a man who is a leader on the fight for human rights anywhere around the world where human rights are violated. the gentleman from Tennessee . It is a privilege to have you here. sir.