[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 106 (Friday, July 31, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9655-S9657]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 FINDING THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ IN UNACCEPTABLE AND MATERIAL BREACH OF 
                     ITS INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS

  Mr. GORTON. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to 
the consideration of Calendar No. 499, S.J. Res. 54.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A joint resolution (S.J. Res. 54) finding the Government of 
     Iraq in unacceptable and material breach of its international 
     obligations.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the joint resolution?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the joint 
resolution, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign 
Relations, with amendments to the preamble; as follows:

  (The parts of the preamble intended to be stricken are shown in 
boldface

[[Page S9656]]

brackets and the parts of the preamble intended to be inserted are 
shown in italic.)

                             S. J. Res. 54

       Whereas hostilities in Operation Desert Storm ended on 
     February 28, 1991, and the conditions governing the cease-
     fire were specified in United Nations Security Council 
     Resolutions 686 (March 2, 1991) and 687 (April 3, 1991);
       Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 
     requires that international economic sanctions remain in 
     place until Iraq discloses and destroys its weapons of mass 
     destruction programs and capabilities and undertakes 
     unconditionally never to resume such activities;
       Whereas Resolution 687 established the United Nations 
     Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) to uncover all aspects of 
     Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs and tasked the 
     Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency to 
     locate and remove or destroy all nuclear weapons systems, 
     subsystems or material from Iraq;
       Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 715, 
     adopted on October 11, 1991, empowered UNSCOM to maintain a 
     long-term monitoring program to ensure Iraq's weapons of mass 
     destruction programs are dismantled and not restarted;
       Whereas Iraq has consistently fought to hide the full 
     extent of its weapons programs, and has systematically made 
     false declarations to the Security Council and to UNSCOM 
     regarding those programs, and has systematically obstructed 
     weapons inspections for seven years;
       Whereas in June 1991, Iraqi forces fired on International 
     Atomic Energy Agency inspectors and otherwise obstructed and 
     misled UNSCOM inspectors, resulting in UN Security Council 
     Resolution 707 which found Iraq to be in ``material breach'' 
     of its obligations under United Nations Security Council 
     Resolution 687 for failing to allow UNSCOM inspectors access 
     to a site storing nuclear equipment;
       Whereas in January and February of 1992, Iraq rejected 
     plans to install long-term monitoring equipment and cameras 
     called for in UN resolutions, resulting in a Security Council 
     Presidential Statement of February 19, 1992 which declared 
     that Iraq was in ``continuing material breach'' of its 
     obligations;
       Whereas in February of 1992, Iraq continued to obstruct the 
     installation of monitoring equipment, and failed to comply 
     with UNSCOM orders to allow destruction of missiles and other 
     proscribed weapons, resulting the Security Council 
     Presidential Statement of February 28, 1992, which reiterated 
     that Iraq was in ``continuing material breach'' and noted a 
     ``further material breach'' on account of Iraq's failure to 
     allow destruction of ballistic missile equipment;
       Whereas on July 5, 1992, Iraq denied UNSCOM inspectors 
     access to the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture, resulting in a 
     Security Council Presidential Statement of July 6, 1992, 
     which declared that Iraq was in ``material and unacceptable 
     breach'' of its obligations under UN resolutions;
       Whereas in December of 1992 and January of 1993, Iraq 
     violated the southern no-fly zone, moved surface to air 
     missiles into the no-fly zone, raided a weapons depot in 
     internationally recognized Kuwaiti territory and denied 
     landing rights to a plane carrying UN weapons inspectors, 
     resulting in a Security Council Presidential Statement of 
     January 8, 1993, which declared that Iraq was in an 
     ``unacceptable and material breach'' of its obligations under 
     UN resolutions;
       Whereas in response to continued Iraqi defiance, a Security 
     Council Presidential Statement of January 11, 1993, 
     reaffirmed the previous finding of material breach, followed 
     on January 13 and 18 by allied air raids, and on January 17 
     with an allied missile attack on Iraqi targets;
       Whereas on June 10, 1993, Iraq prevented UNSCOM's 
     installation of cameras and monitoring equipment, resulting 
     in a Security Council Presidential Statement of June 18, 
     1993, declaring Iraq's refusal to comply to be a ``material 
     and unacceptable breach'';
       Whereas on October 6, 1994, Iraq threatened to end 
     cooperation with weapons inspectors if sanctions were not 
     ended, and one day later, massed 10,000 troops within 30 
     miles of the Kuwaiti border, resulting in United Nations 
     Security Council Resolution 949 demanding Iraq's withdrawal 
