Relating to Free Election in Iraq Held on January 30, 2005

RELATING TO FREE ELECTION IN IRAQ HELD ON JANUARY 30, 2005 -- (House of Representatives - February 02, 2005)

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I thank him for always standing first and foremost for human rights here and around the world. I am not surprised that he would come forward with the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) with this well-deserved and important resolution.

Mr. Speaker, there is nothing more gratifying to the American people than seeing people vote, and especially people vote for the first time. I feel what is happening in Iraq with great and moving nostalgia because it reminds me of the first African Americans who voted after the Civil War. It reminds me that this is the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and what it meant for people in Alabama and Georgia to come to the polls for the first time. There is unanimous applause for the people of Iraq who risked their lives to come to the polls. They did not just vote. Many of them knew they were risking life and limb to vote.

They know, however, and we know where the risk was greatest, and that risk was greatest on the Armed Forces of the United States and their allies who made this right possible.

Mr. Speaker, I come forward to say that no people in our country more appreciate that vote on January 30 than the people in the District of Columbia. In the District of Columbia, lives were lost for the vote in Iraq. But these residents are the progeny of 2 centuries of District residents who have gone to war without a vote. Three of these young men who were on the frontlines in Iraq came to the House as the House opened and asked for the same vote for their families and for the residents of the District of Columbia as their service has given to the people of Iraq. They asked to start with the Committee of the Whole where we had the right to vote but the right was taken from us when the majority changed.

Listen to one of the young men: ``Two of my friends and I earlier this month asked for the return of the House vote of the Committee of the Whole our city won during the 103rd Congress ..... Think of what American leaders and citizens would say if one party were to nullify the legitimate vote of another party after the elections in Iraq.''

They asked to see the Speaker; the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), leader of the Democrats. She saw him. The Speaker and a member of his staff were unable to see him. Senator Lieberman and I have reintroduced the No Taxation Without Representation Act.

Let me leave you with the words, finally, of one of these young men.

``I was prepared in Iraq for whatever came, including service in a border breach squad charged with clearing mines and anything else that got in the way to prepare the first troops to cross the border. That was my duty and I would do it again. However, our country also has an important obligation to those who serve and to other citizens. One of the most important obligations is to ensure every citizen that his representative will have a chance to vote before that citizen goes to war for his country.''

The third young man: ``My father served in the 101st Airborne in Vietnam and I am proud to follow him by serving my country in the same manner. I want equal treatment at home. I want the same voting representation in the House and Senate as other soldiers and as the Iraqi people have in their elections this month.''

Out of the mouths of young residents of the District of Columbia who are on the frontline. I will insert their statements and a statement concerning their service from the Washington Post in the RECORD.

Statement of Emory Kosh

First, my thanks to Congresswoman Norton and Senator Lieberman for re-introducing the No Taxation Without Representation Act. I also want to thank Mr. Shallal for his moving words addressed to men and women like me who served in Iraq and to D.C. residents. During the year I spent in Iraq, I met and spoke with many Iraqi citizens, but Mr. Shallal is the first Iraqi American I have met. His words have special meaning to me and I thank him.

When I watch television and see people in Iraq and here in the United States preparing to vote in the Iraq elections for voting representation, I think of my time in their country. I am proud that I had some role in the voting rights Iraqis will get there on Sunday. For that reason, I deeply appreciate that Mr. Shallal has come not only to thank us, but to join us in the fight for the same voting representation here in the Nation's capital.

Two of my friends and I earlier this month asked for the return of the House vote in the Committee of the Whole our city won during the 103rd Congress that was taken from us when control of the Congress changed hands. Think of what American leaders and citizens would say if one party were to nullify the legitimate vote of another party after the elections in Iraq. Our vote in the Committee of the Whole represented the first step toward the goal of D.C. residents as expressed in the No Taxation Without Representation Act. We didn't intend to stop there when we asked that this first step be taken, and we won't stop now. We will work with the Congresswoman, the Senator, Mr. Shallal and our fellow citizens until the full voting rights we fought for in Iraq are also available here in our hometown.

Remarks of Isaac Lewis

Congresswoman Norton, Mayor Williams and fellow Americans, thank you for recognizing us today. I was born and raised in the District of Columbia and have always wanted to be in the military and when I graduated from Dunbar High School, I joined the Army Reserves. As a volunteer soldier I was prepared for the interruption of my education at Morehouse, or as it turned out at Bowie State where I was in college when I was called up. I had to withdraw in the middle of the semester and the loss of that time will delay for a year and a half the possibility of law school for me. Yet my service in the military has helped me meet my dream of a college education and I am proud to serve my country.

I was prepared in Iraq for whatever came, including service in a border breach squad charged with clearing mines and anything else that got in the way to prepare the first troops to cross the border. That was my duty and I would do my duty again. However, our country also has an important obligation to those who serve and to other citizens. One of the most important obligations is to assure every citizen that his representative will have a chance to vote before that citizen goes to war for his country. My buddies and I from the 299th did not have the benefit of that vote. I come to the Congress today to ask for that vote before we are deployed again. Congress can return the vote in Committee of the Whole that the District won fair and square in the 103rd Congress. Although this would not be the full vote other Americans have and that the Iraqis soon will have, I understand that this vote would be the maximum the House of Representatives can give at this time. The maximum is what my buddies and I are pledged to give. We believe that voting representation is not too much to ask in return.

Remarks of Marcus Gray

Congresswoman Norton, Mayor Williams and fellow citizens, thank you for honoring us here today. I am grateful to be back home in the District of Columbia where I was born and raised after almost a year in Iraq with the 299th Engineering Company out of Fort Belvoir, VA. My father served in the 101st Airborne in Vietnam and I am proud to follow him by serving my country in the same manner. I am equally proud to be a resident of the District of Columbia where I was born and raised. I am a graduate of Ballou High School and will soon graduate from Norfolk State University. I was at the University when I was called to duty. I am back at Norfolk State to resume the year and a half I lost while on active duty. I will obtain my B.A. in sociology with a concentration in Criminal Justice.

However, I could be called again this year, but being called to active duty is what every soldier in the Reserves expects could happen. We also expect equal treatment and the Army tries hard to see that all soldiers are treated equally. However, I want equal treatment at home as well. I want the same voting representation in the House and the Senate as other soldiers and as the Iraq people will have in their elections this month. Today I ask that Congress make a good start by returning to me and other citizens of the District of Columbia the vote in the Committee of the Whole we once had. This step would make me as proud as I will be to see the Iraqi people go to the polls on January 30th.

[From an article in the Washington Post on the denial of Congressional voting rights to D.C. residents]

Scanning the distant horizons looking for people craving democracy.

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