[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 114 (Tuesday, September 21, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9406-S9409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE ECONOMY
Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, my colleague from Colorado talked about
the economy. Although I want to talk about Iraq, I want to follow up
the comments made by the very distinguished Senator from Massachusetts
who talked about all the negative things that are happening to this
economy.
I find it so stunning that folks can continue to be so negative.
America has come such a long way from the attacks of 9/11 that took a
trillion dollars out of this economy, and the corporate fraud generated
from Enron and WorldCom, and from the recession President Bush
inherited from the last administration. We cut taxes and we grew jobs,
over 1.7 million in the last year.
We are not where we have to be. The President has said on many
occasions that as long as one person is out of work, we have work to
do, and we do that work and do it here, passing legislation such as
class action reform, medical malpractice reform, the JOBS bill and the
Energy bill, many of the legislation being filibustered, being blocked
by my friends on the other side of the aisle.
One point that comes up again and again is that in spite of the
steady stream of job numbers, now there is an argument made they are
not quality jobs. I note that the facts belie that assertion. Three-
quarters of the new jobs created, for instance, in May were in the
industry categories that pay an hourly rate in excess of the overall
average hourly rate in the private sector.
Inflation-adjusted hourly earnings increased 2.37 percent during the
first 3\1/2\ years of the Bush administration, compared with only a
0.13-percent increase during the same period of time in the first
Clinton administration. Per capita aftertax disposable income adjusted
for inflation has increased 7.1 percent since President Bush took
office, well above the 5.2-percent increase during the same period of
the first Clinton administration.
I could go on and on. The fact is, this economy is moving forward.
The fact is, housing home ownership is at an all-time high. The fact
is, the tax cuts have made a difference, and yesterday there are still
those who would like to somehow have the American public believe that
all news is bad news.
I think the biggest challenge this economy faces is from the
naysayers who keep saying again and again how bleak things are and you
then undermine confidence and that, Mr. President, hurts the economy.
``60 Minutes'' Documents
One other note. My friend, the Senator from Iowa, was on the floor,
and I note that he and a number of others had some very harsh words
about the President based on something that was in a ``60 Minutes''
report which we now know was not true. Dan Rather came on last night
and noted that he no longer has confidence in the documents that would
allow us to continue vouching for them. These are documents related to
the service of the President in the National Guard. He noted that ``we
did use the documents.'' He said, ``We made a mistake in judgment, and
for that I am sorry.''
I hope my colleagues, who had such harsh words for the President
based on those documents, will come forward and express the same
sentiment that Mr. Rather expressed.
Iraq
My colleagues also somehow would have us believe the world would be
better today, would be a safer place if Saddam Hussein were still in
power. I find that stunning. I find that striking.
My colleague from Colorado expressed a hope that I share: That the
President go before the U.N. today and reiterate the inherent right of
the United States of self-defense.
My colleague from Colorado challenged some of the statements of
Secretary General Kofi Annan about the U.S. effort in Iraq. He noted
and I note that the Secretary's comments were both factually wrong and
ill advised. The fact is, Saddam Hussein violated 16 U.N. Security
Council resolutions. Saddam Hussein is the one whose actions were
illegal, reiterated again and again by the United Nations. The fact is,
the United States took our case to the United Nations on more than one
occasion, and the final example on November 8, 2002, the U.N. Security
Council unanimously adopted Security Council Resolution 1441.
This resolution declared that Iraq was in material breach of its
obligations to cooperate with inspectors who were looking into Saddam's
efforts to develop chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.
The resolution warned of serious consequences if Iraq ignored its
last chance to comply, but Saddam did not comply. I repeat, Saddam
Hussein is the one whose actions were illegal. The fact is, Saddam
Hussein's list of other offenses is a long one and does not compare
favorably with documents such as the U.N. charter and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. This is a man who twice invaded his
neighbors, used weapons of mass destruction against his own people and
the people of Iran, who killed tens of thousands of political
opponents, tortured thousands of political opponents and ordinary
citizens. These were the illegal actions, and we should be glad they
are all over once and for all.
