Condemning the Recent Terrorist Attacks in Paris

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and the ranking
member for bringing this resolution to the House floor so quickly.

Mr. Speaker, it was a cold winter morning in Paris just before
lunchtime when two masked men with AK-47s approached a woman standing outside the door of the Charlie Hebdo newspaper, forcing her to let
them in.

Once inside the door, they gunned down the security guard in the
lobby and ran up to the second floor shouting, ``Where is Charb? Where
is Charb?'' Charb is the nickname of the newspaper's editor, Mr.
Charbonnier. After reaching their target, they executed him and 10
others. They exited the building shouting, ``Allahu Akbar,'' or ``God
is the greatest.'' Then they sped off. They would kill an injured
Muslim police officer lying on the ground before they fled.

The two terrorists got away, but not for long. French law enforcement
found and killed the men in a standoff near the Paris airport. That
same day, another terrorist killed a female police officer and attacked
a kosher supermarket and murdered four Jewish men. Once again, French
law enforcement took care of the terrorists and rescued the hostages.

These terrorists killed because they didn't like what people had to
say. Mr. Speaker, it is a fundamental human right to have freedom of
expression, freedom of press, freedom of speech, and freedom of
religion. No amount of violence can take those rights away from us. It
is basic.

Mr. Speaker, this resolution says we are not going to let Islamic
radical terrorists steal those rights from anyone, whether it is the
French, whether it is someone else in the world or even here in
America. Mr. Speaker, after all, they killed at the kosher cafe because
they not only didn't like what people were saying, they didn't like
those people because they were Jews.

France did an excellent job bringing swift justice down on these
terrorists, but the fight is certainly not over. There may be, and
probably are, hundreds of others around the world plotting to kill
neighbors and countrymen and people in other Nations because those
terrorists don't agree with what those people say or what those people
look like or what those people's personal religion may be. They think
they have the right to kill in the name of a radical Islamic religion.

Mr. Speaker, the threat is serious and it is deadly. This resolution
remembers those folks who were killed because they believed the way
they did or because they looked the way they looked or because their
religion was different than others. We mourn when the French mourn. As
stated earlier, the French are our oldest and first ally.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, we have two portraits in this House Chamber,
one of George Washington and one of Lafayette, the first great
Frenchman who helped the United States. We have a close bond with the
French. And it is important that we let them, the world, and especially
the terrorists know that our bond with freedom-loving countries will
remain strong, especially in time of need, when people are attacked
because of their beliefs and the idea that they can express a
difference of opinion.

I want to congratulate French law enforcement for their speedy and
quick resolve in disposing of these terrorists, and we should let them
know that we appreciate all law enforcement who fight back against
terrorists who want to kill us because we don't agree with them.

Once again, I thank the chairman and the ranking member for bringing
this resolution to the House floor.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source