Elijah Cummings: “I want to very briefly discuss some points. This afternoon there was a vote on a resolution to condemn those folks…”

“I want to very briefly discuss some points. This afternoon there was a vote on a resolution to condemn those folks, military and otherwise, who did these despicable acts to prisoners in Iraq. As soon as I got back to my office, I was asked by several papers and news outlets why is it that you voted against the resolution, joining some 50 other Members in doing so. I guess the thing that I would have to say is timing. Here we are, we had a resolution which basically said, and let me quote it, it says, ``Resolved, That the House of Representatives (1) deplores and condemns abuse of persons in the United States custody in Iraq regardless of the circumstances.'' And then it goes on to talk about a handful. It says ``declares the alleged crimes of a handful of individuals should not detract from the commendable sacrifices of over 300,000 members of the United States Armed Forces who have served,'' and it goes on. I think in and of itself the word ``handful'' is very, very upsetting to me. We do not have a clue at this juncture as to how extensive this abuse is.”