[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 35 (Wednesday, March 5, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H1608]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              WAR IN IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, millions of Americans have grave concern 
about this administration's policy in Iraq, and I am one of them. 
Several of us have come to the floor today to express those concerns. 
But before I do so, I would like to relate a story from this past 
Monday when I went to the deployment of the United States Navy's 
frigate, the U.S.S. Rodney Davis, where I saw off a group of what 
looked like awfully young sailors to the potential war zone.
  Mr. Speaker, I went there to tell those proud sailors something that 
there is unanimity about in America. I went to tell them that no matter 
what people in America think of the policy in Iraq, every single 
American is proud of our men and women in the military service. I 
wanted to tell them that because the very freedoms that many Americans 
have been exercising in various places across this country in the last 
few weeks are the freedoms that our service personnel protect, and the 
freedom of speech to dissent against our government's policies would 
not exist without the courage and dedication of our men and women in 
uniform.
  So I told them that all Americans of every stripe, short, tall, east, 
west, Democrat, Republican, that during their mission, our prayers 
would be with them and our support would be with them in every way 
shape and form.
  But I thought it important to come back and think about the policy in 
Iraq real hard, Mr. Speaker, because these were young men. Mostly men. 
There were some women. A mother came up and she was bawling, and she 
said, about her son, the sailor, ``He's just a boy. He's just a boy.'' 
He had only been out of bootcamp for just 2 weeks. Upon reflection, I 
thought to myself that it is old men like us who send young men to 
combat, and so we should think real hard about it.
  With that in mind, I want to pose some questions that millions of 
Americans to the President before he launches this war in Iraq.
  Number one. Why should America abandon its long-term bipartisan 
belief that we should work with the international community in a 
multilateral effort at security in favor of an internationally 
nonsanctioned preemptive attack on another nation? Why are we compelled 
to break with this long tradition, that has been embraced by Americans, 
that civilized countries need to work together to stop aggression for 
mutual security rather than to open the door to war so that every 
country that is aggrieved can start another war against another one?
  Why should we give Pakistan the sanction to attack India without 
international sanction? Why should we give the sanction for any country 
to attack another country absent imminent threat without international 
sanction? And why should our President tell the United Nations that 
they can just stick it in their ear and that America is going to start 
a war anyway?
  That is a question that the President has not adequately answered to 
date and that needs an answer before a war starts.
  Frankly, it is a little troublesome that our President has said that 
he respects the United Nations; that he wants the United Nations to be 
effective; that he wants the United Nations to work together, but tells 
the United Nations it does not matter a fig what the United Nations 
thinks, because America is going to start a war anyway. This has not 
helped to build multilateral international support for the greatest 
country in the world, which is the United States of America. And we 
need that question answered before a war starts.
  Second question. How many billions of dollars of taxpayer money are 
being used to buy votes for this war? We have heard of tens of billions 
of dollars for Turkey. Now we hear the administration trying to buy 
votes around the world for this war. We need to know how many billions 
of dollars of taxpayer money are going to buy these votes.
  And the reason I say that is that unfortunately, and I think it is 
most unfortunate, if this war starts, it will not be a coalition of the 
willing. The international community will look at it more as a 
coalition of the bribed. And that is not something our country needs to 
be proud of. We need to be proud, and we are proud, of our men and 
women in uniform, but this is not a message to be sending 
internationally.
  Third question: After months and months and months of inquiry by 
Americans across the country, where is the compelling evidence that 
Iraq was behind the September 11 attack on this country? We have asked. 
We have searched. We have given the benefit of the doubt to the 
administration in every way we could, and that evidence has been wholly 
lacking.
  Fourth: Why abandon inspections right in the middle of this effort? 
Why abandon something that is making progress? Why abandon the process 
that is destroying these missiles? And, lastly, why create a chaotic 
situation in Iraq that can be a breeding ground for the al-Qaeda to 
regroup, like is happening right now in northern Iraq under our 
northern fly zone.
  No, we should keep this tyrant, this thug in his tight little box and 
we should work with the international community to keep him there. Mr. 
Speaker, I hope that no war starts until those answers are in to the 
American people.

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