Date: 2007-02-14
Speaker: LINCOLN DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Tennessee

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in strong support of our military men and women. I will strongly support our soldiers serving in harms way in Iraq and Afghanistan. I support all off our veterans. men and women who have served our country with great honor and distinction. and because of my support for our military men and women. I also rise in support of this resolution. I support this resolution because I see no evidence that an increase in troops will lead to anything other than more lost American lives. I do not think a troop surge will bring stability to Baghdad. I do not think the surge will enable the Iraqis to stand up and defend themselves. and I do not think the surge will end the religious and ethnic strife that has existed in the Middle East for centuries. So here we are this week debating the Presidents proposal to send more troops into Baghdad. And as expected. the rhetoric from our friends on the right has at times been shameful. To suggest that Democrats and Republicans who support this embolden the enemy. that they are defeatist. and that we do not support the troops. and that we want to micromanage the war. and that we do not want to preserve freedom and liberty in our great country puzzles me. It seems to me our friends on the right do not like discourse. they dont like questions. and they do not like meaningful discussions. They do not want us to question the Presidents strategy. instead they want us to follow him like sheep down a tragic street that deadends in failure. Attempts to use fear and insults to quiet the administrations critics are distasteful and quite frankly hurt America. Why do those who oppose this resolution want to discourage the type of action that led to the founding of our Nation? The very actions that allowed the United States to continue evolving towards that never ending goal of a more perfect union. Our country derives its strengths from the diversity of views and ideas that comes from its people. If we disagree with the Presidents proposal. it is our duty. particularly as Members of Congress. to say so. I maintain that is the highest of patriotism. and I am not the only one who thinks so. The President Theodore Roosevelt said. referring to the Presidency. and I quote him. "That there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts. and that this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in any American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President or that to stand with the President right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile. but it is morally treasonable to the American public." . I do not know about the majority of Republicans in Congress. but I agree with Teddy. Our actions this week do not dishearten the troops. nor reflect a lack of support for our troops. Defense Secretary Gates and General Pace both testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that a resolution disagreeing with the Presidents proposal would not dishearten the troops. In my opinion. the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff may have a little better idea of troop morale than Members of Congress. I strongly disagree with the notion that our actions this week embolden the enemy. If our lack of support for the Presidents plan emboldens the enemy. then public opinion polls also embolden the enemy. since polls show the majority of Americans disagree with the administrations policy in Iraq. And if this is the case. why do not we see condemnation of the American people for their views? It is because politically those who oppose this resolution know they cannot criticize the American public. but can criticize those of us who serve here in Congress. If the actions of the House and Amer*ican people embolden the enemy. then we need to consider everyones comments. Iraqs prime minister alMaliki recently said that the Bush administrations description of the Iraqi governments being on borrowed time. listen. gives a morale boost to the terrorists. The prime minister of Iraq is accusing the administration of doing the same thing that many of us are being accused of doing in this House chainber. How shameful. Lets get real. I contend that the American people. the Democrats. the Republicans. and that President Bush loves America. The discussion we are having in Congress this week is an extension of the curq for America. because we all want what we think is best for our country. And what do we want? Success. We want security. In order for us to have success and security we must force the Iraqi people to fight for their own country. In my opinion. the way we do this is not by adding more troops to the kill zone in Baghdad. but rather take our troops out of the kill zone and force the Iraqis to step up their efforts. We should put our troops in a position to support the Iraqis when they need us. This way the pressure is on the Iraqis. not on our fighting men and women. The idea that we are going to cut and run from the Middle East and allow terrorists to control Iraq is false and has no basis in reality or in history. We did not leave Germany after World War II. we did not leave Korea after that war. and we will not leave the Middle East after our soldiers responsibilities in Iraq have ended. We did not leave the Middle East after the Persian Gulf War and we will not leave the Middle East now. Mr. Speaker. the French did not win the Revolutionary War for us and we cannot win this peace for the Iraqis. they have to win it for themselves.