Matteo Renzi: “I thank the chairman. I have respect for the gentlewoman from California. I also listened to her words carefully, and I…”

“I thank the chairman. I have respect for the gentlewoman from California. I also listened to her words carefully, and I want to remind her that on October 9 she spoke about Saddam Hussein and his development of weapons of mass destruction, saying that he is impulsive, irrational, vicious, and cruel and that left unchecked, he will grow stronger, only to develop the capability to match his disdain for America and his Middle East neighbors and that he poses a clear and present danger. Those were the words of the ranking member. That was the belief of Bill Clinton. That was the belief of Hillary Clinton. That was the belief of Madeleine Albright. And yet we are told today that this is a press release. al Qaeda is a cancer. It has metastasized itself throughout the world. There is a lot of negativity, whether or not we want to join and take the war in Iraq and link it with terrorism. It is a cancer. It needs to be carved out, and the American people need to show the will and the endurance. Our troops do. Our people at home, I believe, have that will. I believe there should be no arbitrary date set for withdrawal and yet no permanent, unending deployment. No cut and run, yet measured progress in helping a people who want to be free without an illusion of overnight success. This enemy wants to take the fight into the later rounds. They want to prey on what they perceive is our lack of concentrated focus, and their captured documents refer to the U.S. being worn down and quitting.…”