[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 473 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 473

Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to the importance of the 
   United States working through the United Nations to assure Iraq's 
compliance with United Nations Security Council resolutions and advance 
             peace and security in the Persian Gulf region.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 19, 2002

   Ms. Lee (for herself, Mrs. Clayton, Ms. Rivers, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. 
  Jackson of Illinois, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Kucinich, Ms. McKinney, Mr. 
    Owens, Ms. Kilpatrick, Ms. Watson of California, Mr. Rush, Mrs. 
Christensen, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. Clay, Mr. Stark, Mr. Farr of California, 
  Ms. Kaptur, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Filner, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. 
 Davis of Illinois, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Solis, and 
 Mr. Conyers) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
          referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to the importance of the 
   United States working through the United Nations to assure Iraq's 
compliance with United Nations Security Council resolutions and advance 
             peace and security in the Persian Gulf region.

Whereas on April 6, 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, Iraq accepted the 
        provisions of United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 (April 3, 
        1991) bringing a formal cease-fire into effect;
Whereas, in accordance with Security Council Resolution 687, Iraq 
        unconditionally accepted the destruction, removal, or rendering harmless 
        of ``all chemical and biological weapons and all stocks of agents and 
        all related subsystems and components and all research, development, 
        support and manufacturing facilities related thereto'', and ``all 
        ballistic missiles with a range greater than one hundred and fifty 
        kilometers, and related major parts and repair and production 
        facilities'';
Whereas, in accordance with Security Council Resolution 687, Iraq 
        unconditionally agreed not to acquire or develop any nuclear weapons, 
        nuclear-weapons-usable material, nuclear-related subsystems or 
        components, or nuclear-related research, development, support, or 
        manufacturing facilities;
Whereas Security Council Resolution 687 calls for the creation of a United 
        Nations special commission to ``carry out immediate on-site inspection 
        of Iraq's biological, chemical, and missile capabilities'' and to assist 
        and cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency in carrying 
        out the ``destruction, removal or rendering harmless'' of all nuclear-
        related items and in developing a plan for the ongoing monitoring and 
        verification of Iraq's compliance;
Whereas United Nations weapons inspectors (UNSCOM) between 1991 and 1998 
        successfully uncovered and destroyed large stockpiles of chemical and 
        biological weapons and production facilities, nuclear weapons research 
        and development facilities, and Scud missiles, despite the fact that the 
        Government of Iraq sought to obstruct their work in numerous ways;
Whereas in 1998, UNSCOM weapons inspectors were withdrawn from Iraq and have not 
        returned since;
Whereas Iraq is not in compliance with United Nations Security Council 
        Resolution 687, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1154, and 
        additional United Nations resolutions on inspections, and this 
        noncompliance violates international law and Iraq's ceasefire 
        obligations and potentially endangers United States and regional 
        security interests;
Whereas the true extent of Iraq's continued development of weapons of mass 
        destruction and the threat posed by such development to the United 
        States and allies in the region are unknown and cannot be known without 
        inspections;
Whereas the United Nations was established for the purpose of preventing war and 
        resolving disputes between nations through peaceful means, including 
        ``by negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, 
        judicial settlement, resort to regional arrangements, or other peaceful 
        means'';
Whereas the United Nations remains seized of this matter;
Whereas the President has called upon the United Nations to take responsibility 
        to assure that Iraq fulfills its obligations to the United Nations under 
        existing United Nations Security Council resolutions;
Whereas war with Iraq would place the lives of tens of thousands of people at 
        risk, including members of the United States armed forces, Iraqi 
        civilian non-combatants, and civilian populations in neighboring 
        countries;
Whereas unilateral United States military action against Iraq may undermine 
        cooperative international efforts to reduce international terrorism and 
        to bring to justice those responsible for the attacks of September 11, 
        2001;
Whereas unilateral United States military action against Iraq may also undermine 
        United States diplomatic relations with countries throughout the Arab 
        and Muslim world and with many other allies;
Whereas a preemptive unilateral United States first strike could both set a 
        dangerous international precedent and significantly weaken the United 
        Nations as an institution; and
Whereas the short-term and long-term costs of unilateral United States military 
        action against Iraq and subsequent occupation may be significant in 
        terms of United States casualties, the cost to the United States 
        treasury, and harm to United States diplomatic relations with other 
        countries: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the United States should work through the United Nations to seek 
to resolve the matter of ensuring that Iraq is not developing weapons 
of mass destruction, through mechanisms such as the resumption of 
weapons inspections, negotiation, enquiry, mediation, regional 
arrangements, and other peaceful means.
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