NEWS RELEASE
August 29, 2005
Case co-leading congressional delegation to Middle East
His fourth trip is to Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq an includes visits, Talk Story with Hawaii troops
Washington, D.C. - Congressman Ed Case (Hawaii, 2nd District) will be co-leading a delegation of five U.S. House of Representatives members to the Middle East.
The specific itinerary of the delegation, which also includes co-leader Mike Pence (R-IN), Mike McIntyre (D-NC), Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) and Lincoln Davis ((D-TN), is not being released for security purposes. However, the delegation's principal mission is in Iraq, with stops in Qatar, Kuwait and Egypt.
"Our Hawaii has thousands of our own serving in the Middle East, including the 29th Brigade Combat Team's activated guard and reservists, and I want and need first and foremost to check in with them personally to see how they're doing and what they need," said Case, who visited the 2,000 soldiers of the 29th BCT at the Army's Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Polk, Louisiana last January to check their training and equipment and host a Talk Story meeting before their deployment. "I've also scheduled the first of my next round of 'Talk Story' community meetings in Iraq so I can bring a little of Hawaii and my congressional office right to where they are."
"This is obviously a crucial time for the entire Middle East," said Case, who has been a member of three prior congressional delegations to the region. "With the continuing insurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan and submission of a draft constitution to the Iraqi people taking place at the same time as the withdrawal of Israelis from Gaza and West Bank settlements, not to mention the transition in leadership in Saudi Arabia and serious developments in Iran and elsewhere, it is essential that I understand in the field itself what's going on so I can make the right decisions in Congress."
Besides meeting with U.S. military leaders and troops in Iraq and Kuwait, Case's delegation will spend time with senior members of the Iraqi government. In Egypt, the delegation will meet with U.S. and Egyptian officials on the Israel-Palestinian peace process as well as the recent upsurge in terrorism within Egypt. In Qatar, the delegation will meet with senior military officers of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), from which American military operations throughout Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Middle East are commanded under General John Abizaid.
Case will speak with the media by conference call and otherwise to be scheduled as soon as he has departed the war zone and is free of itinerary disclosure restrictions.
Case's three previous congressional delegations included visits to: Israel and the Palestinian Authority to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, members of the Knesset, and then-Palestinian Authority Prime Minister and now-Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (August 2003); Iraq and Kuwait to review Iraqi military and reconstruction efforts and visit with U.S. troops (November 2003); and Afghanistan and Pakistan to review military and government restoration efforts and visit with U.S. troops (November 2004).
In November 2003, in the wake of reported equipment shortages among U.S. military active, reserve and guard units in Iraq and Afghanistan and increasing attacks, Case and other colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation to assure that troops were provided fully adequate and protective equipment. This was also a principal focus of his pre-deployment visit to the 29th BCT at Fort Polk.
http://wwwc.house.gov/case/press_releases/2005/2005-56.html