The fact is, the U.N. did not have credibility with Saddam Hussein's
regime. It never succeeded in enforcing its own resolutions or gaining
unfettered access for weapons inspectors. Worse yet, it allowed a well-
meaning humanitarian program to devolve into a money-making operation
for Saddam and his cronies throughout the world. The U.N. Oil for Food
Program became a personal bank account for Saddam Hussein in which, by
a GAO report estimate, he got at least $10 billion--that is with a
``B''--for his own personal use.
Right now, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which I
chair, is looking into that $10 billion theft, that $10 billion fraud,
that $10 billion corruption, and checking to see where that money went,
has it been used to fuel an insurgency, has it been used to impact the
policies of some nation states that did not allow the Security Council
to vigorously oversee and enforce that program the way it should have
been done.
No, there is nothing wrong or illegal about liberating 25 million
people from tyranny, and there is certainly nothing illegal about
fighting for their freedom and liberty today.
Regardless of the U.N. Secretary General's comments, America will
remain a supporter of the U.N. and many multilateral organizations. It
is in our interest. More often than not, we can accomplish greatness
when we work together. The U.N. can offer great promise or cooperation
in peacekeeping and humanitarian work and shining a light in dark
places, efforts that are often more effective when many are united
rather than when countries go it alone. But we are not going it alone
in Iraq. We have over 30 nations that are sacrificing with us. The
failure of the United Nations to enforce its resolutions against
Saddam, the failure of the United Nations to act vigorously to genocide
that is going on in Darfur and the far region of Sudan, the failure of
the United Nations to do nothing more than talk when brutality and
oppression shows its ugly face around the world undermines confidence
in the United Nations. That puts the United Nations in a position where
many are comparing it now to the League of Nations, a place where
people just talked but never acted. Sometimes real leadership means
having the courage to do what is necessary and not just what is
popular.
In his State of the Union Address, the President said there is a
difference between leading a coalition of many nations and submitting
to the objections of a few. America will never seek a permission slip
to defend the security of our country. While the United States and its
allies have carried the burden of freedom's work, we cannot ignore the
fact that soldiers and might cannot do the job alone. I understand that
diplomacy is crucial to world order. It should not descend into finger-
pointing and gainsaying, especially at a time when so much is at stake
and we ought to be joining together, not pointing fingers. It is the
terrorists in Iraq who want to deprive the citizens of that country
their basic human rights.
What Saddam Hussein could not take from them the terrorists are
hoping to
[[Page S9407]]
steal. What Saddam Hussein did not do to terrorize the people of that
country, what he did not finish, the terrorists will do and are doing.
They are continuing that. Saddam killed, murdered, and tortured as many
Iraqis he could who did not agree with him, and probably a few who did,
and the terrorists hope to finish off the Iraqis he did not get to.
In spite of that, in spite of the insipid rhetoric of those who wish
to be President who feel a gust of wind gives them the moral authority
to change their stand on a war time and time again, America must hold
its ground because on that ground stands the promise of a free and
liberated Iraq.
Iraq is preparing to hold its first truly democratic election. Prime
Minister Allawi, who will have a chance to address us in the coming
days, is working to get control throughout the country. He is trying to
counter a clear effort by terrorists to turn Iraq back into a nation of
fear.
The Prime Minister is also trying to get out from under Iraq's heavy
foreign debt and create an environment for jobs and for hope. Coalition
members, together with Iraqi forces, are working daily to create a
better future for the people of Iraq, and at the same time protect the
safety of our soldiers and civilians serving in that country.
The world is a better place without Saddam in power. That is a
reality. If one cannot grasp that concept, then they cannot grasp any
concept. If anyone in this body, or anyone of this body, believes
Saddam Hussein, dictator of Iraq, murderer of women and children,
tormentor of his neighbors, plotter of destruction, mercenary of the
world, is better for the world in office than out of office, they
should heed the words of the junior Senator from Massachusetts, Mr.
Kerry, who had this to say during the Democratic primaries:
Those who doubted whether Iraq or the world would be better
off without Saddam Hussein, and those who believe we are not
safer with his capture, don't have the judgment to be the
President or the credibility to be elected president.
The Senator from Massachusetts was right then. In spite of his
changing positions, those words last year still ring true today.
Today, there are those who embolden terrorists in Iraq. They have
pointed their fingers at us and said: You are to blame for the
terrorism insurgency in Iraq.
The day after 9/11, there were those across the world who pointed
their fingers at us and said: You are to blame for the destruction of
your homeland.
