[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 63 (Friday, May 7, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E788]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  EXPRESSING CONCERN OF CONGRESS OVER IRAN'S DEVELOPMENT OF MEANS TO 
                        PRODUCE NUCLEAR WEAPONS

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                               speech of

                         FORTNEY ``PETE'' STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 5, 2004

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, Iran's deceptions about its nuclear weapons 
program are rightly condemned. The United States ought to use the tools 
at our disposal--both political and economic--to demand an end to their 
egregious policies.
  However, this resolution calls for the U.S. to use ``all appropriate 
means to deter, dissuade, and prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear 
weapons.'' As long as President Bush is in office, I can no longer 
trust that our foreign policy will be carried out using ``appropriate 
means.'' This President is no longer deserving of our trust.
  That's why I am forced to vote present on this resolution. I simply 
don't trust that President Bush won't misinterpret Congressional intent 
and attempt to use this resolution in ways Congress never intended.
  The pre-emptive quagmire in Iraq in which we now find ourselves was 
started under the pretense of deterring and preventing weapons of mass 
destruction. In fact, President Bush used past declarations of Congress 
meant merely to reprimand Iraq to justify full-blown war against that 
regime.
  Mr. Speaker, the Bush foreign policy of pre-emptive war, threats, and 
isolation has made the world a far more dangerous place. I want no part 
of this neoconservative agenda.

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