Praising Iraqi Elections

PRAISING IRAQI ELECTIONS -- (House of Representatives - October 18, 2005)

(Ms. FOXX asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, Saturday was a historic day for democracy in Iraq and a bad day for terrorists. Millions of Iraqis embraced the democratic process and turned out to vote for a new constitution. We will not know the final results until later this week, but the large turnout of voters and the low level of violence are themselves milestones of progress on Iraq's path to democracy. As Prime Minister Ja'afari said, ``The victory for Iraq is that Iraqis are voting.''

More than 60 percent of registered voters turned out in the Sunni majority Ninewah Province compared to 17 percent in January's election. The higher turnout is an important change and a tribute to our political strategy which includes continued outreach to Sunni leaders. Additionally, this strong Sunni participation is evidence of a desire on their part to reject insurgent violence and place their trust in the democratic process.

In addition, we know Saturday's violence did not even come close to the 347 election-day attacks reported in the January election.

Mr. Speaker, Saturday's vote took place 3 years to the day following Saddam Hussein's made-up election in which he won 100 percent of the vote. Taking one more step toward democracy, Iraqis now know what a real election is.

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