[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 67 (Wednesday, May 7, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H3686]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    FRENCH VISAS TO THE IRAQI REGIME

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, right after September 11, France voiced its 
support in the war on terrorism. Lately, we are hearing a different 
story. It has been reported that the French Government secretly 
supplied fleeing Iraqi officials with passports in Syria to allow them 
to escape to Europe. The French passports allowed the wanted Iraqis to 
move freely among 12 European Union countries.
  There are also reports which indicate that a French company covertly 
sold spare military parts to Iraq in the weeks before the war and that 
a French oil company was working with a Russian oil firm to conclude a 
deal with Saddam's government in the days before military action began 
March 19.
  All of this has undermined our efforts to root out terrorists in Iraq 
and capture members of the brutal Iraqi regime. If France wants to be 
an ally in the war on terrorism, it is time it started to act like one.

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