Brad Miller: “I rise to say how proud I am of the men and women now serving in our Nation's Armed Forces in Iraq. Mr. Speaker, as you…”

“I rise to say how proud I am of the men and women now serving in our Nation's Armed Forces in Iraq. Mr. Speaker, as you know, I spent 3 days last week in Iraq as part of a Congressional delegation. I ate lunch and supper with our soldiers in Bagdad on Friday. Sunday morning I attended a worship service with our soldiers in Kirkuk. That day, I had lunch with our soldiers in Kirkuk and supper with our soldiers in Tikrit. They slept on cots. They used port-a-johns, but their spirits were high and their dedication undimmed. Our delegation stopped briefly in Germany on the way home. We visited soldiers at a military hospital in Landstuhl. Our military escorts told us what to expect. Regardless of the pain they were in, regardless of how their lives would be changed by their injuries, the patients we had talked to were soldiers, and when they spoke with us, they would soldier up. I spoke with men who had grievous injuries. I heard not one word of complaint.”