Marcy Kaptur: “it is always a pleasure to join the gentlewoman from Houston, Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), and commend her highly for the…”

“it is always a pleasure to join the gentlewoman from Houston, Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), and commend her highly for the forum that will be held in Houston on Iraq and should America go to war. As always she is in the forefront of the leadership in this institution and in our country. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to follow up on something that the gentlewoman had stated regarding reasons of war and to point out to those who are listening that there is in this post-Cold War world that there is a shifting of relationships, and nations are trying to find their way forward with new alliances; and the United States in that context has to be careful in order to not be perceived as, one, a Nation that would commit naked aggression. That is something the United States fought for the entirety of the 20th century. Rather, a Nation that always engages for justified wars, justifiable purposes. And there is a distinction, and we should not abrogate our heritage. It is what has gained us the stature that we do have internally and externally. Mr. Speaker, I also wanted to follow on something the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich) talked about when we were discussing the internal state of Iraq, their economy and their military. I think it is important to put on the record that two-thirds of Saddam Hussein's forces were leveled in the Persian Gulf War. In other words, the force is one-third of what it used to be.”