Mr. Miller: Madam speaker, the two most important issues facing our country right now are the seemingly endless and tragic war in Iraq and the need to ensure America's safety here at home. President Bush's speech to the nation last night regrettably demonstrates that either he doesn't understand the security challenges we face or he is intentionally misleading the American people for partisan political purposes.

This is a tough election year, and I can understand why the president and the Republican party are desperately clinging to a campaign of misinformation, mudslinging, and fear, given their failures in the economy, the war, and homeland security. But their campaign is not responsible, and it ill-serves our troops, our people, and our future. The president continues to try to convince the members that the -- the Americans that the war in Iraq is part of the war on terror.

Last night the president said, and I quote, "one of the hardest parts of my job is to try and connect the war in iraq to the war on terror," unquote. I can understand why it is so difficult for the president, considering that Saddam Hussein's regime and Iraq were not responsible for the attacks of 9/11 or the war on terror. The only prewar connection between Iraq and Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda was that they were enemies.

The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report last week states that saddam hussein distrusted osama bin laden so much that he, quote, "issued a general order that Iraq should not deal with Al Qaeda," unquote. And more importantly, while there was not an Iraqi-Al Qaeda connection before the invasion, certainly there appears to be one now. And that's what the president would say makes Iraq central front on the war on terror.

But once again, the president is wrong. First, the only role the U.S. occupation in Iraq currently plays in the war on terror is making it worse. our presence in Iraq has created more terrorists than we've captured or killed. In fact, the U.S. occupation in iraq is one of al qaeda's chief recruitment tools, and the american people have caught on to this.

According to a recently released poll by 45-32 percent a margin, people believe reducing America's overseas military presence rather than expanding it will have a greater effect on reducing the war on terror. The most effective is cooperation among nations and sharing critical intelligence to round up and disrupt terrorist organizations and activities. That effort is hampered by the recruitment and growth of terrorists because of the Iraq war.

It is time for the president to be honest with the American people and to admit that the biggest threat to Iraq's future is the presence of U.S. troops fanning the flames of Sunni and Shiia civil war. And one of the biggest threats to the United States' security is the powerful motivation of our presence in Iraq gives the terrorists who seek to do us harm.

The president and the Congress have wasted resources and time and precious lives in a diversion from making Americans safer and has been an enormous and costly diversion by this administration. But the facts are clear that we have not done enough to make America safer. In fact, we have done just the opposite by getting bogged down in a war in Iraq and fanning the flames of hatred and violence.