Rep. Hart plans to visit Middle East

This is the congresswoman's first trip to Iraq.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, R-4th, will visit five countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan, to gauge the progress of U.S. military involvement in those countries.
Hart, whose congressional district includes portions of Mercer and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania, leaves Monday for Germany to visit injured troops. She is part of a congressional delegation of at least five U.S. House members taking the trip that will last about a week.
After Germany, Hart of Bradford Woods, Pa., will travel to Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan to speak to U.S. troops.
"It's a war zone, but significant portions of [Iraq] have been secured," she said during a Tuesday teleconference with reporters. "Obviously, progress is being made."
This will be Hart's first trip to Iraq. She said she isn't concerned for her safety during the visit.
While Hart will speak to U.S. troops, she doesn't know if she'll have the opportunity to speak to citizens of the two countries.
As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Hart hopes to meet with trade officials from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Pakistan too
She also will visit Pakistan to see the devastation left by an Oct. 8 earthquake that killed almost 75,000 people there. The United States plans to spend more than $500 million in Pakistan earthquake aid.
Hart said intelligence mistakes were made leading to the war in Iraq, but she has no regrets about the invasion.
"They found a lot of things in Iraq ... such as terrible abuse of people in Iraq," she said. "There were no weapons of mass destruction. The intelligence was flawed. But no one believes leaving Saddam Hussein in power was a good thing."
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, visited troops in Iraq and Germany last month. Ryan, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the United States should start a withdrawal of its troops from Iraq no later than six months from now. Hart also believes in a timetable for withdrawal, but she said it should be set by the situation in Iraq.
skolnick@vindy.com