Barney Frank: “I was appalled at the comments that just preceded me. John Kerry is a brave man today, and he was a brave man 35 years…”

“I was appalled at the comments that just preceded me. John Kerry is a brave man today, and he was a brave man 35 years ago when he answered his country's call and was wounded on its behalf. And to hear one say that he came close to giving aid and comfort, of course, that is part of a phrase that describes treason, is unworthy of this House. And to couple that sort of wholly unjustified attack on this brave man because he challenges the President and then to say, well, let us avoid partisan rhetoric, there are no words to describe that that would be acceptable under the rules of the House. I do want to talk about what is going on in Iraq, and I do it with great sadness. Six months ago if someone had told me that American military personnel and civilians employed by the United States Government had engaged in the kind of outrageous dehumanizing behavior that we have recently seen public, I would have been indignant. I would have said, I disagree with the Iraq policy. I did not vote to go to war with Iraq, but I think it is unfair to accuse Americans of this. And we now say that we have to acknowledge that Americans empowered by the United States Government, not specifically to do that, but they were there because of American government policy, committed these outrageous acts. But it is not enough simply to blame a handful of individuals as the majority tried to do earlier today with a resolution.”