[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 11 (Thursday, February 12, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H490-H491]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                SUPPORTING THE PRESIDENT ON IRAQI POLICY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrich) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GINGRICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise and I note the presence of my 
colleague, the distinguished minority leader, who also will speak this 
afternoon, because both of us I think want to make the point that the 
leadership of this Congress is very committed to supporting the 
President of the United States and in supporting, frankly, all of the 
people around the planet who are concerned about Saddam Hussein and the 
danger of bacteriological and chemical weapons of terror.
  The fact is that the United States has no argument with the people of 
Iraq. The United States has no wish to harm the people of Iraq; the 
United States wishes that we could reach an agreement which would allow 
the sanctions to be limited, the people to have prosperity, and Iraq to 
live in peace with its neighbors.
  But the current dictator, Saddam Hussein, has a track record unlike 
any other leader in the world. He has used chemical weapons against his 
neighbors. He has used chemical weapons against his own people. He shot 
his own son-in-law when he returned from defecting. He is clearly a 
brutal and dangerous dictator who, despite having lost a war against 
the coalition, despite having subjected his own people to 7 years of 
economic sanctions, despite the United Nations inspectors in this 
country, despite the world media watching him, despite pressure 
diplomatically from virtually every country in the world, has persisted 
in trying to build and retain chemical and bacteriological weapons of 
mass destruction. These are particularly frightening because they are 
potentially usable by terrorists and have for their size and weight a 
remarkable capacity to kill human beings.
  A future terrorist act in which bacteriological or chemical weapons 
could be used as in the World Trade Center, in a subway, or any other 
site where there are a lot of people could produce a horrifying 
casualty rate. The United States has made it clear that we will not 
accept biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction in the hands 
of someone with a proven record of using them.
  We are working with the United Nations. We are working with our 
allies. It is our hope that our allies will help us bring Saddam 
Hussein to recognize that he should not proceed, that he should allow 
unlimited United Nations inspections so the world can rest assured that 
he is not building biological and chemical weapons.
  If he refuses, at some point, the President has made clear the United 
States will use whatever level of force is necessary in order to 
eliminate the sites that we believe currently are being used to build 
biological and chemical weapons. If after that there is still a 
problem, I think the United States will have to continue to explore the 
options of making sure that Saddam Hussein, under no circumstance, is 
able to build and distribute biological and chemical weapons.
  But no one in Iraq should be confused. Just as we were in 1991, the 
United States is committed. The United States will, in fact, follow 
through on its commitments. I urge Saddam Hussein to save the people of 
Iraq from violence. I urge him to take a step towards ultimately some 
day lifting the sanctions. I urge him to comply with United Nations 
resolutions. And I want him to know that, on behalf of the overwhelming 
majority of Republicans who are deeply committed to a safer world for 
our children and

[[Page H491]]

grandchildren, that we are resolutely determined not to allow Iraq, 
under this leader, to have biological and chemical weapons, and we 
support the President in taking steps to defend the United States and 
that our prayers and our support in the strongest way will be with our 
young men and women in the Middle East if they should have to undertake 
missions in order to save the world from chemical and biological 
weapons.

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