[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 15, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H6849-H6850]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HUSSEIN HIDING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

  (Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I have heard tonight several concerns about 
our ability to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and whether 
that indicates the prewar intelligence on Iraq's program was either 
incorrect or biased.
  Where those weapons are today falls into several categories. Of 
course, they could still be hidden. Saddam had become a master of 
concealment. Please remember that in 1995 the United Nations was 
preparing to lift sanctions believing that Iraq had disarmed. It was 
only the defection of Saddam's son-in-law and the revelations that 
significant weapons were present that halted the U.N. from lifting 
those sanctions.
  Perhaps Saddam did destroy the weapons after the inspectors left in 
1998. Why in the world then given the costs to him would he not be 
forthcoming about that?
  Please remember the burden of proof is clearly still on Saddam, not 
the United States, not the President of the United States or the United 
Nations to demonstrate that the destruction of weapons had occurred. 
Possibly the weapons had degraded over time or were destroyed in the 
bombing; but again, why would Saddam not be forthcoming and say so?
  I believe Congress is exercising its oversight authority and has set 
in place procedures to review comprehensively and on a bipartisan basis 
the intelligence surrounding Iraq prior to the outbreak of the war and 
to take into account any of the dissident views on the Iraq threat 
within the intelligence community.
  The United States Armed Forces are still trying to pacify sectors of 
Iraq and deal with daily attacks on U.S. soldiers west and north of 
Bagdad. People who have lived in a police state with no freedom of 
speech are unlikely to volunteer information until stability and 
security are achieved in Iraq.
  After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, it became apparent 
that the United States needed to be more vigilant about terrorism and 
weapons proliferation, and pay particular attention to the prospect of 
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) falling into the hands of groups or 
states that would use them against American interests, either at home 
or abroad. While Saddam Hussein had been essentially ``contained'' 
within Iraq for a dozen years, by 2002 it was clear that the sanctions 
designed to prevent him from re-arming had fallen apart. More and more 
foreign countries were trading with Iraq in defiance of the United 
Nations (UN) sanctions. There was also widespread international 
agreement that Hussein had not given up his efforts to acquire banned 
weapons.
  Iraq's expulsion of UN weapons inspectors had made it virtually 
impossible to monitor his activities. Most governments around the 
world--and the United Nations itself--believed Hussein's Iraq had not 
disarmed itself of the lethal weapons it was known to have possessed. 
In early 2003, the United Nations confirmed that Iraq had hidden its 
chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons programs, built missiles 
exceeding the range limits set by the Security Council, and failed to 
cooperate with inspectors. Instead of disarming, Iraq responded with 
false claims and empty declarations.
  The Bush Administration, the Clinton Administration, and the United 
Nations all agree that Hussein possessed a significant biological and 
chemical capability in 1998 when the inspectors were withdrawn. There 
is broad agreement that Hussein, different from any other leader, had 
proven himself capable of using these weapons for offensive purposes 
and not merely in a defensive posture.
  Where those weapons are today falls into one of several categories:
  1. They are hidden--Hussein has become a master of concealment. 
Please remember in 1995 the United Nations was preparing to lift 
sanctions believing that Iraq had disarmed. It was only the defection 
of Hussein Kamel and the revelation that significant weapons were 
present that halted the UN from lifting the sanctions.
  2. Hussein did destroy the weapons after the inspectors left in 1998. 
While this is unlikely given his other behavior, the burden of proof 
was clearly still on Hussein--not the United States, nor President 
Bush, and not the United Nations--to demonstrate the destruction of 
weapons had occurred.
  3. The weapons had degraded over time or were destroyed in the 
bombing or looted during the combat phase of Iraqi Freedom.
  The American soldiers who fought in Iraq did so with skill, 
determination and bravery in the face of grave dangers. Their conquest 
of Iraq was a rapid, overwhelming success; and victory was attained 
with relatively limited civilian casualties or damage to Iraq's 
infrastructure. All Americans can be proud of the performance of our 
armed forces in Iraq and we can unite in honoring the memory of those 
courageous soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect their 
fellow Americans.
  The United States has had a positive impact since the military 
operation in Iraq. A brutal dictator has been removed. The revelation 
of mass graves in Iraq has only confirmed what

[[Page H6850]]

we suspected: that the people most threatened by Saddam Hussein's rule 
of terror were the oppressed Iraqi citizens.
  The disorder and political uncertainty we are witnessing in postwar 
Iraq, while at one level unsettling, is to some extent a reflection of 
how completely Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime dominated and dictated 
Iraqi life. International economic sanctions against Iraq have been 
lifted, and the international community is beginning to get involved in 
the reconstruction of Iraq.
  The removal of Hussein has also improved the regional security 
situation in the Middle East. Syria has made commitments to crack down 
on terrorist offices in Damascus; Iranian opponents of the clerical 
regime in Tehran have been emboldened; the removal of the Iraqi threat 
has enabled the United States to announce we will end the controversial 
stationing of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia; and, the release of the 
``road map'' has re-energized the difficult but critical search for 
peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
  There are efforts in the Congress to employ a full investigation into 
these difficult issues to understand whether mistakes were made, and to 
take action to fix them, in fulfillment of Congress's important 
oversight responsibilities. To date, the chairmen of the Senate Armed 
Services Committee, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the 
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence reject a broader probe 
of the WMD issue.
  The Coalition forces in Iraq have investigated approxiamely 200 of 
1,000 potential sites. New information continues to come to the 
attention of the Coalition forces as members of Hussein's regime come 
forward. Since we do not know the outcome of these efforts, calls for 
an investigation seem premature at best.
  Finally, we are beginning to see evidence that America's readiness to 
act against Saddam may be encouraging better behavior by other rogue 
states like North Korea and Sudan, which may increase the chances of 
peaceful resolution of our disputes with them as well.
  I know there are concerns about our failure to find weapons of mass 
destruction (WMD) in Iraq, and whether that indicates that the prewar 
intelligence on Iraq's WMD was either incorrect or biased. There have 
been some challenges hampering the Administration's efforts to locate 
Iraq's WMD program, such as Hussein's 12-year practice of WMD 
concealment and deception, reluctance of Iraqi WMD scientists to 
discuss their past works and fears of reprisal, and the looting of 
suspected WMD sites.
  I believe Congress is exercising its oversight authority and has set 
in place procedures to review comprehensively, and on a bipartisan 
basis, the intelligence surrounding Iraq prior to the outbreak of war, 
and to take account of any dissident views on the Iraqi threat within 
the intelligence community. The U.S. armed forces are still trying to 
pacify sectors of Iraq and to deal with daily attacks on U.S. soldiers 
west and north of Baghdad. People who have lived in a police state with 
no freedom of speech are unlikely to volunteer information until 
stability and security are achieved in Iraq. We must all remember, 30 
years of living under a dictatorship cannot be reversed overnight.

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