     from the Kuwaiti border area and renewal of compliance with 
     UNSCOM;
       Whereas on April 10, 1995, UNSCOM reported to the Security 
     Council that Iraq had concealed its biological weapons 
     program, and had failed to account for 17 tons of biological 
     weapons material resulting in the Security Council's renewal 
     of sanctions against Iraq;
       Whereas on July 1, 1995, Iraq admitted to a full scale 
     biological weapons program, but denied weaponization of 
     biological agents, and subsequently threatened to end 
     cooperation with UNSCOM resulting in the Security Council's 
     renewal of sanctions against Iraq;
       Whereas on March 8, 11, 14, and 15, 1996, Iraq again barred 
     UNSCOM inspectors from sites containing documents and 
     weapons, in response to which the Security Council issued a 
     Presidential Statement condemning ``clear violations by Iraq 
     of previous Resolutions 687, 707, and 715'';
       Whereas from June 11-15, 1996, Iraq repeatedly barred 
     weapons inspectors from military sites, in response to which 
     the Security Council adopted United Nations Security Council 
     Resolution 1060, noting the ``clear violation on United 
     Nations Security Council Resolutions 687, 707, and 715'' and 
     in response to Iraq's continued violations, issued a 
     Presidential Statement detailing Iraq's ``gross violation of 
     obligations'';
       Whereas in August 1996, Iraqi troops overran Irbil, in 
     Iraqi Kurdistan, employing more than 30,000 troops and 
     Republican Guards, in response to which the Security Council 
     briefly suspended implementation on United Nations Security 
     Council Resolution 986, the UN oil for food plan;
       Whereas in December 1996, Iraq prevented UNSCOM from 
     removing 130 Scud missile engines from Iraq for analysis, 
     resulting in a Security Council presidential statement which 
     ``deplore[d]'' Iraq's refusal to cooperate with UNSCOM;
       Whereas on April 9, 1997, Iraq violated the no-fly zone in 
     southern Iraq and United Nations Security Council Resolution 
     670, banning international flights, resulting in a Security 
     Council statement regretting Iraq's lack of ``specific 
     consultation'' with the Council;
       Whereas on June 4 and 5, 1997 Iraqi officials on board 
     UNSCOM aircraft interfered with the controls and inspections, 
     endangering inspectors and obstructing the UNSCOM mission, 
     resulting in a UN Security Council presidential statement 
     demanding Iraq end its interference and on June 21, 1997, 
     United Nations Security Council Resolution 1115 threatened 
     sanctions on Iraqi officials responsible for these 
     interferences;
       Whereas on September 13, 1997, during an inspection 
     mission, an Iraqi official attacked UNSCOM officials engaged 
     in photographing illegal Iraqi activities, resulting in the 
     October 23, 1997, adoption of United Nations Security Council 
     Resolution 1134 which threatened a travel ban on Iraqi 
     officials responsible for non-compliance with UN resolutions;
       Whereas on October 29, 1997, Iraq announced that it would 
     no longer allow American inspectors working with UNSCOM to 
     conduct inspections in Iraq, blocking UNSCOM teams containing 
     Americans to conduct inspections and threatening to shoot 
     down U.S. U-2 surveillance flights in support of UNSCOM, 
     resulting in a United Nations Security Council Resolution 
     1137 on November 12, 1997, which imposed the travel ban on 
     Iraqi officials and threatened unspecified ``further 
     measures'';
       Whereas on November 13, 1997, Iraq expelled U.S. inspectors 
     from Iraq, leading to UNSCOM's decision to pull out its 
     remaining inspectors and resulting in a United Nations 
     Security Council presidential statement demanding Iraq revoke 
     the expulsion;
       Whereas on January 16, 1998, an UNSCOM team led by American 
     Scott Ritter was withdrawn from Iraq after being barred for 
     three days by Iraq from conducting inspections, resulting in 
     the adoption of a United Nations Security Council 
     presidential statement deploring Iraq's decision to bar the 
     team as a clear violation of all applicable resolutions;
       Whereas despite clear agreement on the part of Iraqi 
     President Saddam Hussein with United Nations General Kofi 
     Annan to grant access to all sites, and fully cooperate with 
     UNSCOM, and the adoption on March 2, 1998, of United Nations 
     Security Council Resolution 1154, warning that any violation 
     of the agreement with Annan would have the ``severest 
     consequences'' for Iraq, Iraq has continued to actively 
     conceal weapons and weapons programs, provide misinformation 
     and otherwise deny UNSCOM inspectors access;
       Whereas on June 24, 1998, UNSCOM Director Richard Butler 
     presented information to the UN Security Council indicating 
     clearly that Iraq, in direct contradiction to information 
     provided to UNSCOM, weaponized the nerve agent VX; and
       Whereas Iraq's continuing weapons of mass destruction 
     programs threaten vital United States interests and 
     international peace and [security; and] security:
       [Whereas the United States has existing authority to defend 
     United States interests in the Persian Gulf region:] Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
     United States of America in Congress assembled, That the 
     Government of Iraq is in material and unacceptable breach of 
     its international obligations, and therefore, the President 
     of the United States is urged to act accordingly.


