[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 127 (Wednesday, October 2, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9805-S9806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    USE OF ARMED FORCES AGAINST IRAQ

  Mr. BAYH. I thank the Chair. Madam President, I am pleased to join 
with my colleagues today on a bipartisan basis to authorize the 
President of the United States to use appropriate force to defend the 
national security interests of our country.
  I join in this effort with a sense of regret that events have come to 
this. No one can contemplate the use of military force with much 
satisfaction, but I also approach this debate with the firm conviction 
that the time has come to unite, to take those steps that are necessary 
to protect our country, including the use of force, because all other 
avenues have been exhausted and seem unlikely to lead to the result of 
protecting the American people.
  Iraq presents a very significant potential threat to our country. 
Saddam Hussein possesses chemical, biological, and some day will 
possess, if events are allowed to run their course, nuclear weapons. If 
there is one thing we can say with absolute certainty, it is he is 
developing these weapons for no benign purpose. He does not need them 
to retain his power within Iraq, but in all likelihood will use these 
terrible weapons to project that power, to intimidate other states in 
the region, and potentially one day for use against us as well.
  If there is even a 10 or 15-percent chance of smallpox or anthrax or 
a crude nuclear device could one day be placed in the hands of suicidal 
terrorists for use against the United States of America, this is a risk 
we cannot afford to run. We have attempted diplomacy without effect. We 
have attempted economic sanctions to no effect.
  Regrettably, my colleagues and I have concluded the President needs 
the authorization to use force to protect our country from this sort of 
eventuality. Of course, we will continue to negotiate with the United 
Nations. Of course, we will gather our allies. But the time has come to 
unite, to do what it takes to defend our country.
  I am pleased to join with my colleagues, Senators Warner, McCain, and 
Lieberman, in giving the President the authority he needs to do exactly 
that.
  I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, I rise today to join my three 
colleagues, Senator Warner, the distinguished ranking member and former 
chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Senator Bayh, and Senator 
Lieberman. I am always honored to have my name associated with these 
three outstanding public servants.
  This resolution, we should make very clear, is the text of the 
resolution agreed to this morning by the President of the United States 
and congressional leaders. This is the exact text of a resolution that 
was agreed to in hopes the debate will take place on two exact 
resolutions in both Houses of the Congress. I believe with open, 
spirited debate and discussion, we will come to a consensus which is 
broad based, and following a debate which I think will be illuminating 
and educational to the American people, as well as our colleagues.
  America is at war with terrorists who murdered our people one year 
ago. We now contemplate carrying the battle to a new front--Iraq--where 
a tyrant who has the capabilities and the intentions to do us harm is 
plotting, biding his time until his capabilities give him the means to 
carry out his ambitions, perhaps through cooperation with terrorists--
when confronting him will be much harder and impose a terrible cost.
  Saddam Hussein is in patent violation of the terms of the Gulf war 
ceasefire and 16 United Nations Security Council resolutions. He 
possesses weaponized chemical and biological weapons and is 
aggressively developing nuclear weapons. He holds the perverse 
distinction of having used weapons of mass destruction against both his 
own

[[Page S9806]]

people and his enemies--the only dictator on Earth who has done so. As 
our President has said, Saddam Hussein's Iraq is a grave and gathering 
danger, a clear threat to American security and the security of our 
friends in the region.
  As I just mentioned, Congress must debate the question of war with 
Iraq. It is appropriate and right for the people of the United States 
to have their voices heard in this debate through their representatives 
in Congress. But as the President has said, the nation must speak with 
one voice once we determine to take a course that will most likely send 
our nation's young men and women to war.
  The President has patiently worked with Congressional leaders to 
craft a resolution authorizing him to take necessary action in Iraq to 
defend American national security and enforce all relevant U.N. 
Security Council resolutions. The resolution is a product of compromise 
that protects both congressional prerogatives and the authority of the 
Commander in Chief to use whatever means he determines necessary to 
protect American security.
  The President's authority is not absolute on these matters. But he is 
the Commander in Chief, and he has made clear that congressional action 
to tie his hands, to limit the way he can respond to threats to the 
security of the American people, will damage our country's ability to 
respond to the clear and present danger posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
  There is a reason why the Constitution vests shared power in the 
President and the Congress on matters of war. But there is also a 
reason why the Constitution recognizes the President of the United 
States as Commander in Chief. Limiting the President's ability to 
defend the United States, when Congress and the President agree on the 
nature of the threat posed to the United States by Iraq, is unwise.
  No resolution tying the President's hands or limiting the President's 
ability to respond to a clearly defined threat can anticipate the 
decisions the President will have to make in coming weeks and months, 
with American forces deployed overseas on his orders, to defend 
American security. We cannot foresee the course or end of this 
conflict, even though to most of us the threat is abundantly clear, and 
the course of action we must pursue is apparent. That's why there is 
one Commander in Chief, not 535 of them. Restricting the President's 
flexibility to conduct military action against a threat that has been 
defined and identified makes the United States less capable of 
responding to that threat.
  Supporting the President in his role as Commander in Chief does not 
necessarily mean supporting the President's policy on matters of 
national security. In 1995, President Clinton determined to deploy 
American forces to Bosnia to uphold a fragile peace in a land where 
many said peace was not possible. Until that time, I had serious 
concerns about the administration's policy in the Balkans. But once the 
President made his decision, I worked with Senator Bob Dole, Senator 
Warner and many of my colleagues to make sure the President--a 
President from the other party whom we had criticized harshly for his 
conduct of national security policy--had the support he needed to 
enforce the peace in Bosnia. I think my friend Senator Dole would agree 
with me that it was one of the high points of our service in the 
Senate.
  Thanks to the President's leadership over the past few months, the 
Congress has been moving steadily to support the President's 
determination to hold Saddam Hussein accountable to the world. I urge 
all my colleagues to renew their efforts to come together on one 
resolution--to show the world we are united with the President to 
enforce the terms of the gulf war ceasefire and prevent Saddam Hussein 
from threatening our and the world's security ever again.
  Again, I want to thank Senator Lieberman, Senator Bayh, and Senator 
Warner, and I especially would like to mention Senator Lieberman and 
Senator Bayh have shown some courage on the floor of the Senate, as 
Senator Warner and I have had to do in the past, when perhaps the 
majority of our party may not have been in complete agreement.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. Madam President, this concludes the introduction of this 
matter to the Senate. I thank my friend John McCain for his leadership 
on this issue from the very beginning, as he consulted in the process 
with Senator Lott and others with regard to this resolution.
  If those who wish to join us would kindly indicate their expressions 
of support to the leaders, myself, Senator McCain, and Senator Lott. 
Before leaving the floor, Senator Helms indicated his strong support, 
and in due course we will constitute the cosponsors of this resolution 
as we move forward.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.

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