[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 138 (Wednesday, October 26, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H9108]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
WHITE HOUSE STONEWALLING OF VALERIE PLAME LEAK INVESTIGATION
(Ms. LEE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute.)
Ms. LEE. Madam Speaker, sadly, 2,000 American troops have now died in
Iraq due to a war based on fabrications of weapons of mass destruction
in Iraq.
Two years have passed since the Bush White House breached national
security by leaking a covert CIA agent's name to reporters to smear a
former ambassador who questioned their misleading case for war. Why has
President Bush not acted on this reprehensible act?
Anyone who follows the news now knows that the White House Deputy
Chief of Staff Karl Rove is implicated in leaking Valerie Plame's
identity to Time reporter Matthew Cooper. We also know that it was the
Vice President's Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, at the heart of charges
leaking Plame's identity to New York Times reporter Judith Miller.
Two years ago the White House press secretary told reporters, ``If
anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer
be in this administration.'' But that was before it was clear that Karl
Rove was indeed involved. President Bush now says staffers will only be
fired if they committed a crime.
Talk about lowering the bar. The Bush administration was right at
first when it said that anyone involved in this serious breach of our
national security would be handed their walking papers.
The stonewalling and the coverup of the White House must finally come
to an end. Our country must do better. The world is watching.
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