Congressman Henry Cuellar Comments on Fact-Finding Mission to Middle East

CONGRESSMAN HENRY CUELLAR COMMENTS ON FACT-FINDING MISSION TO MIDDLE EAST

Congressman Henry Cuellar recently returned from a fact-finding mission to the Middle East as part of a six-member Congressional Delegation. The delegations' mission, which included stops in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Jordan, Iraq, and Bahrain, focused on meetings with high foreign government officials along with visits to U.S. troops and civilian personnel stationed in those countries.

The groups' fact-finding mission included: meetings with the senior Jordanian officials in Amman; a visit to the training facilities of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Force in Jordan; a meeting with CENTCOM commander General Casey and the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad; meetings with senior Iraqi government officials, including Prime Minister Jaafari; a meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Defense Secretary Tariq Ghazi; and a meeting Afghani President Hamid Karzai.

The trip also included numerous visits to American service members and civilians stationed overseas. Congressman Cuellar visited troops from Texas including San Antonio, Laredo, San Marcos and New Braunfels, on several occasions and personally delivered cards and letters from Laredo area elementary students to soldiers from Texas. "We are here to listen to the troops," stated Congressman Cuellar during a break with reporters.

During a conference call with reporters from Pakistan, Congressman Cuellar noted "They were under Saddam for 35 years and now you tell them all of a sudden that they are free. There was a power structure here. When we came in we took out the power structure. It was a bad power structure. We cannot leave with a vacuum here. A democracy needs to be built; posterity will be satisfied with nothing else." The Congressman also stated in reference to the Iraqi government, "They have had setbacks, but they are working very hard."

Congressman Cuellar observed that, "Afghanistan has made serious strides in developing its government structures and infrastructure, more so than in Iraq. President Karzai, and his administration, have worked tirelessly to improve the lives of all Afghanis and that hard work is clearly visible."

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http://www.house.gov/list/press/tx28_cuellar/060605.html