[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 86 (Friday, June 24, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1349]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      DOWNING STREET MEMO HEARING

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 24, 2005

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, last week, House Democrats, led by Judiciary 
Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, convened a hearing to 
investigate the so-called ``Downing Street Memo.'' Because I am 
disappointed with the continued unwillingness of Congress to exercise 
an adequate level of oversight over the intelligence operations of the 
Executive Branch, I was therefore pleased to learn that someone was 
willing to pose questions that have for too long gone un-asked.
  As you may know, Mr. Speaker, I serve on the House Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence. I believe that the Downing Street Memo, 
which is essentially minutes of a July 2002 meeting of the British 
Prime Minister and his cabinet, justifies exploring the underlying 
rationales for the Iraq War. It documents a loyal ally's assertion that 
the architects of the Iraq war used suspect evidence to support a pre-
determined policy. Its authenticity has not been questioned. Such 
documentation deserves to be probed.
  Because of prior commitments, I attended this meeting for about 20 
minutes. I later learned through news reports that, after I left, one 
of the witnesses at the hearing, former Central Intelligence Agency 
(CIA) Analyst Ray McGovern, offered repugnant personal viewpoints. 
Alleging that the war was the product of a U.S.--Israeli partnership to 
``dominate'' the Middle East, Mr. McGovern's statements were insulting, 
unsubstantiated, and defamatory. There is no justification or excuse 
for implying that the war in Iraq was the result of any action on the 
part of the state of Israel, its people, or the American Jewish 
community. The decision to invade Iraq was the decision of President 
Bush and a majority of Congress. Ascribing such motives to the pro-
Israel community is not simply defamatory--it is anti-Semitic. Mr. 
McGovern should apologize.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been one of the more outspoken members of this 
body regarding the intelligence that this president used to justify 
using force against Iraq, how the war has been carried out, and the 
post-war occupation. I reject Mr. McGovern's statements. His remarks 
only encourage those who seek to blame Israel and Jews in general for 
all that ails them. His remarks shed no light on the issue. In fact, 
they undermined the values of community and equality, which all 
Americans hold dear.
  Sixty years after the end of the Second World War, it is a shame that 
one of its most notorious sentiments--anti-Semitism--has yet to be 
eradicated. Each of us has a role to play in combating anti-Semitism 
whenever and wherever we see it. As a member of the Congressional Task 
Force Against Anti-Semitism, I ask each of my colleagues, Democrats and 
Republicans, to confront anti-Semitism whenever it arises.
  I hope that Mr. McGovern's offensive and misguided rhetoric does not 
obscure the purpose of the hearing on the Downing Street Memo. Congress 
should investigate the extent to which the Bush Administration used 
questionable evidence to justify a predetermined war. Failure to do so 
would be an abandonment of our oversight responsibility.

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