These statements are absurd. Somebody tell me how the hundreds of
horrified boys, girls, babies, mothers, and fathers in that Russian
school were responsible for the terrorists who tormented and killed
them. Somebody tell me how the Nepalese contractors, 12 of them, who
were slaughtered as though they were nothing more than cattle were
responsible for their deaths. Somebody tell me how the American
citizens who had their heads sawed off on a videotape while sick, evil
men listened to their screams of horror were somehow responsible for
their death.
There are those who say things are not going as well as they could be
in Iraq. We know they are right, but let the first person come forward
who will say that it will be going better in Iraq if we let Mohamed al
Sadr or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi be in charge.
Now is not the time for those with the courage of the meek to come to
the rescue of the strong. Now is the time for strong, determined
leadership to work with our allies, those who agreed with our efforts,
and those who did not, to bring this world together.
Our President, the leader who has liberated 50 million human beings
and has stood resolute when even the strongest among us would look for
a way out, goes to the U.N. today. He goes there not as an adversary of
that august body but as an ally of the civilized world. He goes to
stand with the world, those who have suffered from the terrorists,
those who have fought them, and those who fear them.
He goes to the U.N. not preaching the gospel of global despair but of
the obligation of a mighty nation to not only fight those with guns
with guns, but to bring peace to so many others who simply hope and
pray that their children will live to see a better day.
He will stand with those who stood with us in the liberation of Iraq,
and with those who stood against us, because this President knows that
as important as it is to sometimes lead even when others are not
prepared to follow, it is important to walk together when many will
agree to do so.
It is important for us to mind the words of China's U.N. Ambassador,
who opposed the war, who said:
I think all of us have views on the Iraqi war. I think
definitely the views are different among council members.
What is important now is to help achieve peace and stability
in that country.
There will be better days in Iraq, and there will be worse days.
There will be better days in the war on terror and, God willing, there
will be far fewer worse days. But whatever the future brings, we must
stand with this President and with this nation and its soldiers and
diplomats, and we must on bended knee pray that our efforts bear the
fruit of a more prosperous and more peaceful world.
Let me finish with this. Yesterday, I missed my first major vote as a
Member of this body. At home, before I left Minnesota for Washington, I
attended the wake of the son of one of the folks who works in my
office, one of my staff, Bart Cedergren. His son David died in Iraq.
While the cause of death remains unclear, let there be no doubt that
he died in the cause of freedom and liberty for the people of Iraq and
the people of America.
As I stood there contemplating the loss of the life of this young man
and the loss of his life from those who loved him, as I stood there
trying to comfort a father who did more to comfort me and those around
him, I was once again reminded of the fact that freedom is never free.
Petty Officer 3rd class David A. Cedergren, 25, who was assigned to
the Second Marine Division Marine Forces Atlantic, did not join the
military to fight war or kill people. He joined it to bring peace and
comfort to those afflicted and tormented. David was a medic. He was
trained to be a licensed nurse, his heart was filled with compassion.
Yesterday, as I watched those whom he loved and those who loved him and
his Navy comrades who stood there side by side, all grieved in his
passing, I saw in their grief great pride in this young man. He liked
this Nation. He did not join this war on terror to fight a war of
killer people. He didn't ask for this war to be fought. We joined it
and we lead it to bring peace and comfort to the afflicted and the
tormented. May God bless America and David Cedergren and that we
prevail.
I yield the floor.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the
quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I yield back the remainder of the
Republican time in this morning session.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Under the previous order, the next 60 minutes of morning business for
debate only is under the control of the Democratic leader or his
designee and the final 60 minutes under the control of the majority
leader or his designee.
The Senator from North Dakota is recognized.
Mr. CONRAD. I thank the Chair.
Mr. President, how much time have I been allotted under the
agreement?
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Twenty minutes.
Mr. CONRAD. I ask for an additional 10 minutes.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I saw this morning in the Hill newspaper
an attack by the Speaker in which he said, in response to a reporter's
question, that ``al-Qaida would operate better if Kerry were elected
President.''
Two weeks ago today, the Vice President said, ``It is absolutely
essential that eight weeks from today on November 2 we make the right
choice because if we make the wrong choice
[[Page S9408]]
then the danger is that we will get hit again and we will be hit in a
way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United
States.''
