Despite the snowy weather, the South Pointe Centre was filled with those that flocked to hear U.S. Senator Peter G. Fitzgerald speak.

Fitzgerald was scheduled to arrive at 5:15 p.m. Saturday to the Centre, 200 Gurler Road. In part because of the weather, he arrived just shortly before the 6 p.m. dinner.

The senator was first available to the press to answer the burning questions concerning Iraq. Fitzgerald, who supports President Bush’s efforts, thinks that it will be Bush’s decision to go forward in order to disarm Saddam Hussein.

“Bush is heading in the right direction,” Fitzgerald said. “Weapons inspections are not fruitful because Saddam Hussein is not cooperating.”

Fitzgerald expressed his disappointment with France and Germany for not supporting Bush’s plan, saying the French have a commercial interest in Iraq that prevents them from being a reliable ally.

Nonetheless, Fitzgerald supported Bush’s call for war on Iraq, which the senator said probably will begin in early March.

“We will have a war,” Fitzgerald said. “There will be American casualties; it will be short.”

The senator is confident that Hussein’s armies will abandon him, and after the war, that we will uncover further atrocities and weapons.

“Disarming and removing Saddam Hussein will have a salutatory effect [on the war on terrorism].”

Fitzgerald then took the stage to a standing ovation from the crowd. He started by telling of a time when J. Bradley Burzynski, an Illinois State Senator who had earlier led the crowd in singing the National Anthem, serenaded him on his birthday during the 1998 campaign.

He then addressed United States Congressman Don Manzullo, whose district now covers the northern portion of DeKalb County as of the election this past November.

“You wanted a piece of this county,” Fitzgerald said to Manzullo, “and I don’t blame you.”

Joe Birkett, who ran for Attorney General in the November 2002 elections, was also present and Fitzgerald commended him on his job well done, saying that he was proud of the campaign that Birkett had run against Lisa Madigan.

“That man will be back on the statewide stage,” Fitzgerald said of Birkett.

Fitzgerald, who works on the agriculture committee back in Washington, D.C., said he had spoken earlier to the DeKalb County Farm Bureau. Fitzgerald said that DeKalb County has some of the richest agricultural land in Illinois, and some of the most fertile and most productive soil in the nation. Hoping to become the chair of this committee in the second term, Fitzgerald said he is trying to keep agriculture strong.

The senator went on to hit key issues that concern the Republican Party, radiating his excitement that despite the sharp losses felt by the Republicans in Illinois, the party fared well on the federal level. The Republicans overcame the odds and regained the majority in the Senate, while still keeping the House of Representatives.

He explained that many things can get done now that the Republicans have the majority in the Senate, but explained that not all Republican issues will pass in the Senate, since their branch requires a supermajority of 60 votes to pass legislature, when the House only needs a standard majority, which is 51 percent.

For example, Fitzgerald explained the hold-up in confirming the judicial nominations offered by President Bush. The nomination of Miguel Estrada, a candidate for the Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia district, is being filibustered, mostly likely because he is a pro-life conservative, Fitzgerald said.

The mention of Estrada’s pro-life status led to Fitzgerald proclaiming that the ban on partial birth abortions will be sent to President Bush in the next four to five months. Former President Bill Clinton had vetoed the bill during his terms in office, but Fitzgerald was greeted with applause when he said that Bush will sign it.

Tax proposals were also a hot topic in Fitzgerald’s speech. He explained that the Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, is breaking down Bush’s tax package since each component is less debatable to the Democrats in Congress. Three of the main parts of the package should pass more easily, Fitzgerald said. These are to repeal the marriage penalty tax, increase the child care tax credit, and speed up the drop of citizens from the 15 percent tax bracket to the lowest bracket of 10 percent.

The dividend tax exclusion, an end to the double taxation on corporations’ earnings, will face the hardest battle but Bush believes it is fundamental to corporation reform.

“I will support him every step of the way,” Fitzgerald said of Bush.

Fitzgerald ended with a plea for a large Republican turnout for the statewide elections in order to offset the Chicago Democrats that make Illinois a largely Democratic state.

“We will need every last Republican to get out and vote,” Fitzgerald said.

Calling the DeKalb County Republicans “the most dynamic group,” Fitzgerald ended with the statement he is going to return with to President Bush.

“The Republican base is ready to rock ’n’ roll in 2004,” Fitzgerald exclaimed to raucous applause. “Go get ’em!”