                           Amendment No. 3489

               (Purpose: To provide substitute language)

  Mr. GORTON. There is an amendment to the joint resolution at the 
desk, and I ask for its consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Washington [Mr. Gorton], for Mr. Lott, 
     proposes an amendment numbered 3489.

  The amendment is as follows:

       Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the 
     following: ``That the Government of Iraq is in material and 
     unacceptable breach of its international obligations, and 
     therefore the President is urged to take appropriate action, 
     in accordance with the Constitution and relevant laws of the 
     United States, to bring Iraq into compliance with its 
     international obligations.''

  Mr. GORTON. I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

[[Page S9657]]

  The amendment (No. 3489) was agreed to.
  Mr. GORTON. I ask unanimous consent that the joint resolution, as 
amended, be considered read three times and passed, the amendments to 
the preamble be agreed to, and the preamble, as amended, be agreed to, 
the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any 
statements relating to the joint resolution appear at the appropriate 
place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The joint resolution (S.J. Res. 54), as amended, was considered read 
a third time and passed.
  The amendments to the preamble were agreed to.
  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
  The joint resolution, as amended, with its preamble, as amended, 
reads as follows:

                              S.J. Res. 54

       Whereas hostilities in Operation Desert Storm ended on 
     February 28, 1991, and the conditions governing the cease-
     fire were specified in United Nations Security Council 
     Resolutions 686 (March 2, 1991) and 687 (April 3, 1991);
       Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 
     requires that international economic sanctions remain in 
     place until Iraq discloses and destroys its weapons of mass 
     destruction programs and capabilities and undertakes 
     unconditionally never to resume such activities;
       Whereas Resolution 687 established the United Nations 
     Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) to uncover all aspects of 
     Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs and tasked the 
     Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency to 
     locate and remove or destroy all nuclear weapons systems, 
     subsystems or material from Iraq;
       Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 715, 
     adopted on October 11, 1991, empowered UNSCOM to maintain a 
     long-term monitoring program to ensure Iraq's weapons of mass 
     destruction programs are dismantled and not restarted;
       Whereas Iraq has consistently fought to hide the full 
     extent of its weapons programs, and has systematically made 
     false declarations to the Security Council and to UNSCOM 
     regarding those programs, and has systematically obstructed 
     weapons inspections for seven years;
       Whereas in June 1991, Iraqi forces fired on International 
     Atomic Energy Agency inspectors and otherwise obstructed and 
     misled UNSCOM inspectors, resulting in UN Security Council 
     Resolution 707 which found Iraq to be in ``material breach'' 
     of its obligations under United Nations Security Council 
     Resolution 687 for failing to allow UNSCOM inspectors access 
     to a site storing nuclear equipment;
       Whereas in January and February of 1992, Iraq rejected 
     plans to install long-term monitoring equipment and cameras 
     called for in UN resolutions, resulting in a Security Council 
     Presidential Statement of February 19, 1992 which declared 
     that Iraq was in ``continuing material breach'' of its 
     obligations;
       Whereas in February of 1992, Iraq continued to obstruct the 
