[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 115 (Thursday, September 12, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H6242]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SADDAM'S VIOLATION OF U.N. RESOLUTIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in the wake of the remarks by 
the President of the United States before the United Nations, words 
that resonated not only around this Nation but around the world, to 
respectfully repeat the question the President asked that august and 
historic body today: Will the United Nations choose to be relevant on 
the planet Earth?
  As the President described, Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq, has 
systematically and continually violated 16 United Nations resolutions 
over the past decade. The United Nations, for incomprehensible reasons, 
has chosen to retreat in the face of Hussein's audacity.
  Mr. Speaker, we must learn the lessons of history. Over 60 years ago, 
Neville Chamberlain retreated in the face of tyranny in Central Europe 
when he returned to the people of England and held aloft a sheet of 
paper, an agreement of peace with the dictator of Germany, and pledged 
that he had achieved peace in our time.
  For the past decade, the United Nations has repeated the mistakes of 
the past. President Bush demonstrated by his speech in the United 
Nations that he will not play the role of a modern-day Chamberlain, but 
he has chosen to play the role of Churchill. As the President said 
today, Saddam has made the case against himself. A dictator who 
routinely murders his own people, harbors terrorists, develops weapons 
of mass destruction is a threat to the civilized world.
  President Bush has made the case for military action against Iraq, 
and it is now time for the United Nations to fully support regime 
change in that nation and for that people.
  Iraq has refused weapons inspections for almost 4 years. Mr. Speaker, 
4 years is 4 years too long. Are we to believe that Saddam Hussein 
stopped developing biological and chemical weapons and his pursuit of 
nuclear capability at the exact moment he prevented weapons inspections 
from going forward? As the President said memorably today to the United 
Nations, logic and common sense scream otherwise.
  Are we willing to gamble, as the President asked, the lives of 
hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people on the possibility 
that Saddam Hussein can be trusted, or is it more reasonable to assume 
that when that dictator attains a nuclear weapon, that he will be 
prepared to use it?
  Saddam Hussein has already used weapons of mass destruction. A 
nuclear capability is simply the next and logical macabre step. As the 
President said today, this is a gamble that opponents of military 
action are taking in the world. It is a gamble that I and many in this 
institution, as the debate ensues in the weeks and months ahead, I pray 
will not be willing to take.
  Mr. Speaker, military conflict is a serious business. There is not a 
night that I do not go into my 11-year-old son's room late, pull up the 
covers and brush back his hair, that I am not aware of the cost of war. 
But I must say today, the risk of inaction against this malevolent 
dictator, who has flaunted the resolutions of the civilized world, is 
greater than the risks of action.
  The United Nations, as the President said memorably today, Mr. 
Speaker, was designed to be able to respond to threats from dangerous 
dictators who threaten the peace of the world. I say again that 
question which the President asked today. The United Nations must now 
choose whether it will be relevant on planet Earth.
  If they choose against relevance, as the President was clear today, 
let the world be assured that by this Congress and its war powers 
authorizing our Commander in Chief, the United States and its 
courageous allies will not choose irrelevance; we will choose justice. 
We can seek the safety and security of our people and the people of the 
civilized world.

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