[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 65 (Tuesday, May 17, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E995]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE ADMINISTRATION'S MOST RECENT HYPOCRISY

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                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 17, 2005

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, the pot is calling the kettle black. The 
Administration is chastising Newsweek magazine for a story containing a 
fact that turned out to be false. This is the same Administration that 
lied to the Congress, the United Nations and the American people by 
fabricating reasons to send us to war. The same Administration 
responsible for the death of over 1,500 American servicemen and women 
and countless Iraqi civilians; the same Administration which shields 
its highest officials from responsibility for prisoner abuse at Abu 
Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.
  Under those circumstances, how can the Bush Administration, with a 
straight face, denounce a journalist for not checking all the facts 
before going public with a story?
  Of course, Newsweek should have checked the facts more diligently 
before publishing their article. They made a big mistake. But, Mr. 
Speaker, we must keep this incident in perspective. Newsweek did make a 
mistake, but they had the dignity and honor to own up to it.
  Unfortunately, I doubt the Bush Administration is capable of 
displaying such honesty. Instead, the Bush Administration focuses on 
public relations tactics to divert attention from their own 
incompetence and fabrications rather than focusing their energies on 
creating a plan to get our troops out of Iraq.
  The hypocrisy of this Administration is astonishing and this most 
recent episode is, unfortunately, merely one example of many. Just 
yesterday Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said in reference to the 
Newsweek article, ``People lost their lives. People are dead. People 
need to be very careful about what they say, just as they need to be 
very careful about what they do. ``I couldn't agree more. People should 
be very careful about what they say and do; President Bush and his 
Cabinet, most of all.
  Mr. Speaker, accountability and power cannot be separated. If the 
President accepts the duties and responsibilities of his office he must 
do exactly what he is asking Newsweek to do: he needs to tell Americans 
the truth about his own indiscretions in this tragic war.

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