     installation of monitoring equipment, and failed to comply 
     with UNSCOM orders to allow destruction of missiles and other 
     proscribed weapons, resulting the Security Council 
     Presidential Statement of February 28, 1992, which reiterated 
     that Iraq was in ``continuing material breach'' and noted a 
     ``further material breach'' on account of Iraq's failure to 
     allow destruction of ballistic missile equipment;
       Whereas on July 5, 1992, Iraq denied UNSCOM inspectors 
     access to the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture, resulting in a 
     Security Council Presidential Statement of July 6, 1992, 
     which declared that Iraq was in ``material and unacceptable 
     breach'' of its obligations under UN resolutions;
       Whereas in December of 1992 and January of 1993, Iraq 
     violated the southern no-fly zone, moved surface to air 
     missiles into the no-fly zone, raided a weapons depot in 
     internationally recognized Kuwaiti territory and denied 
     landing rights to a plane carrying UN weapons inspectors, 
     resulting in a Security Council Presidential Statement of 
     January 8, 1993, which declared that Iraq was in an 
     ``unacceptable and material breach'' of its obligations under 
     UN resolutions;
       Whereas in response to continued Iraqi defiance, a Security 
     Council Presidential Statement of January 11, 1993, 
     reaffirmed the previous finding of material breach, followed 
     on January 13 and 18 by allied air raids, and on January 17 
     with an allied missile attack on Iraqi targets;
       Whereas on June 10, 1993, Iraq prevented UNSCOM's 
     installation of cameras and monitoring equipment, resulting 
     in a Security Council Presidential Statement of June 18, 
     1993, declaring Iraq's refusal to comply to be a ``material 
     and unacceptable breach'';
       Whereas on October 6, 1994, Iraq threatened to end 
     cooperation with weapons inspectors if sanctions were not 
     ended, and one day later, massed 10,000 troops within 30 
     miles of the Kuwaiti border, resulting in United Nations 
     Security Council Resolution 949 demanding Iraq's withdrawal 
     from the Kuwaiti border area and renewal of compliance with 
     UNSCOM;
       Whereas on April 10, 1995, UNSCOM reported to the Security 
     Council that Iraq had concealed its biological weapons 
     program, and had failed to account for 17 tons of biological 
     weapons material resulting in the Security Council's renewal 
     of sanctions against Iraq;
       Whereas on July 1, 1995, Iraq admitted to a full scale 
     biological weapons program, but denied weaponization of 
     biological agents, and subsequently threatened to end 
     cooperation with UNSCOM resulting in the Security Council's 
     renewal of sanctions against Iraq;
       Whereas on March 8, 11, 14, and 15, 1996, Iraq again barred 
     UNSCOM inspectors from sites containing documents and 
     weapons, in response to which the Security Council issued a 
     Presidential Statement condemning ``clear violations by Iraq 
     of previous Resolutions 687, 707, and 715'';
       Whereas from June 11-15, 1996, Iraq repeatedly barred 
     weapons inspectors from military sites, in response to which 
     the Security Council adopted United Nations Security Council 
     Resolution 1060, noting the ``clear violation on United 
     Nations Security Council Resolutions 687, 707, and 715'' and 
     in response to Iraq's continued violations, issued a 
     Presidential Statement detailing Iraq's ``gross violation of 
     obligations'';
       Whereas in August 1996, Iraqi troops overran Irbil, in 
     Iraqi Kurdistan, employing more than 30,000 troops and 
     Republican Guards, in response to which the Security Council 
     briefly suspended implementation on United Nations Security 
     Council Resolution 986, the UN oil for food plan;
       Whereas in December 1996, Iraq prevented UNSCOM from 
