Michael Burgess: “Let me respectfully point out we call that the Dallas- Ft. Worth area back where I come from. I am going to reiterate…”

“Let me respectfully point out we call that the Dallas- Ft. Worth area back where I come from. I am going to reiterate many of the points that have already been made tonight. It's hard to not cover ground that's already been covered. This was my sixth trip to the country of Iraq. I was there a year ago. We went in July, toward the end of July, a weekend trip, as Mr. Carter already pointed out. I didn't know it was possible to do a weekend trip to Baghdad but, indeed, it is if the circumstances are correct. The year before I was there and heard about some of the things that were happening in a hospital, a little town called Ramadi. General Peter Chiarelli, as I recall, said, I am not sure what this means and probably too early to talk about it, but it seems as if we have been invited into the hospital, which was one of the main headquarters of the insurgents, the Sunni insurgents there in Ramadi, and the building was turned over without firing a shot. A year later, the situation is completely reversed, and Ramadi was so stable that not only could we talk about visiting it, we, indeed, did visit. It is that trip that really embodies the success that has occurred and, largely, the success that has occurred since beginning the additional troop strength in February and, of course, the ascension of General David Petraeus to be the commander of the forces in Iraq.”