[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 15 (Wednesday, February 25, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S960-S961]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE SITUATION IN IRAQ
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I appreciate very much the leadership
that Senator Lott has provided in the ongoing discussions that we have
had in Congress on the situation with Iraq.
I was very pleased that in the 2 weeks previous to this, when the
President came to consult with Congress, that Senator Lott stated that
we needed a plan, that it was important that the President have,
indeed, in an aftermath certainly the acknowledgment that there might
be a retaliation, and asking the President to tell us what the response
would be. I think this set in motion, on the part of the President and
the President's advisers really the awareness and the reality of the
situation--that it is not an immediate situation that is going to be
set aside and not visited again. In fact, I think all the indicators
point to the fact that we are going to revisit this again--that perhaps
we have a reprieve, that we
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have a window of opportunity. And this window of opportunity should be
taken to lay out a long-term strategy--a long-term strategy that would,
once and for all, make clear what our policy is in dealing with Saddam
Hussein.
For whatever else you say about Saddam Hussein, his objectives are
clear. He has been very clear in his actions and in his words that he
intends to make weapons of mass destruction, that he intends to abuse
his people to be able to keep them, that he does not intend to be part
of the community of nations. And I think it is time that America be
just as clear with Saddam Hussein as he has been with us and with the
world.
It crystallized I think for the American people a higher-stake
universe--not the rabble rousing by the people who were protesting the
war. They would protest the war, no matter what. The people who would
protest the war for the integrity and the security of the United States
are not the mainstream of America. But who was the mainstream of
America? It is that veteran, who spoke with a cracked voice, who said,
``I fought in a war. My son fought in a war.'' And he asked the
question that the American people and the Congress ask. And that is:
What are you going to do? What is the plan? If you are going to put our
troops in harm's way, are we going to have the guts to stick with it
when the going gets tough? That was his question. He was so sincere. He
captured the heart of America in that moment. And he captured the
essence of what Congress has asked the President to do; that is, to
submit a plan. If our troops are going into harm's way, if we are going
to have an altercation with another country, let's be specific about
what the mission is.
The time has come to stop status quo with Saddam Hussein. The
majority leader just mentioned that Saddam Hussein has quite a record.
He plotted the assassination of our former President Bush. He used
chemical weapons on his own people. He used chemical weapons on the
Iranian people. He went into Kuwait, and tried to take over another
country. This is not a man that we can deal with very easily. And
business as usual has not worked for the last decade with Saddam
Hussein.
So I believe that the time has come for Congress and the President to
work together to address this issue of Saddam Hussein. I hope the
President will continue to consult with Congress, because I think in
the last 2 weeks there has been a good understanding of where Congress
is and where the American people are. Now is the time to put forth a
plan. A group of our former Secretaries of State and Secretaries of
Defense have made some suggestions. This is not to say that this is the
only thing we could do. But certainly having a strategy is something
that America has been able to do in the past, and should be able to do
today.
I think it is important that we look for another Iraqi Government
that we could support--one that wants to be part of the community of
nations. We could look at lifting sanctions in liberated areas of Iraq
and communicate directly with the Iraqi people. Let them know the
dangers of the chemical weapons that are being housed in their country
and tell them there is another way. We want to help the Iraqi people.
We want to give them the food and medicine for their children that we
would like for them to have that every parent in the world wants for
his or her children.
We should target relief supplies to those Iraqi people who are in
need. We need to delegitimize Saddam Hussein. And we need to be ready
with enough troop force to make the threat and live up to it. That, if
Saddam Hussein does not live up to this potential agreement that is
laid before the Security Council today, we will be ready to act with
force swiftly and go for what will be a destabilization of Saddam
Hussein; that is, the military regime.
That brings up another question. Are we ready to lead the forces we
need for that kind of strength in the area of the Persian Gulf? Are we
ready? That brings up the issue of what we are doing in other parts of
the world. Is that bringing our forces down to the extent that we are
not going to be able to do what we need in the Persian Gulf where
everyone I think would agree we have a security interest? Right now we
have some pretty alarming statistics. Last year the military had its
worst recruiting year since 1979. The Army failed to meet its
objectives to recruit infantry soldiers--the single most important
specialty in the Army. More than 350 Air Force pilots turned down the
$60,000 bonuses they would have received to reapply for the Air Force
for 5 more years. That was a 29 percent acceptance rate. Mr. President,
59 percent of the pilots offered that bonus accepted last year and 81
percent in 1995. This is an alarming trend. This is something that we
must address as we look at the issues of the use of our force and where
they are.
I come back to the need for a policy of when we are going to send
American troops into harm's way. I think we must be very careful,
because they are stretched so thin, that they are not going to be able
to establish in the Persian Gulf a major presence in addition to our
responsibilities in Korea and in Europe, and then with responsibilities
that we have taken on for the United Nations in places like Haiti and
Somalia. We have to have a policy. I would ask this administration to
look very clearly at drawing down our readiness at the same time we are
asking our troops to do more.
So, these issues are before us. I think the administration should
step back and use the window of opportunity to have a clear policy in
Iraq. As we go into the discussion of Bosnia, I hope the President will
also look at the fact that we have 500,000 fewer soldiers today than we
did in Desert Storm, and that we are having a tough time keeping our
good people in the military. Let's have a policy that will use our
military when there is a U.S. security interest, but be very careful
about dissipating our resources in places where we do not. That is
causing us to lose many of our best people in the military.
The young men and women who sign up to protect our freedom deserve
the support of the U.S. Congress and the President--the support, the
training, the quality of life, the equipment to do their job--because
their job is protecting our freedom, and there can be nothing as
important.
I ask the administration to address these issues as we are looking at
Iraq, as we are looking at Bosnia, as we are looking at our
responsibilities in a global sense. Let's start acting like the
superpower that we are and target our defense dollars for our readiness
and our national security. Let's have policies where, when the United
States speaks, everyone knows that we will be a reliable ally and a
formidable enemy.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.
Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, what is the pending business before the
Senate?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. We are on the veto message of H.R. 2631.
Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I may proceed
in morning business for 10 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. SHELBY. I thank the Chair.
(The remarks of Mr. Shelby pertaining to the introduction of S. 1675
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills
and Joint Resolutions.'')
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