     removing 130 Scud missile engines from Iraq for analysis, 
     resulting in a Security Council presidential statement which 
     ``deplore[d]'' Iraq's refusal to cooperate with UNSCOM;
       Whereas on April 9, 1997, Iraq violated the no-fly zone in 
     southern Iraq and United Nations Security Council Resolution 
     670, banning international flights, resulting in a Security 
     Council statement regretting Iraq's lack of ``specific 
     consultation'' with the Council;
       Whereas on June 4 and 5, 1997 Iraqi officials on board 
     UNSCOM aircraft interfered with the controls and inspections, 
     endangering inspectors and obstructing the UNSCOM mission, 
     resulting in a UN Security Council presidential statement 
     demanding Iraq end its interference and on June 21, 1997, 
     United Nations Security Council Resolution 1115 threatened 
     sanctions on Iraqi officials responsible for these 
     interferences;
       Whereas on September 13, 1997, during an inspection 
     mission, an Iraqi official attacked UNSCOM officials engaged 
     in photographing illegal Iraqi activities, resulting in the 
     October 23, 1997, adoption of United Nations Security Council 
     Resolution 1134 which threatened a travel ban on Iraqi 
     officials responsible for non-compliance with UN resolutions;
       Whereas on October 29, 1997, Iraq announced that it would 
     no longer allow American inspectors working with UNSCOM to 
     conduct inspections in Iraq, blocking UNSCOM teams containing 
     Americans to conduct inspections and threatening to shoot 
     down U.S. U-2 surveillance flights in support of UNSCOM, 
     resulting in a United Nations Security Council Resolution 
     1137 on November 12, 1997, which imposed the travel ban on 
     Iraqi officials and threatened unspecified ``further 
     measures'';
       Whereas on November 13, 1997, Iraq expelled U.S. inspectors 
     from Iraq, leading to UNSCOM's decision to pull out its 
     remaining inspectors and resulting in a United Nations 
     Security Council presidential statement demanding Iraq revoke 
     the expulsion;
       Whereas on January 16, 1998, an UNSCOM team led by American 
     Scott Ritter was withdrawn from Iraq after being barred for 
     three days by Iraq from conducting inspections, resulting in 
     the adoption of a United Nations Security Council 
     presidential statement deploring Iraq's decision to bar the 
     team as a clear violation of all applicable resolutions;
       Whereas despite clear agreement on the part of Iraqi 
     President Saddam Hussein with United Nations General Kofi 
     Annan to grant access to all sites, and fully cooperate with 
     UNSCOM, and the adoption on March 2, 1998, of United Nations 
     Security Council Resolution 1154, warning that any violation 
     of the agreement with Annan would have the ``severest 
     consequences'' for Iraq, Iraq has continued to actively 
     conceal weapons and weapons programs, provide misinformation 
     and otherwise deny UNSCOM inspectors access;
       Whereas on June 24, 1998, UNSCOM Director Richard Butler 
     presented information to the UN Security Council indicating 
     clearly that Iraq, in direct contradiction to information 
     provided to UNSCOM, weaponized the nerve agent VX; and
       Whereas Iraq's continuing weapons of mass destruction 
     programs threaten vital United States interests and 
     international peace and security: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
     United States of America in Congress assembled, That the 
     Government of Iraq is in material and unacceptable breach of 
     its international obligations, and therefore the President is 
     urged to take appropriate action, in accordance with the 
     Constitution and relevant laws of the United States, to bring 
     Iraq into compliance with its international obligations.




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