Mr. President, this is dangerous talk. It is dangerous talk for
either side to suggest we will be attacked if the other is elected. I
remind my Republican friends that when we were attacked on September
11, we on the Democratic side did not say it was because Republicans
were in control. That would have been wrong. We did not do that.
Instead, we stood shoulder to shoulder, we stood united, we all agreed
on an attack on Afghanistan, and we all supported an all-out attack on
al-Qaida because it was al-Qaida that attacked the United States.
The President of the United States, when he was running for office,
said he would be a uniter and not a divider. But now this President and
this administration are dividing us in the most fundamental way. I
believe that is a dangerous tact. It is a mistake.
Only the President of the United States can stop this kind of talk. I
urge him to do so, to rein in the Vice President, to rein in the
Speaker, because when this election is over, we need to stand united.
The debate we need to have is how best to defend our Nation from
terrorist attack. It is important for us to recall what happened on
September 11. When we saw these images of the attack on the World Trade
Center, when we saw the smoke rising from the Pentagon, we were under
attack. But it is important for us to remember who attacked us. It was
not Iraq. The attackers were al-Qaida led by Osama bin Laden, not Iraq
led by Saddam Hussein. As evil as Saddam Hussein was and is, he was not
part of the September 11 attack. Here is the man who should be the
target, the primary target of the United States. This is Osama bin
Laden, the leader of al-Qaida. Al-Qaida are the ones who attacked the
United States. Al-Qaida are the ones we have a responsibility to bring
to account.
President Bush said in convening his Cabinet at Camp David just a few
days after the 9/11 attacks, ``There is no question about it, this act
will not stand. We will find those who did it. We will smoke them out
of their holes. We will get them running and we will bring them to
justice.'' That is what President Bush said just days after the 9/11
attack. It is now 1106 days after that attack--1106 days after the
attack on the country, and we have still not gotten Osama bin Laden. We
still have not kept the primary focus on al-Qaida. Instead, the
President diverted our attention and launched an attack on Iraq.
This is from the March 29 edition of USA Today. It says this:
In 2002 troops from the 5th Special Forces group who
specialized in the Middle East were pulled out of the hunt
for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan to prepare for their next
assignment: Iraq. Their replacements were troops with
expertise in Spanish cultures.
Mr. President, let's get this straight. It was not Iraq that attacked
us. It was al-Qaida. Al-Qaida is led by Osama bin Laden, not Saddam
Hussein. And yet this administration shifted the focus from going after
Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida and instead shifted special forces to the
hunt for Saddam Hussein. He replaced those special forces in
Afghanistan with units that were experts in Spanish culture.
The article goes on to say:
The CIA meanwhile was stretched badly in its capacity to
collect, translate and analyze information coming from
Afghanistan. When the White House raised a new priority, it
took specialists away from Afghanistan to ensure Iraq was
covered.
The former Secretary of Navy in the Reagan administration says this
was one of the biggest blunders, strategic blunders in modern memory.
We attacked the wrong target. That is his conclusion. That is the
Secretary of Navy in the Reagan administration saying we attacked the
wrong target. We have to have a debate in this country about how best
to defend America. The first thing we have to get straight is who
attacked us and who is preparing to attack us again. It was al-Qaida,
not Iraq.
There were no Iraqis on board the planes that attacked on September
11--not one. There is no evidence that Iraq was behind the attack on
September 11. It was al-Qaida led by Osama bin Laden.
This administration has diverted its attention from finishing
business with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida and diverted our resources,
diverted our attention to Iraq and Saddam Hussein. I believe that was a
mistake.
I voted against authorizing this administration to launch this attack
because, as I said on the night of our vote, I did not believe it was
in the national security interest of the United States to attack Iraq
and open up a second front before we finished with the first. The first
had to be with the people who attacked us; that was al-Qaida led by
Osama bin Laden, not Iraq led by Saddam Hussein.
This is an article that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer last
year. It says:
Some senior officials concede that the Iraq war also
diverted resources from two problems that could prove to be
even more pressing than Iraq was: Rooting out the remnants of
Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorism network and confronting
Iran. A senior intelligence official who spoke on condition
of anonymity said that the CIA reassigned to Iraq more than
half of the operatives tracking al-Qaida in Afghanistan and
Pakistan. As a result, U.S. forces were not able to pursue
bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders as aggressively.
