Relating to the Liberation of the Iraqi People and the Valiant Service of the U.S. Armed Forces and Coalition Forces

RELATING TO THE LIBERATION OF THE IRAQI PEOPLE AND THE VALIANT SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES AND COALITION FORCES -- (House of Representatives - March 17, 2004)

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 561, I call up the resolution (H. Res. 557) relating to the liberation of the Iraqi people and the valiant service of the United States Armed Forces and Coalition forces, and ask for its immediate consideration.

The Clerk read the title of the resolution.

The text of House Resolution 557 is as follows:

H. Res. 557

Whereas Saddam Hussein and his regime committed crimes against humanity, systematically violating the human rights of Iraqis and citizens of other countries;

Whereas Saddam Hussein's terror regime subjected the Iraqi people to murder, torture, rape, and amputation;

Whereas on March 16, 1988, Saddam Hussein's regime had and unleashed weapons of mass destruction against
Kurdish citizens, killing nearly 5,000 of them;

Whereas as many as 270 mass grave sites, containing the remains of as many as 400,000 victims of Saddam Hussein's regime, have been found in Iraq;

Whereas rape was used to intimidate the Iraqi population, with victims often raped in front of their families;

Whereas the regime punished the Marsh Arabs by draining the marshlands, which created hundreds of thousands of refugees and caused an ecological catastrophe;

Whereas the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-338), passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 360 to 38, made it United States policy to support efforts to remove from power the regime headed by Saddam Hussein;

Whereas with the Iraqi regime failing to comply with 16 previously adopted United Nations Security Council resolutions, the Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 1441 on November 8, 2002, declaring that Iraq "has been and remains in material breach of its obligations under relevant resolutions, including resolution 687 (1991), in particular through Iraq's failure to cooperate with United Nations inspectors"; and

Whereas on October 10, 2002, the House of Representatives passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243) and on March 19, 2003, the United States initiated military operations in Iraq: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives-

(1) affirms that the United States and the world have been made safer with the removal of Saddam Hussein and his regime from power in Iraq;

(2) commends the Iraqi people for their courage in the face of unspeakable oppression and brutality inflicted on them by Saddam Hussein's regime;

(3) commends the Iraqi people on the adoption of Iraq's interim constitution; and

(4) commends the members of the United States Armed Forces and Coalition forces for liberating Iraq and expresses its gratitude for their valiant service.

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Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to vote for this resolution, but I am going to do it with a heavy heart. I am going to do it with a heavy heart because this is obviously a politicized resolution. It is a resolution that was designed to make Democrats look bad. It is a resolution which Democrats had no input in whatsoever. It is a resolution that really smacks, I think, of hypocrisy, because when we look at the self-righteousness on the other side, when we had a resolution on the House floor several years ago when Bill Clinton was President to support our troops in Kosovo, almost everyone on the other side voted no.

I am going to vote for this because I support our troops. I am glad that Saddam Hussein is no longer in power, and I am glad that there is an Iraqi Constitution, and that is essentially what this resolution says. I believe that whether one believed that the war in Iraq was justified or unjustified, the fact that we are there now and we cannot cut and run because if we did, Iraq would surely be a terrorist state now if it was not one before, we really cannot cut and run.

But I think my friends on the other side of the aisle really ought to build a consensus. Democrats should have had input into this resolution. Democrats should have been allowed to amend this resolution. If we truly want bipartisanship, then we really need to stand together.

I am troubled that no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. I am troubled that it seems that our intelligence was not exactly up to snuff. I am troubled that the American people were not told the entire truth. But I think we have to come together to support our troops.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say again to my friends on the other side of the aisle, we support our troops whether they are in Iraq, Kosovo, or anywhere around the world, and we have to stand together and say it, not play partisan political games.

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