[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 141 (Friday, October 9, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1973-E1974]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND NORTH KOREA, IRAQ, AND IRAN

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM DeLAY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 8, 1998

  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, over the last year or so I have been appalled 
at this administration's foreign policy--or more accurately its lack of 
a foreign policy--with respect to North Korea, Iran, and Iraq. I am 
also joining with Congressmen Saxton, Salmon, and others today in 
introducing another resolution concerning the Administration's policies 
regarding Israel.
  Since agreeing to help find the financing and necessary technology to 
build two nuclear reactors for North Korea in 1994, the Clinton 
administration has done everything it can to give Americans the 
impression that its diplomatic efforts have ``frozen and stopped'' 
North Korea's efforts to develop a nuclear arsenal. However, Newsweek 
reported last week that when Secretary of State Albright testified to 
that effect before a classified Congressional briefing 2 month ago she 
was quickly refuted by the Defense Intelligence Agency. The DIA 
testified that it had concluded months earlier that the North Korean 
program to develop nuclear weapons was and is still under way.
  Subsequent intelligence and press reports continue to bear out the 
fact that the administration's policy of appeasement has not dissuaded 
the North Korean drive to develop nuclear weapons and the means to 
deliver them. For instance, the North Korean's have an ongoing effort 
to bury their nuclear weapons program underground. Their launch on 
August 31, 1998, of a three-stage ballistic missile--parts of which 
landed off the coast of Alaska--make such a conclusion undeniable. The 
Central Intelligence Agency's senior intelligence officer for strategic 
programs was recently quoted by Washington Post as saying that the 
three stage configuration of that missile could well give North Korea 
the ability to send warheads across the Pacific.
  To counter the misimpression that has often been given the American 
people on this issue, I am introducing a resolution that calls for the 
suspension of the $4-6 billion agreement to build two light-water 
nuclear reactors and to provide other assistance to North Korea until 
the President certifies that the North Korean government has agreed to 
cease its efforts to build nuclear weapons and the means to deliver 
them.
  Mr. Speaker, the administration has also been pursuing a failed and 
misleading foreign policy with regard to Iraq. Earlier this year, 
President Clinton warned that if Iraq were to break the weapons 
inspection agreement signed with U.N. Chief Kofi Annan and the 
international community failed to act, then Saddam Hussein ``will 
conclude that the international community has lost its will. He will 
then conclude that he can go right on and do

[[Page E1974]]

more to rebuild an arsenal of devastating destruction. And some day, 
some way, I guarantee you he'll use the arsenal.'' United States 
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright also stated at the time that if 
Hussein ``reneges on this deal, there will be no question that force is 
the only way to go.''
  Of course, the American public now knows the truth. Scott Ritter, a 
UNSCOM inspector team leader in Iraq, recently resigned from his post 
because of what he termed ``interference and manipulation usually 
coming from the highest levels of the [Clinton] administration's 
national security team,'' including Secretary of State Madeleine 
Albright. That interference undermined UNSCOM's ability to inspect 
potential weapon sites in Iraq even as the administration was telling 
the world that it supported the U.N. inspectors' right to unfettered 
and unannounced access to Saddam Hussein's suspected weapons programs.

  During his recent testimony before Congress, Mr. Ritter stated that 
such public statements of support in conjunction with the secret 
interference from the United States and the United Kingdom gives the 
appearance that UNSCOM is conducting unhindered weapons inspection 
checks when in fact such inspections are not occurring. Mr. Ritter's 
warning to Congress that it would take Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein only 
6 months to reconstitute his chemical weapons capability and the 
ballistic missiles to deliver them--and his subsequent statement to the 
Washington Institute for Near East Policy that Iraq has three 
``technologically complete'' nuclear bombs that only lack the missile 
material to make them operational--is sobering to most Americans. The 
administration's reaction to these brave revelations has been to attack 
Mr. Ritter's credibility, reputation, and professionalism.
  The administration instead should be acting to bring Saddam Hussein 
into compliance with the numerous agreements he has made as a result of 
the Persian Gulf war. To that end, I am introducing a resolution that 
calls on the President to take the necessary steps to bring Iraq into 
compliance with the international agreements it has signed with respect 
to its weapons program, including the United Nation's right to 
unfettered and unannounced inspections of suspected weapons sites or 
facilities. The resolution also states that official U.S. policy should 
insist on the removal or destruction of Saddam Hussein's chemical, 
biological, or nuclear weapons capability. Most importantly, for the 
sake of the United States foreign policy credibility, the resolution 
calls on the President not to renege on the warnings he issued this 
past spring that the United States is committed to using military force 
if necessary to punish Iraq for interfering with or obstructing the 
U.N.'s weapons inspections.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, in the face of intelligence estimates earlier 
this year that Iran will have a missile capable of targeting Israel 
within a year and Central Europe within 3 years, President Clinton 
vetoed the Iran Missile Sanctions Act. The President's continued 
refusal to use existing law to its full extent to impose sanctions 
against countries and organizations that help Iran develop and 
modernize its ballistic missile program is yet another failure on the 
part of this Administration. While failing to obstruct the on-going 
ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs in Iran, North Korea, 
Iraq and other nations, this administration has not been bashful in 
obstructing the efforts of many of us in Congress to build a defense 
for the United States against ballistic missile attacks by our 
potential enemies.
  The third resolution I am introducing calls on the President to 
impose sanctions against countries and organizations that assist Iran 
in obtaining advanced missile technology to the fullest extent 
permitted under existing law. The resolution also calls on the 
President to expedite the development of U.S. anti-missile defense 
systems and to assist Israel in responding to the new long-range 
ballistic missile threat from Iran in order to protect all of Israel's 
territory.
  Mr. Speaker, this administration's continued failure in foreign 
policy arenas affecting the national security of the United States must 
cease before our Nation's credibility and determination to defend our 
interests is irreparably compromised. It is foolhardy to issue threats 
and then fail to carry through on them as this administration has done 
time and time again. While it may play well in the short term, it has 
real world consequences as our potential enemies gradually lose respect 
for our resolve and our might. I urge my colleagues to support the 
resolutions which I intend to reintroduce in the next Congress as well.

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