[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 70 (Tuesday, May 18, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H3169-H3170]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HOUSE SHOULD INVESTIGATE ABUSES AT ABU GHRAIB PRISON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, where is the investigation of the House 
of Representatives into the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison? Why are 
the Republican leaders dragging their feet? What are the administration 
and the war department afraid of?
  Every day, the American people face new revelations, new allegations 
and more damage control by the administration. It is time to get it all 
out in the open. It is time to figure out how high up the chain of 
command this scandal goes. It is not credible for military commanders 
and the Secretary to claim justice will be served, when they themselves 
may be deeply involved in the scandal.
  Is the new definition of justice in America to have those under 
suspicion serve as judge, jury, defense and prosecution? Today, top 
civilian and military leaders are again portrayed at the center of the 
scandal by mainstream media around the world. Is it true? We need to 
know.
  Today's New York Times carries a story entitled ``Military Police 
Receive Orders to Strip Iraqi Detainees.'' For the first time, a story 
places a senior military commander, a colonel, in the midst of the 
scandal. The revelation comes from a source reading a transcript of the 
military investigation to Times reporters.
  Today's Christian Science Monitor carries the story, ``Military 
lawyers advised Pentagon two years ago to protect prisoners, but JAGs 
said Pentagon political appointees had a harsher agenda.'' JAG stands 
for Judge Advocate General. They are military lawyers. It contains a 
quote given to ABC News by a general in charge of the JAG Corps from 
2000 to 2002.
  Rear Admiral Don Guter told ABC News ``If we, `we' being the 
uniformed lawyers, had been listened to and what we had said put into 
practice, then these abuses would not have occurred. That's about as 
clear-cut as it gets.''
  Our own military lawyers were on the record, and ignored by the 
civilians in charge.
  Here is another insight the American people need to hear. United 
Press International today is running a story with the headline, ``Army, 
CIA Want Torture Truths Exposed.''
  Why? Because they fear being made scapegoats by the administration 
and civilian Pentagon leaders.

                              {time}  2100

  Quoting this story, it says, ``Indeed, intelligence and regular Army 
sources have told UPI that senior officers and officials in both 
communities are sickened and outraged by the revelations of mass 
torture and abuse and also by the incompetency involved.''
  The most serious allegations are contained in the report by Pulitzer 
Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh in the current issue of The New 
Yorker

[[Page H3170]]

magazine. Let me read the first paragraph.
  The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal 
inclinations of a few Army reservists, but in a decisions approved last 
year by Secretary of War Donald Rumsfeld to expand a highly secret 
operation which has been focused on the hunt for al Qaeda.
  He wanted to move it over to Iraq. ``Rumsfeld's decisions embittered 
the American intelligence community, damaged the effectiveness of the 
elite combat units, and hurt America's prospect in the war on terror.''
  This one paragraph alone ought to be enough to have the Republicans 
on their feet demanding an investigation. Instead, Republican leaders 
in this House remained silent as each new revelation damages U.S. 
credibility around the world, not to mention the morale of our 
soldiers.
  The stories place Rumsfeld, Under Secretary Stephen Cambone, and 
Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz in the decision-making roles in the 
scandal. Is that true? The American people and the world need to know.
  Denials by Rumsfeld's spokesman will not silence the calls for truth. 
Indeed, if Secretary Rumsfeld has no prior knowledge, he ought to be 
the first person demanding an impartial inquiry by the House of 
Representatives. The time has come for full disclosure, not carefully 
orchestrated photo ops.
  I call on the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives 
to begin an impartial and open investigation into the atrocities that 
occurred in Iraq. The American people are resilient. They are resilient 
enough to face the truth. So is everyone else who has nothing to hide.

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