In Opposition to Resolution Regarding Armenia

Floor Speech

IN OPPOSITION TO RESOLUTION REGARDING ARMENIA -- (House of Representatives - October 15, 2007)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I want to come to the floor of the House tonight and add my voice to a lot of my colleagues in opposition to the dangerous resolution condemning Turkey for reported atrocities against the Armenian people. Everyone regrets what happened at the end of the First World War; but, Mr. Speaker, we are in the midst of a very complicated war, a complicated war in which every ally is valuable to our war effort.

This resolution, Mr. Speaker, this resolution has the potential to inflict damage on the United States-Turkish relationship such that it would be very difficult to repair it, and this should be at the forefront of our minds as we consider bringing to the floor for a vote.

I am concerned about this resolution, and I urge the Speaker not to allow these actions.

I am asking us to consider the long-lasting negative effects that this resolution could have on our foreign policy interests. The last thing we need is for an American ally to stray from the path of victory in Iraq, and with President Abdullah Gul threatening to withdraw Turkey's support of the Iraq war should we vote on and pass this risky resolution, this possibility unfortunately is moving ever closer to reality.

Mr. Speaker, Turkey continues to be a consistent U.S. partner in developing some of the crucial defense equipment we're going to need to protect our country into the future. Currently, Turkey is aiding in the development of Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning fighter. I can testify to the significant importance of sustaining positive relations with Turkey, because the final assemblage of the aforementioned aircraft will, in fact, take place at Lockheed Martin's Ft. Worth plant which is very near my district in North Texas. These are important developments in the war on terror and now is not the time to compromise these efforts.

But more importantly, Mr. Speaker, this resolution, this resolution is ill timed and ill suited for a country at war. What will happen to the transport of goods, fuel, food, fiber through Turkey into northern Iraq?

And if those shipments, if those shipments of food, fuel and fiber are delayed or ended by the Turks, who wins and who loses?

Mr. Speaker, I will submit that the average American probably doesn't know the answer to that question. It's not that they're indifferent, but they just don't know if there's going to be a winner or a loser. The average Turk, while he may care, is really just pretty mad about it all.

But, Mr. Speaker, I would submit it is the Iraqi citizen who is on our side who will lose. They will be denied sustenance. They will be denied food for their family. They will be denied fuel to heat their homes in the coming winter in the northern part of Iraq, in a country that has been ravaged by war.

Well, if Iraqis who are friendly to us are likely to be hurt, what about the enemy in Iraq? Well, Mr. Speaker, they may be the indirect winner because after all, we know they love chaos; and anything that increases disorder in Iraq's fragile social system benefits our enemy.

Mr. Speaker, I am not connecting dots that have not already been connected. Right as we left before the August recess the majority whip was quoted as saying if things go well in Iraq, it's bad for us; it's bad for our majority party.

Mr. Speaker, sadly, then we've seen several times during the month of September where it does seem like sometimes they're invested in defeat.

But who really bears the brunt is the United States soldier. And, Mr. Speaker, this is not just a theoretical concern. October 2000, same bill, conflicts are a little bit different. Northern watch, keeping the Iraqis from attacking the Kurds. Those planes in northern Iraq to enforce the no-fly zone and keep Saddam from attacking the Kurds, those F-16s flew out of Turkey and they kept watch every day of every week during what we now know as Northern Watch. They kept the Iraqi Republican Guard in a box and kept them from attacking Kurds.

Mr. Speaker, I was not in Congress in October of 2000. But I will tell you that a young man who is now a constituent, actually stationed in Clovis, New Mexico, but was moved to Incurlik, Turkey, and was on duty then, he talked to me back in October of 2000. He said, we were away from home in a place that really was awfully strange for a 21-year-old. And then we picked up our newspapers one morning and there's a big hole in the side of a United States ship, the USS Cole which was bombed in October of 2000. The tension was mounting daily. Other attacks were a possibility. And then all hell broke loose outside the base. There was protests, there was shouting, there were people yelling at us at the gate. None of us were allowed off the base. And why? Because the House of Representatives was going to take up the Armenian genocide resolution.

Mr. Speaker, this constituent was my son. He asked me then, Dad, why is Congress making things tougher for us over here? I didn't have an answer for him now and I don't have an answer for him now. President Clinton did not support this bill in 2000. Majority Leader Armey refused to allow it to come to the floor. Don't make life tougher for our soldiers. We're a country at war. Let's act like it for once.

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