mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume to respond to my friend . 
first of all , let me say that as a member of the rules committee , i am very proud of this democratic , small `` d , '' institution ; and i am very proud of the work of the rules committee . 
i would like to say that in this session of congress more amendments offered by democrats have been made in order than amendments offered by republicans . 
mr. speaker , i would also like to say that as my friend talks about ideas being shut out , that is a mischaracterization of what has happened here . 
we have come forward with a sense of the congress resolution , a simple resolution is what it is . 
i would like to share with my colleagues , since we are talking about the process of democracy in iraq and the process of democracy here in the united states of america and in the people 's house , according to the congressional research service , they state on simple resolutions , `` simple resolutions express nonbinding opinions on policies or issues ( the `sense ' of the house or senate ) or deal with the internal affairs or prerogatives of the house . 
for example , they are used to establish select and special committees , appoint the members of standing committees , and amend the standing rules . 
in the house , the rules committee reports its special rules in the form of simple resolutions. '' this is a simple resolution which i believe is going to enjoy strong bipartisan support . 
democrats and republicans will , i believe , in overwhelming numbers support this resolution which simply says , mr. speaker , that we recognize the incredible sacrifice by our troops , we recognize the incredible sacrifice and suffering that the iraqi people encountered under saddam hussein and the struggle that they have gone through over the past 3 years . 
and it recognizes what has been clearly stated by iraq 's president , by our men and women in uniform and by the people of iraq , and that is establishing some artificial timetable would undermine the process of democracy . 
one must look at the letter which has gotten a great deal of attention that was sent from the number two operative in al qaeda , mr. zawahari to the lead operative for al qaeda in iraq , the center of terrorism from zarqawi . 
and he has said in that letter , democracy is coming and there will be no excuse for violence thereafter . 
mr. speaker , it is absolutely essential that we do everything that we can for the stability of iraq , the stability of the region , and the stability of the world , that we must maintain that path towards democracy . 
the coalition forces , the iraqi security forces are making that happen . 
mr. speaker , i yield 10 seconds to the gentleman from florida ( mr. hastings ) xz4001701 . 
