Honoring Service Members In Global War On Terror

HONORING SERVICEMEMBERS IN GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR -- (House of Representatives - September 21, 2006)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp) for organizing this event tonight, and the other ones that he has mentioned. I think it is important that we stand up here and explain to the American people things that they may not hear on their local television station, and that we let folks know how strongly some of us feel about what is happening in this world and what options we have and what things we ought to be doing about it.

Mr. Speaker, the proliferation of Islam extremism and jihadism has already inflicted our Nation with great pain; and it continues to grow and spread. And it is our job to continue to fight these Islamofascists on their land and on our terms. Any other option is unacceptable.

When the Islamic religion is perverted, twisted and turned into an excuse for hatred, violence and the extermination of entire populations, we must stand against it and remain steadfast in our battle to eliminate this extremism.

This situation has been brewing for a long time. It is not something that just happened overnight. It is a clash of ideologies. It is a fight between freedom and democracy versus terrorism and tyranny. This is a battle we cannot afford to lose.

To allow the terrorists to win would destroy America and modern civilization as a whole. We must persist in rooting out terrorist cells and those who preach hatred and death and continue to adapt to the needs of the war on terror to ensure security, stability and freedom throughout the world.

Make no mistake about it, this goal will yield a prolonged effort. We must never forget the day America awoke to the frightening new world where jihadists flew planes into buildings, killing over 3,000 innocent civilians. While we have yet to experience another attack on American soil, there are continuous plots that have been executed and others that have been foiled. The bombing of a night club in Bali, the bombing of a commuter train in Spain, and the bombings last summer in London on the subway and buses are only a brief list of terrorist attacks that have been planned and executed by Islamofascists.

Yet, through intelligence sharing, surveillance programs, and effective antiterrorist initiatives, other plans have been foiled, such as the attempt of shoe bomber Richard Reed and the recent plot to blow up planes en route to the United States from Great Britain.

Furthermore, due to the nature of their work, the greatest success by those in our intelligence community will never be known. There is no negotiating with Islamofascists who demand death and violence against anyone who does not accept their warped world view. We must remain vigilant against this very brutal and very real threat.

As I speak of the rising threat of Islamofascism and its role in the global war on terror, I must object to the unbelievable and outright deceptive speech of the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. While we should be condemning such tyrannical leaders who preach hate and destruction, I was stunned that he was given the opportunity to address the United Nations, an organization whose resolutions he has repeatedly ignored.

It points out again how dysfunctional the U.N. has become. He mentioned that justice was a victim of force and aggression, which it certainly was when he participated in the overthrow of the American embassy in Iran in 1979 and held American hostages for 444 days.

He spoke of ridding the world of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, yet he continually refuses to halt the production of enriched uranium in Iran. He wants to rid the world of aggression and strive for peace, even though he created a proxy war in Lebanon and continually funnels weapons to Hezbollah.

I was astonished when he spoke of dignity for all human beings and his longing for peace. These words are surprising to hear from a man who has prayed for the demise of America and constantly calls for Israel to be wiped off the map.

His biography reads like a horror novel, directing multiple assignments while he was in elite military units and working with Ansar-I Hizbullah, the violent Islamic vigilante group. His main goal is the destruction of Western Civilization.

That speech was a complete farce. He has shown his true agenda time after time, and one misleading speech at the United Nations will not fool America or the world. While we witnessed the Iranian dictator lecture us on freedom, democracy and justice, it is ironic that in his own country this tyrant denies his own people the basic rights of freedom of speech and freedom to assemble.

His speech focused on freedom, justice and dignity for human beings. But as the president, he has done nothing to bring any of his so-called goals to his own people. Women are denied rights of inheritance, divorce and child custody, and use of their rights of self-expression and economic creativity.

Basic rights are denied to the people of Iran, and that is why, even with the soaring prices of oil, more than 40 percent of the Iranians live below the poverty line. Today in Iran, dissent is brutally suppressed and terror is the regime's only instrument of domestic or foreign policy.

While he may resent us for being powerful, he does not realize that the foundation of our power is rooted in the freedom of our great people to pursue happiness, to innovate and to speak freely.

This tyrant accuses the free world that they are denying the people of Iran their right to nuclear energy. Yet he forgets that the Islamic regime is denying the great people of Iran their God-given rights to self-respect and human dignity. He spoke of universal justice, yet he denies the existence of the Holocaust.

This regime wrongfully portrays the war on terror as a war of civilizations. Yet, he uses every opportunity to export its brutal ideology violently to other nations. We are not at war with any peaceful religion or civilization. We are at war with terrorists, and terrorists' warped interpretation of religion.

We need to protect the civilized world from the threat that these people represent. Mr. Speaker, we suffered a setback on the war on terrorism by allowing this terrorist a podium from which to address the world.

And, again, I think that it is our place here in the United States Congress to remind the world of who is the country that represents true freedom, true democracy, true opportunity for people, and to continue to bring this message to people and speak the truth, instead of allowing people like that to come to this country and live in a fantasy world that they live in.

Again, I want to thank my colleagues for being here tonight, and for the other times that they have been here to bring this message to the country and to anyone who is watching us. I want to turn the time back over to my colleague, Mr. Wamp from Tennessee.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

http://thomas.loc.gov/