The President, and The War on Terror
THE PRESIDENT, AND THE WAR ON TERROR -- (House of Representatives - November 09, 2005)
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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for organizing this hour, for being here. I know the gentleman has been a little bit under the weather, and I was concerned about his voice holding up for the whole time, but I am so glad he was talking about this issue.
Mr. Speaker, just the other day I pulled out the joint resolution from the 107th Congress. I would point out that the 107th Congress was the term before either the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King) or myself was in Congress. This was the joint resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq. It is really quite an interesting document. It is instructive to read through this document.
To be sure, there is mention of weapons of mass destruction, but there is also a good deal of discussion of Iraq being in breach of its international obligations, failure to follow United Nations resolutions, oppression of their own people, using weapons of mass destruction against his own people and, perhaps very interestingly, the violation of Public Law 105-338 which was passed in a previous President's administration in 1998 where it was a sense of Congress that it should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove from power the current Iraqi regime and promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime. That was passed in 1998, and we had to wait until 2003 to have a President who had the courage to actually execute that. I am glad we have a President who had that wisdom, because I would not like to think of the world in 25 or 30 years time had we not taken the effort that has been undertaken in Iraq.
The gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King) is quite right. We were in Iraq in August. It was my fourth trip there. Boy, big steps. Every time I go to that country, it is incredible the amount of work that has been accomplished, hard work in sometimes tough, tough climatic conditions, the weather is hot in the summer, cold in the winter, dusty all year-round, and then of course the constant threat of danger from terrorists and insurgents who live in that country.
But the actual quote that the gentleman was talking about from the judges, I think they were referencing the beginnings of the trial of Chemical Ali, the man who was responsible for the killing of the Kurds in Halabja, and he was accused of killing 180,000 Kurds. Chemical Ali's defense of that was, it was not one bit over 100,000, and I do not know why you continue to lie about it. So perhaps he will get his day in court soon. I hope that is true.
Mr. Speaker, I had been on the Floor earlier tonight talking about the debate that we are going to have on the budget, and I know the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King) has referenced some of those points. I do get so frustrated, and the group that was here the hour before us, continuing to vilify the productive sector of our society, the productive segment of our society that provides the tax revenue for us to be able to do all of those free market capitalism things that the gentleman from Iowa referred to, all of those things that we want to do that are good things for people who are less fortunate than ourselves. All of those things are made possible because of the productive segment of society. This angst over the $55 billion that was returned to the most productive segment in society in May of 2003, legislation that I voted for and I believe the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King) voted for, this $55 billion they desperately want to have back. But what has that $55 billion that we passed in May of 2003, what has that given us? It has given us 262 billion additional dollars in tax revenue for fiscal year 2005, the fiscal year that just ended on September 30.
So, Mr. Speaker, to get back the benefit of that $55 billion that we reinvested in the American economy, we would have to raise taxes, not that $55 billion, but you would have to double that and double that again to get the same number of dollars back to the Federal Treasury that the tax relief provided in May of 2003.
I think one of the most telling things I have seen in the past several days as we prepare for the debate was a quote from Roll Call from just yesterday. This fall is not the time for Democrats to roll out a positive agenda, said a House Democrat aid. That is some of the most unfortunate language that I have heard since coming to this House a year-and-a-half ago. If the other side is so bereft of ideas, if they are intimidated or frozen by their leadership, if they are afraid to show up for the debate, then that is truly one of the saddest comments on this body and this country.
Because we need their ideas. We need their enthusiasm, we need their participation. I think, Mr. Speaker, hopefully, over the days and weeks to come, we will see more of that. We will see more of a willingness to have and to engage in debate, and not just the talking points that are in the top drawer of your desk. We can have talking points read to us by a commentator on CNN.
We do not need people to come down here and read their talking points, we need them to come down here where really it should be the free exchange of ideas. This should be the marketplace of great ideas in this country where they are talked about and debated. So I would welcome the opportunity if the other side would some day wish to do that.
Mr. Speaker, I know the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King) has some other very important data that he wants to share with us, and I yield back to the gentleman.
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