House Proceeding on Feb 14th, 2007 :: 8:24:13 to 8:29:10
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8:19:03 to 8:24:13( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Donna M. Christensen

8:23:58 to 8:24:13( Edit History Discussion )

Donna M. Christensen: the gentleman from florida, mr. miller, for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for five minutes. mr. miller: i thank the chairman for yielding.

8:24:13 to 8:24:26( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: and, mr. mr. speaker, i, too, rise in support of a victory in iraq but i rise to oppose this resolution and i hope to provide some historical perspective. make no mistake about it, this resolution

8:24:13 to 8:29:10( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Roger F. Wicker

8:24:26 to 8:24:39( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: is about polls. national polling before november's elections showed a majority of americans were opposed to cutting off funds for the war but were generally unhappy with events on the ground.

8:24:39 to 8:24:51( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: now this polling data led the democratic message machine to create a we support the troops, don't support the troop, but won't cut off funding position. much like majority leader hoyer's emptied

8:24:51 to 8:25:03( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: promises to allow a republican alternative to this defeatist resolution. the democrats are now following polls and slowly, piece by piece, bit by bit, revising their stance on defunding

8:25:03 to 8:25:16( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: the war. due to the majority status, this resolution will pass. and soon after passage, i suspect that congressman murtha and others will move to defund the war the same way the democratic-controlled

8:25:16 to 8:25:31( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: congress defunded the vietnam war over a several year period. they will do so in a piecemeal fashion with various amendments to appropriation bills always avoiding the term defunding at

8:25:31 to 8:25:48( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: all costs. before we've even concluded this debate, our speaker has already said a vote of disapproval will set the stage for additional iraq legislation, which will be coming to the

8:25:48 to 8:26:08( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: house floor. i ask our speaker, what is your additional iraq legislation? the only difference between what the democrats will soon attempt to do and what they did in the last 1960's and early 1970's is

8:26:08 to 8:26:19( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: that they will continue to say publicly that they support the troops instead of speaking, as senator kerry did, in front of a congressional committee of the atrocities of the so-called

8:26:19 to 8:26:32( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: baby killers. the poisonous atmosphere of those times resulted that all military personnel were prohibited from wearing their uniforms in public out of safety concerns. now two of the most

8:26:32 to 8:26:46( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: crippling amendments of the vietnam war were passed in 1969 and 1973. in 1969, senator john sherman cooper of kentucky, co-sponsored an amendment of prohibiting the troops in laos and thailand.

8:26:46 to 8:26:57( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: in august, 1973, the corning passed the fullbright-akin amendment. -- the congress passed the full bright-akin amendment. president nixon's approval ratings in 1973 were dismally low and he was

8:26:57 to 8:27:12( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: close to resigning as a result of the watergate scandal. and he embolden the democrats to take extreme actions. i would say that some of their actions may have bordered on treasonnist.

8:27:12 to 8:27:23( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: our current president has an approval rating near or almost as low then. it has also been said that this nonbinding resolution will not affect troop morale. if so, why not amend this nonbinding

8:27:23 to 8:27:35( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: resolution to send a copy to every man and woman fighting in iraq, along with a record of each vote? well, that's right. we don't get a chance to have any amendments. what is important here are

8:27:35 to 8:27:47( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: the president's words and his actions. he's ordered more combat forces to iraq. he's extended the tours of some forces already in country. let's be perfectly clear, 14 of the 18 provinces in

8:27:47 to 8:28:02( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: iraq are secure. these additional forces will help restore overall order and provide a stable environment for the political process from within which to work. and i can't assure all of

8:28:02 to 8:28:19( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: my constituents that the recent developments in iraq were result in a quick or certain victory in iraq, but i can assure my constituents and my colleagues that democrats cannot say with absolute certainty

8:28:19 to 8:28:31( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: that there is no military solution to the war in iraq. i must also point out several other recent democratic statements that i take issue with, like the one from over this weekend where

8:28:31 to 8:28:43( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: a senator with presidential ambitions said that more than 3,000 lives were wasted. of course he clarified his remarks because he forgot about the secret democratic memo that this isn't the

8:28:43 to 8:28:58( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: 1970's anymore, and trashing the military is no longer acceptable. it reminds me of a former presidential candidate said that those who joined our army were only stupid people. of course, after

8:28:58 to 8:29:10( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: the polls came in, he clarified his remarks because he saw they weren't being taken very well. back to the polls. only 15% of the public expressed initial support for the first president bush

8:29:10 to 8:29:20( Edit History Discussion )

to invade iraq in 1991. many in my own republican party vehemently opposed f.d.r. in world war ii. and during the civil war, there was a congressional committee that met officially and unofficially