Waiving Requirement of Clause 6(a) of Rule XIII with Respect to Consideration of Certain Resolutions
WAIVING REQUIREMENT OF CLAUSE 6(a) OF RULE XIII WITH RESPECT TO CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN RESOLUTIONS -- (House of Representatives - November 18, 2005)
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Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the misguided Hunter troop withdrawal resolution. How irresponsible this is.
Instead, let me thank Congressman and Marine JACK MURTHA.
Thank you for your patriotism.
Thank you for your honorable discernment of duty ..... to America ..... to our troops ..... to the cause of victory and freedom in Iraq. Your judicious resolution deserves hearing by the American people, our troops and this House.
Yesterday, you stood high on this Hill. Your message reached the American people. And it reached our troops and their commanders. Unlike the Bush Administration, you have a plan for Iraq. Your plan is real. It says:
Within six months, redeploy our troops consistent with their safety.
Create a quick reaction force in the region.
Back that up with an over-the-horizon presence of Marines.
Push the diplomacy button hard to secure and stabilize Iraq.
You don't want America's soldiers to be viewed as the enemy of freedom. For indeed they are its champions.
You spoke the truth when you said our soldiers have been made the victims of freedom in a growing counterinsurgency movement inside Iraq caused by the Bush-Cheney Administration's bungling, misleading, distorting and propagandizing of this war.
You were right in letting the American people know that since Abu Gharib the Bush-Cheney Administration has lost U.S. moral authority in the Middle East. Since Abu Gharib, American casualties have doubled. Since last year, insurgent incidents have increased from about 150 per week to over 700 last year.
Yes, winning means winning the hearts and minds of the people, over there, not just here. Victory means political victory as well as military victory. Our military has done everything asked of them. Our diplomats have been missing in action. Our troops were not led to believe that their lives would be lost in a counterinsurgency movement. Our troops are trained to fight force on force. The challenge America faces in the Islamic and Arab world is being made worse every day by the Bush Administration's miscalculations and misreading of the enemy. Every day, we see the Bush Administration wins us fewer friends.
America will win when the people we are trying to liberate believe we are their friends, not their enemies. 80% of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the presence of coalition troops and nearly half of the Iraqi population believe attacks against American troops are justified. This is not a prescription for victory. The time for the Murtha Plan to begin is now.
Thank you JACK MURTHA for placing your life in the line of fire for our troops and for freedom. Your resolution has a right to be heard and debated as a way forward to freedom.
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