Sam Gibbons: “I rise today also to highlight some very troubling remarks by John Kerry, who is now seeking the Presidency of the…”

“I rise today also to highlight some very troubling remarks by John Kerry, who is now seeking the Presidency of the United States, our Commander-in-Chief. In 1971, Kerry testified before a Senate committee that communism was not a real threat to the United States. He went so far as to say that the U.S. was ``reacting under Cold War precepts which are no longer applicable.'' Mr. Speaker, that was 1971. I think we can all agree the Cold War was very much applicable and continued to be for the next two decades. Now John Kerry has the gall to compare our efforts in Iraq to Vietnam. Mr. Speaker, as a veteran of Vietnam War, I take great offense to Mr. Kerry's statements, then and now. Our efforts in Iraq have liberated millions of civilians from a brutal dictator that has used weapons of mass destruction against his own people. The world is a safer place without Saddam Hussein in power, and the United States is a safer place with President Bush as Commander-in-Chief.”