Ted Poe: “in less than 24 hours, the Iraqi people will elect a permanent parliament that will govern their free nation for the…”

“in less than 24 hours, the Iraqi people will elect a permanent parliament that will govern their free nation for the next 4 years. They will stand tall against tyranny and watch democracy unfold before their eyes. Mr. Speaker, I went to Iraq for the first historical elections in January and saw firsthand the birth of democracy in this land far, far away. We will not cut and run on freedom and on Iraq. Otherwise, the terrorists will have won the day, and the Iraqi hope for freedom will disappear into the dismal abyss of lost causes. Freedom has a price. Our troops are paying that sacrificial price for the Iraqi people and world freedom. We will continue to support these sons and daughters of liberty. On the eve of the elections, we pay tribute to our freedom fighters. President Kennedy once said, ``The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it, and one path we shall never choose and that is the path of surrender or submission.'' Mr. Speaker, we have chosen the right path, the hard path, the freedom path. We will persevere with the freedom-loving people of Iraq until the journey down this path is successfully completed. That's just the way it is. ____________________”