Date: 2005-11-18
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Thank you. Mr.- HUNTER. You are a great man yourself. Mr. Speaker. I rise today on behalf of the American men and women in uniform and their families. I did spend 29 years in the Air Force. and I served in Korea and Vietnam and spent 7 years as a POW in Vietnam and more than half of that in solitary confinement. I know what it is like to be far from home. serving your country. risking your life. hearing that America doesnt care about you as happened in Vietnam. Your Congress does not care about you. Your Congress just cut off all the funding for your war. They are packing up. going home. and leaving you here. When I was a POW. I was scared to death when our Congress talked about pulling the plug that I would be left there forever. I know what it does to morale. I know what it does to the mission. and so help me God. I will never. ever let our Nation make that mistake again. Our men and women in uniform need our full support. They need. to know that when they are in Iraq driving from Camp Blue Diamond to Camp Victory that the Congress is behind them. to HllOll give them the best armored trucks they can drive. the best weapons they can fire. and the best ammunition they can use. They need to have full faith that a few naysayers in Washington will not cut and run and leave them highand dry. They need to know these things because that is mandatory for mission success and troop morale. America. and the Congress. must stand behind our men and women in uniform because they stand up for us every minute of every day. Any talk. even so much as a murmur. .of leaving now just emboldens the enemy and weakens the resolve of our troops in the field. That is dangerous. If you do not believe me. check out al Jazeera. The withdrawal story is on the front page. We cannot do that to our fellow Americans over there. Mr. Speaker. we are making great progress in Iraq. Remember in January how we saw. pictures from Iraq of that first election. For weeks. the media predicted gloom and doom. Remember that? What did we see? We watched people as they waited in line for hours. defying death threats just to cast their vote for democracy. Remember the picture of the woman in the black hair cover flashing her purple finger in the "V" after voting in the first Iraqi elections? It was a breakthrough for democracy. and it was just the beginning. Remember the recent vote on the referendum when people came out in droves to make their voices heard? You would- not have known about it because there was so little mention of it in our press. but the people got out there and they voted and they showed their support for democracy. a new government. hope. and a future. These people are thirsting for something more. They are risking their lives in the name of a new government. and we must stay the course if we want to foster a stable Iraq and create hope for millions in the Middle East. Our work is paying off. not just at the ballot box. Remember when we were waking up that Sunday morning in shock as we caught Saddam Hussein cowering in a rathole? He is gone. And you know what? At least 46 of Husseins 55 mostwanted regime members are either dead or incarcerated. Nationwide. thousands and thousands of police officers have been hired. and nearly 200.000 Iraqi soldiers are trained and serving their country. It is going to take time. but our guys on the ground are working with other nations to make inroads to create leadership and inspire democracy in a country that has only known hate. fear. and death from a ruler. However. sadly. some here want to embolden the enemy by saying we just cut and run. That is just irresponsible and unconscionable. I have to ask. what would Iraq be like if the United States pulled out. allowing dangerous people like the head of al Qaeda. Zarqawi. to run the country? What would that mean for the region. the world? Al Qaeda rules with death. fear. terror. and blood. Al Qaeda takes innocent people hostage. and then beheads them. and then brags about it on the Internet. Al Qaeda has no respect for human life. They prey on innocent people to do their dirty work. because they know we do not target schools and hospitals and mosques. yet those are the exact places they run for cover. Al Qaeda will kidnap loved ones. especially very young children. of people trying to build democracy. to scare them out -of helping the country. They are taking kids hostage because parents want a new life. and a better life for their children.