John Murtha

Mr. MURTHA

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. This is rhetoric. It is not getting better. I spoke out November 17, and things have gotten worse than it was 6 months ago. They are worse today than they were then. When I left Vietnam in August of 1967, they gave me this bullet, and they said in this bullet that everything is going to be all right. The President of the United States said we just had an election, and we have a new election in Vietnam, and this was a month after I got out of Vietnam, and everything is going to be all right. We lost 37,000 people. It is not a matter of whether we want to prevail in this operation, it is a matter of how we are going to do it, and I disagree with the way we do it. I disagree with the policy. That is what I disagree with. I think our troops have become the targets. Incidents have increased every day, and more Americans are being killed every day. And we are going to pay a heavy price in people being killed and also we are going to pay a heavy price for the individuals in the future with the debt increasing at $8 billion a month. I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. I was in Beirut the day after the attack, and I recommended to President Reagan, I recommended to the President of the United States, get out of Beirut because we didn't have enough troops; 2 months later he got out of Beirut because he didn't have enough troops. I know what rhetoric is, and I know what fighting on the front lines are. I know the difference between them. I know that standing here does not solve the problem, and it has gotten better, it has gotten worse. That's the problem. And you are not talking about Iraq. The gentleman up there was talking about the war on terror. I am talking about Iraq. That's what I am talking about. Mr. Speaker, I recognize the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn) for 4 minutes.

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. The problem is that the opposite is happening. That is the problem we have. We can stand here and say we want to fight the terrorists in Iraq. Actually, al Qaeda we think is less than 1,000. We think we are caught in a civil war. It is the way that we are doing it. The military cannot win this war. The military commanders, even General Pace admits we cannot win this militarily. What we are caught in, we have become the target of the insurgency of the sectarian violence. It is the way that we are doing it is what I disagree with. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson).

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I recognize the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman) for 30 minutes.

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentlewoman from California control the 30 minutes and yield to people.

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Hinchey).

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I recognize the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Pastor) for a unanimous consent request.

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones).

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), and I ask unanimous consent that he be allowed to control the time and yield the time.

Mr. MURTHA. Were you in Vietnam?

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I recognize the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) for 30 seconds. (Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) and ask unanimous consent that he control the time.

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr). (Mr. FARR asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the combat veteran from the 173rd who preceded the gentleman from California in the 173rd, 15\1/2\ minutes, and ask unanimous consent that he may yield time to other Members of the Veterans Caucus.

Mr. MURTHA. I said were you there?

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis).

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green).

Mr. MURTHA. I yield myself 1 minute. I ask the Speaker, was the gentleman at any of those locations? Was the gentleman at either Normandy or any of those locations?

Mr. MURTHA. Yes.

Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews). (Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. MURTHA. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Rothman).