Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I want to open today by noting what we saw live from Iraq yesterday starting in the midmorning. It was truly uplifting…”

“I want to open today by noting what we saw live from Iraq yesterday starting in the midmorning. It was truly uplifting to see what we hoped would be the end: The fall of Saddam Hussein, the cheering in the streets by the Iraqi people, the flowers for the American and British soldiers being thrown at the tanks by the Iraqi people. We are admonished by the President and by the Pentagon that this is not over. There are still areas--in fact, there was a firefight last night that was unexpected. There was one yesterday at the University of Baghdad. So it is not over. But we know the end is very near, and we know the people of Iraq now understand that they are going to have the taste of freedom. You could see it in their faces. You could see it in the tears coming down their cheeks. You could see it in the children reacting against the statue of the fallen Saddam Hussein. I think we are at the beginning of the end or at the end of the beginning. We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, which is freedom for the Iraqi people and doing away with the many weapons that have been used in Iraq against its own people and that we feared would be used against ours. I open by saying thank you to the American troops, the young men and women on the ground, who have fought so valiantly to make this happen. I could not be more proud today, after seeing what is happening in Baghdad and the reaction of the people and the message left by the U.S.…”