I believe this is a strategic mistake of significant proportion.
Again, our primary target has to be al-Qaida led by Osama bin Laden.
Instead, the President shifted resources from the hunt for Osama bin
Laden and al-Qaida to a hunt for Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
Again, as bad and as evil as Saddam Hussein was and is, he should not
have been the primary target of the American military. Instead, we
should have focused, I believe, like a laser on the people who attacked
us and who are planning to attack us again; that is, al-Qaida led by
Osama bin Laden.
This article concludes saying:
Al-Qaida's continuing threat has shown that the Department
of Homeland Security raised its terrorism alert level Tuesday
after bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco.
It is not just these articles. It is not just intelligence officials.
We look to the Bush administration's own Web site, the State Department
Web site. This is very interesting. Thirty days after the September 11
attack, the State Department had this on their Web site:
Countries where al-Qaida has operated--
This is 30 days after the attack on the United States. This
is on the State Department's Web site. Here are the countries
they list where al-Qaida was active. They list Albania,
Algeria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bosnia, India, and Iran. There is
no Iraq. There is no Iraq. There is no Iraq. This is a report
signed by the President. This is after the attack. There is
no mention of Iraq being a locale for al-Qaida.
But it is not just the State Department. The President himself tried
to correct the record last year after the Vice President was asserting
and I think fundamentally confusing people suggesting that Iraq and al-
Qaida were involved in the September 11 attacks.
The President seeking to correct ``reports no evidence of Hussein tie
to 9/11.''
In the article, it says:
President Bush said today that he had seen no evidence that
Saddam Hussein was involved in the September 11 terrorist
attacks, as the White House tried to correct an assertion
that Vice President Cheney left extremely murky on Sunday.
Mr. Cheney on Meet the Press was asked about polls that
showed a majority of Americans believe that Mr. Hussein had
been involved in the attack.
This is what Mr. Cheney said: ``I think it is not surprising that
people make that connection.''
Asked whether the connection existed, Mr. Cheney said: ``We don't
know. He described Mr. Hussein's reported connections to al-Qaida,
connections that American intelligence analysts say were not very deep.
Mr. Bush, asked by a reporter today about that statement, said: ``No.
We have had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in September
11, a far more definitive statement than the Vice President's.''
That doesn't end the evidence. The evidence is powerful with respect
to the question of who is behind September 11. It was al-Qaida led by
Osama bin Laden, not Iraq led by Saddam Hussein. The 9/11 bipartisan
commission said this:
The intelligence reports describe friendly contact and
indicate some common themes on both sides, ``hatred of the
United States.'' But to date we have seen no evidence that
these or the earlier contacts ever developed into a
collaborative operational relationship,
[[Page S9409]]
nor have we seen evidence indicating that Iraq cooperated
with al-Qaida in developing or carrying out attacks against
the United States.
That is the report of the 9/11 Commission.
It doesn't end there. The Secretary of State was just recently on
``Meet the Press.'' This was in the early days of this month. He said
he ``had seen nothing that makes a direct connection between Saddam
Hussein and that awful regime and what happened on 9/11.''
We have all kinds of evidence that al-Qaida was not linked to Iraq in
the September 11 attacks or that Iraq was not a link to al-Qaida in the
September 11 attacks. The evidence is overwhelming that al-Qaida, led
by Osama bin Laden, led those attacks.
I believe deeply that our strategy must be to focus like a laser on
those who attacked us. We ought not to allow ourselves to get diverted
into this attack on Iraq. We have 10 times America's resources in Iraq
as we have in Afghanistan.
We are 1106 days after the attacks on this country and the President
has failed to do what he said he would do in holding al-Qaida and Osama
bin Laden to account. Osama bin Laden is still at large. His top
adviser, al-Zawahiri, is at large. This murderous ally of theirs
beheaded an American yesterday, and we have diverted resources from the
hunt from those monsters to go after Saddam Hussein in Iraq when the
evidence is overwhelming that Iraq was not involved in the September 11
attack.
What doesn't add up here? What doesn't make sense? The Secretary of
the Navy in the Reagan administration says we attacked the wrong
target. I believe that is correct. We should have kept our focus on
Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida and not have been diverted to Saddam
Hussein and Iraq.
