HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Washington, Jul 26, 2008 - House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision to prohibit Iraq from participating in the 2008 Olympic Games:

“This action by the IOC is dismaying and shallow, and it should be reversed at once.  American soldiers – and the Iraqi citizens who have so bravely fought at their side – have given their lives to help Iraq join the community of free nations.  It is an insult to them, and to the millions they gave their lives to liberate and defend, that the IOC is so wed to its arbitrary and selectively-enforced rules that it won’t allow Iraq to participate in the Olympic Games. 

“The people of Iraq have endured a living hell because of the evil of Saddam Hussein and radical jihadists, and it’s sad that they now have to suffer this new indignity at the hands of rigid, inflexible international bureaucrats. 

“I urge all Members of Congress, Democrat and Republican alike, to join me in calling on the IOC to immediately rescind its decision and allow the people of Iraq to participate in the 2008 Olympic Games.”

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