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(Mr. Gingrey asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. Gingrey Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank President Bush for declassifying key judgments from the National Intelligence Estimate so the American people can understand the absolute critical importance of our war on terror, and why the bills we are debating this week, from defense appropriations to military commissions, are essential to keeping America safe and our homeland secure.
Mr. Speaker, despite what my colleagues on the other side of the aisle might claim, American is not responsible for the rise of terrorism. We did not bring this war on the terrorists. They brought this upon themselves when they attacked freedom and our way of life in Kenya, Tanzania, aboard the USS Cole, New York City, Pennsylvania, and right here in Washington, D.C. on September 11.
America has a winning strategy of relentlessly hunting down those who wish us harm, and working to defeat terrorism by encouraging democracy in the Middle East. If the terrorists are emboldened by the spread of this newfound freedom, it is because they know that free people will terminate the terrorist way of life.
Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely incumbent upon us and this body to give President Bush, our CIA, and our military the tools they need to prevent future attacks on our Nation.
I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will join me this week in voting to protect the American people.
(Mr. Price of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)
Mr. Price of Georgia: Mr. Speaker, are you impressed by these irresponsible and childish and petty partisan antics of the minority today? It is divisive, disgraceful, does a disservice to our body and to our Nation.
Now, I understand that it is that crazy political season, but a little truth will go a long way. Leadership on the other side has voted against the Deficit Reduction Act and responsible spending, has voted against pension reform and welfare reform, has voted against border protection and immigration reform, has voted against higher education reauthorization, has voted against the 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act.
Mr. Speaker, the American people see through this charade, these political antics, and I call on my colleagues to respect each other, to respect the Congress, and to respect our Nation and to act responsibly and join us in making Americans safer and more prosperous.
(Mr. Markey asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. Markey: Mr. Speaker, the Military Commissions Act, which we are taking up today, will not make us more secure. It will endanger American personnel overseas, undermine the Geneva conventions, and give a get-out-of-jail-free card to people who may have committed war crimes.
If an American is captured in North Korea, Iran, Syria, or Somalia and held and interrogated under the same kangaroo court process this bill will create, every single Member of this House would be outraged at that miscarriage of justice.
The public is tired of a Republican majority that retreats to fear- mongering instead of trying to find constructive solutions to the serious security problems facing Americans. The Republicans refuse to screen for nuclear bomb material coming in in ships, they refuse to screen cargo going onto American passenger planes, and they refuse to require that chemical plants in our country have mandatory security built around them.
By passing this bill today, we are lowering our standards and we are encouraging other countries to lower their standards as well. And it will be the American troops captured on a future battlefield who will pay the price.
Continue to House Resolution 1042