Let me say to my colleagues that there is additional evidence as
well. Our own Intelligence Committee has made findings. For example,
Conclusion 96 of the Senate Intelligence Committee says:
The Central Intelligence Agency's assessment that to date
there was no evidence proving Iraqi complicity or assistance
in an al-Qaida attack was reasonable and objective.
That is our Intelligence Committee led by Republicans on a bipartisan
basis concluding there wasn't complicity by al-Qaida and Iraq, that
there was not Iraqi complicity or assistance in an al-Qaida attack. Our
Intelligence Committee concluded that was reasonable and objective.
Similarly, conclusion 93 says:
The Central Intelligence Agency reasonably assessed that
there were likely several instances of contacts between Iraq
and al-Qaida throughout the 1990s, but that these contacts
did not add up to an established, formal relationship.
If we are going to be effective in this war on terror, we have to get
the facts right. The facts are, al-Qaida attacked America, not Iraq.
The facts are, we are 1106 days after that attack, and Osama bin Laden
and his chief lieutenants are still out there threatening America and
Americans. This President diverted our attention and our resources from
running down al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden to an attack on Iraq and
Saddam Hussein. That was a mistake, and the sooner we admit to it and
the sooner we get about the business of tracking down those who
attacked us, the better off our country will be and the safer we will
be. That is my strong, deep belief. Whoever wins this election, I
believe we have to reorient the resources of America into going after
those who attacked us. It was al-Qaida, not Iraq. It was al-Qaida, led
by Osama bin Laden, not Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein. That is what our
9/11 Commission tells us. That is what the Secretary of State is
saying. That is what the intelligence agencies are telling us. Yet this
administration--this administration--made a series of decisions,
profound decisions, decisions of enormous consequence, and diverted
resources and attention from going after Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida
to going after Saddam Hussein and Iraq.
I know many people believe, despite all the evidence to the contrary,
that somehow Iraq was deeply involved in the September 11 attack. There
is just no evidence to support that. My own conclusion was, and is,
this was the wrong war at the wrong time. And the overriding obligation
of those of us who are in a position to affect U.S. decisionmaking--the
overriding obligation and responsibility that we have--is to defend
this country and to do so effectively.
We know al-Qaida is plotting, right now, to again attack our country.
We ought to focus like a laser on stopping them. We ought to focus like
a laser on holding al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden to account. We should
never have shifted our resources from the hunt for Osama bin Laden and
al-Qaida leaders to the hunt for Saddam Hussein in Iraq. It was a
mistake, and we have to be big enough to say it was a mistake and move
on and remember who it was that attacked us and use the awesome
resources of this country to go after those who are plotting to attack
us again.
We have to get these facts right. We have to reduce the confusion out
here, when a majority of the American people thinks Iraq was behind the
attacks of September 11 and we know full well that is not the case.
The President and Vice President of the United States have a heavy
responsibility. They are the leaders of this country. They are the
leaders of the free world. They have an obligation, a solemn
obligation, to make certain that the United States focuses on those who
attacked us--not to confuse the issue, not to distract us from those
who are responsible for the loss of nearly 3,000 American lives.
Mr. President, it is hard to talk about these things when you are
just weeks before an election and not have a political component to the
debate and the discussion. But we, I believe, as a nation, need to have
a full and vigorous debate on how we best defend this Nation. My strong
belief is that we need to keep the focus on the people who attacked
America on September 11, and it was al-Qaida, led by Osama bin Laden,
not Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein. The evidence is overwhelming.
We need to refocus the efforts of the awesome American military on
hunting down Osama bin Laden, on hunting down his chief allies and
holding them to account. That is the best way to send a signal of
American resolve and determination and American unwillingness to accept
the vicious attack on our country.
Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
There are time allocations that have been assigned for the remaining
27 minutes.
Ms. STABENOW. I ask unanimous consent for 15 minutes if there is time
available. If not, I would appreciate it if the Chair could indicate
who has been designated the time.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Minnesota has 10
minutes, and the Senator from Arkansas has 15 minutes of the time.
There is 26 minutes remaining, but of those, 25 has been allocated.
Ms. STABENOW. It is my understanding, through staff, that Senator
Lincoln will not be coming to the floor at this time. So if there is no
objection, I ask unanimous consent to use the time of the Senator from
Arkansas. And if she comes to the floor, I will certainly yield to her.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
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